February 10, 2011

  • The More You Go, The More You Spend

    I'm reading the book America's Cheapest Family.  (A gift from my mother-in-law.  Thank you, Shirley!)  The Chief and I make it a point to read personal finance books frequently throughout the year.  It helps us to stay focused on our goal of debt free living and financial independence.  I am an avid fan of frugal living.  It has some wonderful advantages!  Peace of mind, personal satisfaction, being free to serve God wherever and however he calls, able to give more generously, ability to achieve lifelong goals and dreams, etc...

    One of the very first topics the Economides Family (seriously that's their last name) tackles in the book is groceries.  For most families this is the area with the most potential for immediate savings. 

    Reading the grocery chapter reminded me of something I learned when the Chief was a vendor at a large cookie company for a number of years.  He figured out very quickly that the sure way to boost the cookie sales in his area was to score extra display space from the store managers.  It is a proven statistic that impulse buys make up a huge percentage of our total purchases.  The more we go to the store, the more we walk by special displays and other marketing traps ploys that call out to us "Buy me!" 

    That means one way to reduce the grocery expenses is to shop less.  If we try to extend grocery shopping to once every two weeks or even better monthly trips to the store, there is less opportunity to spend impulsively.

    Thanks for the reminder, Steve and Annette Economides.  Thanks for the reminder.

    This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life As Mom.

Comments (2)

  • Haha!  This was the Exact topic of our Mom's meeting for our homeschool group the other night!
    You are so, so right!  The more you go, the more you spend!
    I really try to just stick to what I write on my list.
    The kids know not to ask for anything. (although sometimes they forget ;)
    They take turns and each get a week to choose something from the store to "splurge" on.
    This week my 3rd child (Sam) chose ice cream bars.
    I use a lot of coupons, and also buy in bulk. I love to cook, and making things from scratch is economical and healthier!  We spend lots of time in the kitchen around here! =)
    I have seen the book you wrote about, but haven't read it yet. I will have to check it out!
    Thanks for sharing.

  • @Elizabethmarie_1 - You would love the book!  If you were close by, I'd loan it to you.  :)

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