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Growing up my mom was very frugal.  She baked chocolate chip cookies without using chocolate chips.  Seriously.  And all my friends loved those bare naked babies.  She just didn't want to buy the chips!  I have tried to follow in her footsteps, but without a drop of Dutch blood in my veins, it's a task I will never measure up to fully.

I do, however, like to shop the flyers and cut some coupons.  Then I match things up by using a site like Couponmom.com.  One of my favorite stores is Meijer.  I just like it - the size, lighting, number of items, friendliness of the staff.

This week I wanted to do some fall and winter stocking up, so Rooster and I went to Meijer. It's good to have muscle along for stock up time.  He drives the cart like he's Mario Andretti and he's even pretty good with math, which helps since he buried my purse - and the calculator within - under $300 worth of groceries!

Normally I spend $100 a week at the grocery store. We buy some extra milks at the gas station throughout the week, so our total is probably around $125-130, adding in a trip to the bread store, too.  I know that's not too bad for a family of eight, especially since my mom, the Frugal Mom, said she didn't think SHE could do it for that.  (But I know she could.)

Anyway, we had a list itemized and priced out, with some coupons clipped and ready.  After typing in my M-perks number at the checkout, the total was over one quarter less than it would have been if I hadn't done the little bit of planning.  The total paid was $282.75, but would have been $384!  I view this as a success, even though shows on TV like Extreme Couponing have us believing we should be able to leave the store paying 10% or less of the bill!  Well, the reality is that without stores doubling coupons, it's next to impossible to live that shopping experience.

Rooster and I left with two loaded baskets - then remembered we'd driven the car and not the Yukon Tankmobile.  So Roosterboy packed the trunk and back-seat in a tidy fashion and we headed home.  Another shopping trip - more $$ spent to tend to the masses.

When we read Proverbs 31, we women are to be excellent shoppers, aware of the costs and quality of items.  If we aren't aiming for completely FREE, it still is possible to save quite a bit at the store.  I saved enough to justify chocolate chips for our cookies!  Woot!  Life of the Party baked some today that tasted great - even if the chips were Meijer brand and not Nestle's. :)