Bargain Shopping Balance – How To Keep Yours

Webster’s dictionary has quite a few definitions for the word “balance“, most of them talking about scales, weighing, debits and credits. But my favorite? One word. Equilibrium.

Over the next four days, I’ll be sharing four steps for finding, regaining or never losing your shopping equilibrium…that is, your bargain shopping balance. It looks different for everyone. But the list I’ve come up with for myself is one I wish someone had shared with me when I first started this journey.

Step 1 – Pray

As with everything, this should be a Christian’s (my) first inclination. But so often it’s not. Not until AFTER the fact. But just think how much clearer things would be and how much freer the Holy Spirit would be to work if we gave ourselves to prayer FIRST THING! As I pray before I shop (yes, it’s ok to pray about shopping), I am empowered to make confident decisions without looking back.

Sometimes I have felt led to stop at a store I hadn’t planned only to find a great deal on something we’d been needing. And then there are the times I’ve driven in the direction of a store only to feel like I needed to NOT go there. Or had items in my cart only to feel a strong push to put them back on the shelf.

I’ve learned to recognize this inner communication that somehow isn’t present when I don’t take the time to pray. And of course, every Christian shopper should be ready to shout “Thank you Jesus!”, inwardly or otherwise, after stumbling on a “too good to be true” bargain. Or after coming in under budget when you have not a clue how you did it! (Hint: it wasn’t you!)

Tightrope walkers don’t get up on the high wire for the very first time and walk across perfectly. It takes hours and hours of training and practice to gain their balance and keep it.

The same applies to bargain shopping. I know, I know, it’s a pretty loose analogy but there is truth in it. It takes some time to develop skill and strategy, to figure out the best organization method and how to use your time effectively.

Once prayer becomes one of the first things you do when planning your menus, organizing your shopping lists or embarking on a shopping trip, I think you’ll find that it’s half the battle. But it doesn’t stop there. Prayer simply energizes, empowers and opens us up to God’s will and His leading. Then it’s up to us to follow what we’re shown. To get up on that tightrope and find our balance.

As I mentioned before, I used to be so caught up in getting the deals that I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. After much prayer (and loving accountability from hubby), I realized that I was using my time poorly, expending precious energy and really not much more ahead for it.

That’s when I learned….

Step 2 – Limit Shopping

It is so tempting to run back out several times a week to keep rolling those deals or seeing what other bargains are out there. I don’t anymore!

First of all, my time is precious. It’s sacred. How much am I losing by chasing deals that will surely come around again? Seriously, how many bottles of body wash or tubes of toothpaste does one really need? I’m all for stockpiling and donating but at the detriment of my sanity? Is it worth the infringement upon my time? Upon my family’s time?

Now there are days when I am not able to complete my weekly shopping within that day, which causes me to have to run out the next. That’s fine. And everyone’s schedule will be different. But like I said before, I was making the rounds one day, then going again, and again and again. There’s one word for this: OVERKILL. Or three….LACK OF BALANCE!

As always, there are exceptions. When it’s a fantastic deal that might not come around for another year…for example, the Kellogg’s Fuel For School deal…then I definitely take advantage of it by making several shopping trips during the week. Who turns down $0.40 cereal?

When I was first started my money saving journey, making a couple of extra trips was justified because I was trying to establish a stockpile. But once I saw my stockpile growing, I should have know it was time to back off. And when I finally realized it, I regained some of my balance.

When I finally learned to limit my shopping, I was amazed at the peace that settled into my life.

I found that pouring over several different scenarios to facilitate in back to back transactions didn’t make much of a difference in my budget versus rolling my bucks  from week to week in larger transactions.

I was no longer governed by register rewards and extra care bucks. I could concentrate on my shopping for the week and then walk away. I could relax. I could get other things accomplished without the drain on my time and energy.

There was, however, another area that needed addressed. I could have forty bottles of body wash or fifteen tubes of lip balm in my cupboard but if Walgreens offered FREE body wash or lip balm that week, it didn’t matter, I HAD to get it. I mean, it was FREE, right? And I’m only going to make one trip, right? And so what if there’s absolutely nothing else I need at Walgreens , it’s FREE!

And what about this coupon I have for $3 off laundry detergent? Shouldn’t I track down a great deal to use it on? And what about this coupon that’s getting ready to expire? If I don’t use it, isn’t that like throwing away money?

Of course I’m exaggerating (just a bit) but it’s really easy to get stuck in mindsets like this.

And that’s when I heard God, raising His voice just enough to get my attention…

Step 3 – Let it Go!

If you’re new to the coupon game, then here’s the inside scoop:

There will always be another deal!

There will always be FREE toothpaste and FREE body wash and FREE lip balm and FREE razors…FREE vitamins and FREE contact lens solution….FREE cough drops and FREE cold & cough medication….you get the picture. There will always be deals where you pay mere cents out of pocket because of a doubled coupon or accumulated reward bucks.

And there will always be more coupons.

In case you haven’t noticed by now, the coupons move in cycles. Manufacturers publish the same coupons over and over throughout the year. And when the coupons come, so do the deals. Funny how that works.

So, if I miss a deal…or choose not to participate in a deal…it’s ok because….say it with me….

There will always be another deal!

My overflowing cupboards attest to this, as do the numerous bags of donation items sitting in the middle of my kitchen.

So LET IT GO ALREADY!

So, as I created habits of praying, limiting my shopping and letting some of the deals rest, I felt balance return to my life.

I could breathe. I could be productive in other areas besides shopping. I could be still and just be. And I found that I once again was enjoying my frugal way of life.

And then it was Thanksgiving. And then began the mad holiday rush of parties and programs and Christmas shopping and ministry opportunities. In the midst of it all, I found myself not wanting to so much as look at a coupon, much less actually clip and file one.

I mentioned this to my husband and he uttered these words of great wisdom, “why don’t you justgive yourself a break until after Christmas?”

Huh? A break? Well, DUH!

Step 4 – Take Breaks

And so began the forming of another habit. Twice a year I take a break. During the summer and the Christmas season. Now, this doesn’t mean that I don’t coupon at all during those times or keep my eyes open for deals, but I do lay back a little.

During June, July and December,  I very seldom step foot inside a Walgreens or CVS. I have found that the deals slow down a bit during these times so I can too. Subtracting those two stores from my weekly routine gives me a break from the mental taxation of extra care bucks and register rewards scenarios, and makes two less stops on my shopping circuit. I feel like a frivolously free woman!

And in this I have found another great reason to stockpile. Because I hunt the deals all year long, our cupboards are full of most of the things we need on a day to day basis. So, I can take a break during these busiest times of the year and our budget doesn’t feel it. Because our budget doesn’t feel it, I don’t feel the guilt.

Another great balancing act!