This past week I was out of town. In fact, our entire family was out of town -- but not all together. My husband went to Maryland to a conference, the kids were at granny's house in Kansas and I was in California, also attending a conference. So, that meant when we all returned home, our cupboards were bare. It also meant that I was tired.
For some crazy reason though, my family feels that they need to eat (go figure)! Once I had received my hugs and kisses, they all wanted to eat. And of course the cupboards were bare. The fridge had some milk in it (which my husband had picked up from the store the day before). That was just about it. I had barely enough energy to figure out what to eat, let alone how to save in the process.
My coupons weren't clipped. My list wasn't organized. I had to drag 3 kids with me all over the city to just pick up the few things we needed. That meant SOMETHING had to give. This week it meant saving more money.
It kind of stung a bit when I tossed items in the cart that I recalled seeing coupons for in the ad inserts. But at the same time, it was refreshing and almost liberating to throw caution to the wind and just shop. Just shopped and didn't have to search for the right product/coupon matchup. I just tossed the items we needed into the cart and went about my merry way.
When I checked out, I knew that I was paying more than I should have. However, not having to stress to get the coupons clipped and organized and my list pulled together would have made my day longer. It was a relief to just go and shop like I use to "back in the day." Since I know I usually do so well from week to week, it was OK to just let one week slide by without using those coupons. Of course, catch me next week at the store and I'll be armed with coupons again and will back to working hard at saving as much as I can!