Frugal ideas for the mom on the go

We all seem to live such busy life's, whether we are SAHMs chasing our kids around or we are working moms. It is hard to find time for all of our frugal living. I would love to frequent my favorite stores a couple of times a week, but with my busy schedule I don't have the time. I have listed below some of my time saving ideas to live a frugal lifestyle.

Shop at Wal-Mart-Wal-Mart is where I do all of my grocery shopping. I used to go to Wal-Mart once a month and would frequent 3 neighborhood grocery stores weekly. I cut my time down to 1 shopping trip a week when I learned that Wal-Mart honors competitor prices and will do Price Matching. I will take in the grocery ads from my local Hy-Vee and Price Chopper (if the ads don't come in the paper, I will print them online so I don't have to go to the stores). When I go to check out I will hand the cashier my ads and point out the prices I want matched. For example, If Hy-vee is running a special on Kraft chesse singles for .99, the cashier will adjust the price of my item down to .99. Voila! I have just shopped at 3 different stores in the time it took to go to one store.

Do Multiple Transactions-When I first started couponing I would go to 3 different Walgreens and CVS stores on Sundays to shop. I was spending anywhere from 2-4 hours shopping. I realized this was taking up to much of my time. I think I did this because I was self-conscious about other customer being held up in the lines or the cashier looking at me funny. So I have two options that work well for me. If the store is not very crowded I will do multiple transactions. If a customer comes up behind me, I will move my cart off to the side and let them purchase their items. Another thing I do is complete one transaction, then I will take my items to my car and go back into the store and get the rest of my items to complete another transaction. I feel like this is the equivalent of forgetting to get an item you needed in the store and going back in to purchase it. This saves me time and gas money, if we are trying to be frugal we need to consider the money we spend in gas.

Don't Clip Coupons-I know, I must be crazy. But, really I no longer clip coupons. Due to the great resources we have with blogs and coupon sites, we are able to determine sales and coupons that match sales before we enter a store. I do not leave my house without a list with the items I will be buying and a stack of coupons to match my items. I will organize my coupons in a filing folder according to the date. When I have my list of items I can easily go through my folders and cut out the coupons I will need for my store purchases. Some people might think that they might miss a deal on a clearance item that they had a coupon for. This may happen where I see an item that I know their is a coupon for maybe every other month. So in that case if I really need the item I will come back and get it the next day with my coupon. Making a second trip to a store every 2 months is a much better use of my time then spending 1 hour every Sunday clipping and organizing my coupons.

Make it a Family Activity-As busy moms it is hard to be supermom all the time. Involve your husband, older children, parents, and friends in helping you snag great deals. Sometimes I will send my husband to the store with my list and stack of coupons. Now this is not always the best idea and he is bound to come home with extra items, but it frees up your time. ( This is something I will do out of necessity) I will also go coupon shopping with my mom. We will drive the 20 minute drive together to go to Kmart when they are doubling coupons. Not only do we both get great deals, but I get to spend quality time with my mom. Husbands and family members are also helpful when you are trying to complete multiple transactions at stores.

I wish that I had more time to devote to increasing my stockpile, but I also think that we all must take on what is manageable in our lives. Using these techniques allows me to live frugally but still have time for my family.