Back on the Wagon

Hello friends.

Sorry that I've been MIA for a few weeks. I had a HUGE project at work that we needed to get finished and it was taking up all of my time. We wrapped up the project last week and things are starting to settle back down around here.

During the past few weeks I will totally admit that I fell off the coupon wagon. There was hardly time for laundry, much less coupons. I still dabbled in coupons here and there but I wasn't being as consistent as I usually am. My trips to the grocery store were haphazard and poorly planned. One Saturday I literally stood in Publix and wanted to cry. I felt like a newbie all over again. My list (at least I had a list) was a mess. I didn't have all the coupons I needed because I forgot to print them or pull them and I was wondering around aimlessly in the aisles trying to get the things we needed.

However, as awful as that sounds, I did do somethings right during my little hiatus.

1. I used my stockpile. I have lots of staples in my pantry, garage and extra freezer. I used that for about a solid 2 weeks before I ever even noticed that I need to make a grocery run.
2. I planned our meals. Granted, there were a few nights where we grabbed pizza because I was too exhausted to think about cooking or cleaning up the kitchen. For the most part, I still sat down each week and planned out our meals mostly using my stockpile mentioned above.
3. I shopped the deals. Even without coupons I was still saving 40%-50% simply by shopping the sales and BOGO items. Sometimes I would just give hubby a list of items to grab on his way home. Usually these items were fruits/veggies/meats that were on sale. These items typically don't have coupons so it made it easy for him and saved me a trip so I could keep on working.

Now that things have settled down I'm ready to buckle down and get back at it. I just want you to know that it's okay if you feel discouraged sometimes. It's okay if you occasionally fall off the wagon. Coupons save a lot of money but it also takes time. The trick is just remembering the basics and taking the first step to get back on track.

If you need a refresher course, please check out my Frugal 101 page with lots of tips and tricks. Also, be sure to "LIKE" Coupon Queen Diaries on Facebook. Even when I'm MIA from the blog, you can always find me (and my readers) posting tidbits and deals over there!