thrifty, adj. frugal, saving; sparing; economical; foresighted; provident.
I was a bit surprised to not see "cheapskate" in my thesaurus or dictionary. Instead, I found kind words, like those listed above. No one has ever directed those pleasant words at me. But I've most certainly been called a cheapskate, by no less a dignitary than my wife.
It's a label I wear with pride. That's not to suggest I'm "frugal" or "sparing" in all areas of my life. I simply choose to be "sparing" and "economical" in some areas to finance my interest in other areas.
Until recently, I did not take the time to quantify my "economical" methods. That changed on January 1. I resolved to keep a detailed monthly record of my favorite area of savings: groceries.
See, grocery shopping is like a sport to me. Much like a marathon, when it comes to shopping, I study, plan and execute to achieve specific goals. The grocery ads appear in Wednesday's newspaper and I lay them out like a general mapping a battlefield. I look for matches between my coupon collection and the weekly specials. On Saturday, I attack.
Yes, I'm the nerd who cuts coupons every Sunday. I'm the geek standing in the aisle, doing coupon math in his head. I'm the dork who hands the cashier a stack of coupons at checkout.
Ah, but the results of my quest...
During the month of January, I realized total grocery savings of $198.95. That's $83.75 in coupons and $115.20 in advertised specials.
Are there trade-offs? Absolutely. I purchase very few things that aren't on sale. (Milk and bananas are the only things that immediately come to mind.) So if chicken is what's on sale this week, chicken is what we're having. Hamburgers have to wait.
But that $198.95 pays for the annual newspaper subscription. Or two tickets to a Springsteen concert. Or an airline ticket. Or two pairs of running shoes. Or...well, you get the idea. In other words, don't pin the country's economic recovery hopes on me.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You are a man in need of help, a lot of help.
ReplyDeletedid you rub off on clifton or did he rub off on you? he doesn't go to the store without his little coupon file either.
ReplyDeleteYou're killing me, John.
ReplyDeleteBTW, we just got back from an afternoon at The Legends. We had Dave & Busters gift cards from our Discover Cashback Bonus...a coupon for a free entree with the purchase of another entree...a coupon for $10 of free game play...and another coupon for $10 of free game play with the purchase of $10. Used the gift card to buy the one entree and $10 of games. Walked out without paying a penny of our own money.
On to Culver's...used a previously earned gift card to get a concrete. And it was "Happy Hour," so it was buy one, get one free. Again, no money out of our pocket.
Then stopped at Hy Vee on the way home. They had a $3.99 Chinese special. Got two of them. They accidentally charged us $5.99 each. Noticed the $2 difference...and learned that they refund all your money if they mischarge you.
So we had a heck of an afternoon...for FREE!!
Alison, I knew something drew Clifton and me together. Now I know what it was. Maybe we can band together and convert the Rink's of the world!