"A quarter can save you dollars!"
Let me just say this: I hate grocery shopping--especially in this economy. I used to like it but now I find it sort of depressing.
Before your house payment, your car payment, your electricity bill, you need food and water to survive. Period. My husband makes too much to qualify for food stamps and lately we have found ourselves in a bit of a bind when it comes to food shopping. The prices are ridiculously inflated and I am forced to spend no more than $80 in groceries every 2 weeks and that's including toiletries. I ate better when Evan was unemployed. Go figure.
It doesn't matter how well I budget, if the money isn't there...it isn't there.And life becomes hard, financially.
And even if I used coupons at Wal-Mart, Kroger or Publix...the coupon policies have become more stringent and they have made it even harder to save due to everyone catching on about extreme couponing. So I have come to find that it is not even worth it.
But there is some hope.
First, I got a new job at Palm Beach Tan. It's part time and I make minimum wage plus commission. I'll bring in some extra cash. Normally, with my qualifications, this would piss me off. A degree in marketing, 8 years of retail experience, 4 years in management.....and I am making minimum wage. This is EXACTLY the problem that other students and workers are facing. And they wonder why students are constantly deferring and defaulting on their loans and why workers are waiting in the unemployment line in the midst of losing their home. Where are the jobs that PAY?!?! And what happened to getting paid every WEEK? Nowadays, you have to hope that your billing cycles match up with your monthly or bi weekly payday schedule, especially when you are living paycheck to paycheck and minimum wage is a bad idea...but that's another topic.
The good news about this job is that it is walking distance from my apartment. Less than a half of a mile. I save on commuting and with gas being $3-4 a gallon, it will save me money in the long run. So I am not all that upset about it.
A brand new Aldi just opened a new store right next to Palm Beach Tan. This is great! The way our budget is, Aldi is perfect to accommodate our food needs. They have milk for $1.99. A dozen LARGE eggs for .49. Everything that I would have bought at Wal-Mart cost at least $20 less at Aldi, and even a little more because I am not using gas to get to the store.
Aldi is not for everyone, though. Many people like the convenience that Aldi doesn't have. At Aldi, there are not many BRAND NAMES. Most of the groceries are generic but honestly, I cannot tell the difference. You have to bring your own plastic or reusable bags and bag your groceries yourself. You have to pay a quarter to get a shopping cart, but you get the quarter back when you return the cart. All the merchandise is in boxes, so there isn't any shelves or anything fancy like that like you would see at Kroger or Wal-Mart. But all of these cuts in overhead, help save me money. Aldi is very smart when it comes to competition. Aldi doesn't carry everything you may need, but they have at least 90% of what you are looking for, especially when you are on a tight budget. They even carry some toys for much cheaper than other stores. I was able to buy Sophia Mega Blocks for Christmas for $13 when they originally cost $20 at Wal-Mart and they have it on ROLLBACK for $15. I win. And no, I am not lying.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mega-Bloks-80-piece-Maxi-Bag/5692921
So if there's an Aldi nearby, I highly recommend shopping there if you are on a tight, penny pinching budget like us! :)
