Budgeting - Generosity – grocery shopping

MUM-e-Mail

To equip and encourage

mothers of preschoolers and their supporters

September 2008

Mother Maxim -

A happy mother makes a happy home.

 

Mother Moment – Making $$ Stretch

One income? Or two incomes? Is it better for mum to earn and then spend more on cars, petrol, clothes, childcare, stress? Or is it better for mum to create a relaxed home, save more, and live satisfactorily on single income? Questions worth pondering over as a family.

We haven’t lived on over $40k ever. At times we’ve earned way less. Yet we still have coffees, and (MOPS!) nights out, great family holidays and adventures, and once a week supermarket shared treats (yes, my children think a small bag of prunes is a treat).

We visit op shops. The Sallies is my favourite retail chain, and we also practice delayed gratification until a red dot or yellow tag sale is on.

We have a barber set to cut the boys’ hair. Even if we had to buy a new $30 set each year it would still work out for cheap haircuts. My last haircut was at the local hairdressing school for ¼ the normal fee.

We check the ’rewrap’ trolley of damaged goods at the back of PakNSave – and buy cheap flour, sugar, staple foods when we see them. They may as well sit in my cupboard for a month as anywhere! My kids are great bargain hunters and finders.

Here’s some more grocery shopping tips from the book “A Cure for the Growly Bugs”, compiled by Mary Beth Lagerborg:

* Post an ongoing shopping list on the refrigerator, jotting down items as you need them.
* Plan menus for the week, adding needed ingredients to your running grocery list.
* Shop only once a week, alone if possible, to save money and time.
* Study supermarket specials.
* Keep track, using a small notebook, of the prices of items you buy regularly, so you can determine which of your local stores really does offer the best prices.
* Use a calculator (or approximate mental maths) as you shop to avoid a big surprise at the checkout counter.
* Pay with cash if you are trying to keep your expenditures on groceries within strict limits.

Mother’s Heart

May there always be room at our tables for others, no matter how simple the snack or meal. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38 --

Mentor Mum Moment

Tip : The children can look at the pretty colourful packaging – big, small, box, packet, bag … “find me a big yellow weetbix box” - but no whinging and nagging... “We’ll just buy what is on the list today. Thank you.”

MOPPETS

* Try to grocery shop without all or some of your children. If they come, the under fives are belted into the trolley seat and they keep their hands on their knees (“thems the rules”). Give the over 2s the shopping list (not in mouth :-)) to hold up for you to read, but they also have fun ‘reading’ it out to you!

From Last Time :

- Take small bursts of time to clean that corner or this pile – and balance the OK cleaning of your home with the cuddling and face-to-face time with your little cutie-pies.

MOPS Link

www.mops.org.nz/groups/ - Is there a group near you? We need more groups to provide great mornings out for mothers and their little children all over New Zealand.

Humour in the Challenges of Life – at the supermarket.

 

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