Price Matching: A How-To Guide

The first thing I wanted to do before I started price matching was get my pantry organized. I knew that I was going to start buying 2-4 of every item while it was on sale, and then not buy it as often. I already had a couple hundred canning jars of produce so I needed to make the rest of my pantry count. I wanted to set clear limits on how much would be reasonable to store. Part of my resistance to price matching in the first place was a nagging fear that I would become a price matching, extreme couponing hoarder like I have seen on TV. Most of these plastic drawers were in various closets throughout my house, and I just stuck them together for the cause. I made sure there there was room in the freezer for some refridgerated items such as bacon, cheese, and butter. Once my storage was under control, I was ready. To all of you Wal-Mart haters out there who try to shop at the smaller grocery stores: I feel you, and I am supportive of that. In the town where I shop, my options are Wal-Mart or Save-A-Lot. Sometimes the latter does not have everything I need. Every other week, when I take Madison to piano, I go to Prenger's to shop for their sale items instead of price matching them. I also get many dry goods, seasonings, canning supplies, and other kitchen products from our Amish Variety Store. If it makes you feel any better.

Here are some things I have learned about Price Matching. As long as your printed ad comes from a store within 60 miles of whatever Wal-Mart you are shopping in, and Walmart has the product in the ad, they will match the price. I did not realize initially that this also means store brand items. If you are not offended by Wal-Mart’s vast assortment of Great Value products, you can substitute them for any other generic or store brands such as Hy-Vee, Best Choice, or Always Save. This is how I make the whole thing work for me:

1.Every week, I look at my grocery ads, armed with a small notebook and a pen. I write down the name of the store, and when I see products I typically buy, I write down the name of the item, along with the size and price(Once in the grocery store, I would never remember which sizes of every product were on sale). The “typically buy” portion of this step is the key. I do not buy any random groceries because they are cheap, or I have a coupon, or they come with a free item that I do not need. Ever. I only write down the products I would normally buy. (Total Time: 5-10 minutes)

2.I keep my little notebook in my purse to reference in the store. When shopping, I go about my usual route and shop as I normally would.

3.When I find an item on my list, I double check to be sure Wal-Mart's price is not already cheaper (We wouldn't want to price match UP, now would we?) before adding it to my cart. If Wal-Mart's price is already cheaper, I put it in my cart and cross it off of my list.

4.When checking out, I place all regular items on the belt first, saving the price match items for the back. I tell my cashier, "I am going to price match starting with the cereal." When she gets to the cereal, or whatever, I tell her the prices on my list, and she keys them in. It seldom ads a minute to my checkout time.

No one has ever asked to see my ad. Occasionally they have asked what store the ad was from. At first, I felt like I was asking permission from the cashier to do this, and it made me feel uncomfortable. At first, I wondered if they thought I was doing a poor job providing for my family. I am over that now. For me, price matching is not about trying to get through tough times or for survival. For me, it is about planning for our future. Providing for our family. I don't feel embarassed anymore. I feel empowered.

The Benefits of Price Matching

While I always thought I should probably try to price match at some point, I resisted for a long time. I could not get past the whole time consuming hassle it must be. I was not even looking at the ads. I would think about what I might cook in the upcoming week, and make a list of the groceries I would need, adding in the groceries we may have run out of. Sometimes I did not get everything written down on my list, so I would go to the store two or three times per week, either before work or on my lunch break. Of course every time I went to the store I picked up a few things that were not on my list. I don’t know why it never occurred to me that the way I was grocery shopping was already a huge hassle.

In the spirit of thrifty living, I knew I was going to have to give it a chance to see if price matching would be worth all of that hassle. I have been faithfully price matching for a few months now. I may not be a true veteran yet, but I am compelled to share my findings with you. It did not really work out like I expected. Price matching has changed my life, and get ready for it…simplified my life. How crazy is that? Let me explain.

At first, I could see that I was saving money per item, no question, but my grocery bill was not going down much, and I was not sure this was going to be for me. I was buying more of these sale items at once than I use to buy, so my overall grocery total remained high. However, a month or so went by, and my pantry got stocked up on all of our typical staples. All at once, I didn't need to get very many groceries at all each week. Let me count the ways life has become more simple.

1. The longer I price match, the shorter my grocery list gets. My pantry drawers are all stocked up.
2. Anyone in my family can easily find anything in my pantry now, which makes everyone helpful when I am cooking or baking.
3. Most of the time, I only go to the store once a week now, unless I am in another town and can go to a different grocery store.
4. It feels good to have a well stocked pantry, and to know I got everything at a savings. It is similar to the feeling I get from canning out of our garden.
5. If I wanted to skip a few weeks of grocery shopping, except for buying milk, I totally could.
6. We don't run out of things anymore. I use to hate that.

My savings per shopping trip is almost always at least $10 on my purchases. If you consider the fact that I go to the store so much less often, the savings is considerably more than that. I have to say it is working for me. I have gone from someone to paid absolutely no attention to the ads to a person who gets personally offended by a store expecting me to pay full price for certain things. I have started waiting until things are on sale, price matching them and using a coupon, but that might be another post for another day!

Jaron & Dixie: A Love Story

A few years ago, our black lab, Max, died unexpectedly. I did not realize how attached Jaron was to Max. Jaron does not always verbalize what matters to him, so you have to look for it sometimes. We went to Build-A-Bear over a year after we lost that dog, and Jaron chose to make a black lab instead of a bear…and he named it Max. It goes both ways. He does not always speak up when he is super excited or troubled, so over the years I have learned to look for the signs. One of the simplest ways to know he is happy is the “Big Boy Face.” The Big Boy Face is pretty self-explanatory. Jaron is excited, but he wants to play it cool and he tries hard to NOT smile about it. He tries to keep a poker face, but cannot keep his smile at bay, resulting in sparkling eyes and a dimple that turns me to mush, like this: Jaron has asked a few times about getting another dog, and we decided to make this happen. We thought with Madison having piano lessons to occupy some of her daily time, that this could be something Jaron could have of his very own. He has named her Dixie. She is the cause of a lot of Big Boy Face around here.

Dixie was the first puppy to be born in her litter, and as soon as it happened Jaron said, “I think I should keep this one!” He stuck to that even after meeting all of the others, and he loves her. When he feeds the puppies, he makes sure the others are letting Dixie's little face in the bowl. For Dixie’s protection, he does not let Megan anywhere near her. Once Madison was saying that Dixie was too fat and she needed to stop eating, to which Jaron replied, “Don’t say that in front of her!”

Jaron has embraced the responsibility of raising Dixie. If having a pet includes holding her, feeding her, playing with her, training her (with a toy stuffed raccoon), and cleaning up her messes, he is handling it like a pro. When he is gone, Dixie cries for him. It is a love story.

Just Like Grandma Use to Make

I have never really thought of myself as overly domestic. To me, a domestic girl is like a pre-jail Martha Stewart. She is the girl whose intricately homemade centerpiece is surrounded by bright and innovative place settings on her dinner table. She sews, and she always makes homemade goodness for the class parties at school. She does not get behind on the laundry. I am not that girl, but over the weekend, I did make sourdough bread for the first time. I got my live yeast starter jar from my mom, who got hers from my Grandma Harvey, who got hers the year my dad was born. So I followed the detailed instructions that have be passed down for generations, and I made bread that smelled and tasted just like Grandma use to make.

I thought about how Grandma use to work her bread dough over at her kitchen table, telling stories the whole time. We gathered around her like there was a good movie on TV. As the smell drifted throughout my house, I remembered how much I love this stuff toasted with an egg and a slice of tomato! I had that for breakfast many times with my grandparents. I would love to sit down with her and ask her all about her experiences with this bread. And with canning throughout the years. And with motherhood..and with life on the farm. I would love to talk to her about my kids, cooking, and making homemade laundry detergent. I think she would love that I do that.
I have Grandma's handwritten recipe with tips, and I have Mom's adaptation involving the bread machine's dough cycle and some wheat flour. I have never felt more capable in the kitchen in all of my life, even with multiple phone calls to Mom throughout the process. Sometimes baking is about baking and feeding people, and sometimes baking is a way to honor the people who have contributed to the person you have become. Sometimes it is good to take a minute to recognize what a blessing it is to have grown up with such strong women in my life who have helped me to recognize what is important. Women who cared for their families before anything else. I have their recipes on paper, but they have also given me many unwritten principles to live by. I treasure them all. I guess maybe my hope is that one day someone will want to make something like I made it, or do something like I did it. Like maybe I did something right.

quotes from the backseat

Megan: "Jaron, you're getting me nuts!"

About the Holidays

I have been slacking on my blog. I was wondering how I expect to record the moments if I skip blogging about the entire 2011 holiday season? So here goes. We had a wonderful Christmas. We were healthy, and the kids possessed the perfect level of excitement. Madison performed "Jingle Bells" on the piano for the Christmas programs at church and school, and Megan sang "Jingle Bells" to anyone who would listen. Jaron was in video game heaven. Kevin and I both took four consecutive days off to spend with our families. Magan walked into the living room that morning and said, "OH! Santa left me lots of presents under dat tree!" The kids were grateful for their gifts, and for the first time we did not have a noon meal to attend on Christmas Day as it was scheduled for the day after. We were able to let the kids really dig in to their new gifts and play hard, as I baked and filled trash bags with gift exchange aftermath. There were minor hiccups, but nothing too major. Jaron sort of got puked on at one family dinner, and Megan got peed on at another. I guess those are some of the potential hazards of holiday gatherings.

Four days. Three dinners. Family. Festive socks.
Thoughtful gifts. Yummy food. Children playing to the point of exhaustion. Good times.

Judy's Jewels, Volume 1

I don't know if I have told you before that my mom has always had most of the answers. When I was growing up, she was a walking dictionary. It came in handy when I was doing homework. She has gained much wisdom from experience, and she reads a lot. I appreciate that she is good about passing along jewels of wisdom gained from life, books, or people in her path. I will take all the help I can get! If something touches or inspires her, she is good about sharing it. She should probably be blogging about it...but she does not blog nearly enough these days. It's true. So I thought what if I took it upon myself to impart Judy's Jewels to the blogging world? Kids are not the only ones who need to be recorded! So this is my first in what I anticipate to be a series of posts on this topic. May you be as richly blessed by them as I am.

There are certain quotes from my mom that resurface often over the years. These are the ones that are so classic that my sister and I say them to each other if Mom is not there to say them for herself. Here are two examples.

"Assign the problem to whom it belongs."

Sometimes we worry about situations over which we have no control. Conditions in our schools, communities, or places of work. Maybe even among family members or friends. No good comes from worry, so at the end of the day, assigning the problem to whom it belongs is a great policy. If the problem is yours, work on it. If it belongs to others, let them work on it. If anyone involved needs some divine intervention, it couldn't hurt to ask for some. Mostly, she wants us to remove those unnecessary burdens from our shoulders.

"How do you eat an elephant?"

This comes up when I am overwhelmed. When duties start stacking up and I can't figure out where to start to remedy the situation. The answer is, "One bite at a time." It is impossible to fix everything all at once, so I have to step back and chip away at it one small step, or small bite, at a time. What are some things your mother told you that should be shared?