I like being frugal Some may even call me cheap. My family works hard for our money and I hate spending more than I have to. If I can save 50% on an item if I wait a day, more than likely I will wait. That’s why I love stockpiling. Buying items when they are at their all time low allows me to have almost anything our family desires on hand. Want to make cupcakes? We’ll have cake mix, frosting and sprinkles on hand. Spaghetti? No problem- I’ve even got enough meatballs to feed a football team. Fried Chicken? Yep. Craving some chocolate? I’ve got a cabinet full.
I have a stockpile price that keeps me on track. If the final price of that item isn’t at or below that price, most likely I won’t buy it. It helps me avoid being pulled into the marketing of grocery stores and manufacturers. I can scoff at their 3 for $5 sale because I have 10 jars of pasta sauce in my pantry. ‘Let me know when you get to 75¢”, I can say.
Last night we were going to have chicken tacos (thanks to a super sale on whole chickens at Harris Teeter, a stockpile of tortillas and cheese I had everything I needed). Then my husband says, “I’d really love a tostada instead of tacos”. (If you are unfamiliar with tostada’s they are a Mexican dish using a fried corn tortillas as a base piled with refried beans, chicken , lettuce and a fresh cheese). Now, this isn’t an item we regularly have. In fact, in 12 years of marriage I think we’ve had that….never.
So I rummage in the pantry trying to find corn tortillas, instead of our regular flour, and no-go. Fresh cheese (Queso Fresco) – again not something we keep on hand. My couponing self wants to offer a substitute as I am apt to do- “We’ll make them with flour tortillas and some of the Kraft Cheese I got for 25¢ a bag awhile ago.” But my loving wife self says, “I have to go to the post office anyway, I will get you some”
I wish you could have seen my husband’s face! I think he was in shock- what? This hard core strategic shopper is offering to go on a “quick run” to the store and possibly pay full price for something? Yes I was. My husband works very hard so that I could stay home with our children. He provides us with everything we need or want. I work hard so that what we need or want doesn’t cost us too much. I save all that money on shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant and more so that when he wants some $5.85 cheese (yes it cost that much! I think I did pale at the grocery store and possibly gasped out loud) we have that extra money to buy it.
And yes I also grabbed him the $2.80 tostada shells. It went against every one of my couponing bones to buy something at full price but it was exactly what I aim to do as a wife: Make my husband happy.
It was so worth it to see my family devour dinner last night. Yes, it wasn’t the inexpensive dinner I had planned. And no, the cheese nor the tostada’s were on sale. But my family enjoyed it & that is priceless.
I work hard to save my family money, and help you save your family money too, but it’s pointless if we don’t take some of that saving and put it towards a “splurge” now and then. Yes I realize that $5.85 worth of cheese isn’t a huge splurge and isn’t going to cause my family to go bankrupt. Maybe for your family it’s $50 worth of crab legs or a thick t-bone steak. Whatever that thing is that will bring a huge grin to the faces of your loved one- do it. Splurge. Break the rules. As my husband always reminds me, “We only live once.”
*This was originally posted 10.7 here on MoolaSavingMom.com but my husband reminded me of it today.
This really made me smile this morning, I too have a husband that works very hard to make our family happy. He never complains about working two jobs and comes home to us with a smile on his face. Today is his birthday and we are pulling out all the stops it is whatever he wants all day long !
Very good point…thanks for sharing….
I totally agree with you!! My husband works really hard too and there are times were I have to put the couponing on hold for an item or two 🙂 I have doing a budget of $50 a week for a family of 4 for about 3 years now. He has been a great support the whole time and we have totally figured it out where it works out great for our family. You really start to appericate when you do splurge. Your blog has saved us a ton of money, thank you!!!
This brought a smile to my face too!! I am often reminded that we only live once – it’s ok
to splurge every now and then.
Love it! … we try to keep our special splurges down to one or two items a month, but –for instance– I was able to stop by Aldi while I was on that end of town yesterday to snag a pumpkin cheesecake for my hubbie, and know that it wasn’t going to break our budget.
What I *really* love is that the kids are finally old enough to understand, too, that what we save by using coupons is what allows us the financial flexibility to do things we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. 🙂
hi there my hubby loves tostadas too, so I get the corn tortillas and take alittle oil and fry them my self and sprinkle alittle salt right then and there when fried and my family loves them so much. and u get alot more then the bag of tostada in bag. fyii..
Thank you for all the info, research u do for all of us to help us save money for our families.=)
Janet- thanks. I offered to do that but apparently my frying skills are not as great as the manufacturer’s and store bought were requested LOL.
My husband says we can skimp on a lot of things. But not toilet paper. That is one demand. Charmin Ultra Strong toilet paper. I brought home Charmin Basic one time… never again. He works hard so I can stay at home also, so I will buy him his Charmin. And a steak every now and again.
This is always a great reminder! My 5 yr old has asked for something at the store before and, before I could answer, said “never mind, it isn’t on sale.” Always nice when we can splurge and get the item anyway!
Every once in a while- even though we HAVE chocolate at home and they ask for a candy bar and I say “sure” the look on their face is priceless! Let’s them know I love them & they are worth a little treat (and more!)
Oh yeah! Totally agree! And girl… if you went out to eat and ordered tostadas it would have been $6 per person! So you still saved!
We all do that and I’m glad you told us that too..Because If my Husband as hard as he works and all the overtime wants something special to eat he’s going to get it.. But I’m really getting more proud of my stockpile and all I have to give now…And don’t even spend half everyweek what I used to spend…Mostly due to you and all your help… Many Many Thanks for all you do Jessie.. Oscar is lucky to have such a good wife…
Loved reading this today! I did the same thing yesterday – breakfast for dinner means fresh fruit. I had several types of fruit but my son really wanted pineapple. So, yes, I spent about $5.00 on fresh pineapple (knowing that Aldi has it a lot cheaper) but they loved it and we ate it ALL! a small treat, silly even, but made everyone happy and they were all shocked that Mom bought something at full price with NO coupon 🙂
I just wanted to thank you for all the work you put into this website and all the deals you constantly update. I have only been couponing for maybe 4-6 months now, and this website has been amazing, I work 40 hours in 3 days, so by the time I get home, I am exhausted. The last thing I want to do is research deals, but your website makes it so easy for me to get all my coupons ready. If it weren’t for your hard work, I would probably not have the energy to coupon most days. Thank you!
It is most certainly my pleasure Alison- thanks for being part of our community!