Plan to Save

In the quest to spend my dollars wisely, I print and clip coupons, buy my produce as locally as possible and carry a stack of reusable bags in my car for grocery shopping.  But, sometimes the best laid plans just don't work out!  We planned to have guests over this weekend and spent all day Saturday cleaning, straightening and realizing (again) how much clutter we create.  I decided that tackling the mountain of laundry was critical to cleaning success and promptly ran out of laundry detergent.  I could have sworn that I stowed a back-up bottle in the cupboard, but alas, no.

So, I loaded up a kid, and headed for the grocery.  Normally, I take the other kid with me on Sunday mornings, remember the bags and bring my organized coupons and shopping list with me.  But, I disrupted my system and ran out on a Saturday afternoon with the kid that usually stays home, no list, no bags and no coupons.  Standing in the checkout line, I felt guilty and irritated that I wasn't getting my usual deals.  Most weekends, I save between $20 and $40 just in coupons.  Afterall, I would rather have a date night with my husband than pay extra for cereal.

No one's perfect and we shouldn't beat ourselves up over little things, but we can also take small steps to get in a healthy routine.  A lot like exercise, but more fun in my opinion, planning your savings strategy to a degree helps you achieve your goals.  Plan to hit the gym MWF at 5:30; plan to pull coupons from the paper on Sundays...and if you forget, or fall off the wagon, give yourself a break!