E is for Expensive Shopping and How I Avoid It

"The quickest way to get to know a woman is to go shopping with her" ~ Marcelene Cox

   I live in a small town in the mountains. This means we have plenty of nature, peace and quiet but we also have very few options when it comes to affordable shopping. We have a Vons but it’s one of the most expensive in all of Southern California. The store closest to us is a family owned grocery, with prices to match their convenience. I love them because of their coupon deals, sale prices and reduced items.

Tabitha

   I have a few different ways of avoiding expensive shopping. I’m a very frugal person; I don’t much care for spending money if I don’t need to. This means I do my research. I find printable coupons online, like coupons.com and redplum.com. I signed up for the Just4U app at Vons.com, which saves me 20-60% off, depending on what deals they have and which ones I take advantage of. Aside from hunting for grocery bargains, we also raise chickens for eggs, which saves me $6 or more per week and we raise rabbits for meat.

    Whenever we can, I make trips to town to do shopping at lower priced stores, like WinCo.     I especially love to buy from their bulk section. I also reuse different containers, such as coffee and peanut butter jars, to store bulk items, like rice, flour, sugar, soup mix, cereals and so many others. By buying items without packaging, and reusing containers from other items, I save on both the grocery items and on storage.

        

fresh garden salad

         As well as groceries, I try to get bargains wherever I can on household groceries, like cleaning products and household items, like furniture and décor. The internet has made this so much easier than it used to be, with online sale sites, like craigslist.com and local sell/trade sites available on Facebook. I sell items, as well as buy them. I have a couple people that I trade clothes back and forth with as our daughters outgrow them. When they are babies and toddlers, they grow out of clothes faster than they can wear them out.

       

Lovebug and Bunny in the gard

        When Lovebug was a baby, we also used cloth diapers, mostly Sunbaby brand, and this saved us money on diapers, as well as rash cream but where we live, we pay for water per usage, so using cloth turned out to be more of a luxury than money saving or convenient.

        No matter where you live, whether it’s in a big city or a small town, there are plenty of deals and bargains out there. You just have to know where and how to look!