I Like Wal-Mart So Sue Me

Before you judge me outright, let me explain myself.  Before I became a full-fledged Cheap Mama I used to avoid Wal-Mart like the plague.  I loathed the idea of trekking across the vast parking lot only to be met with aisle hoggers and long check out lines.  However, when I started being a vigilant price-checker and committed to find the best deal I slowly realized that Wal-Mart wasn't all that bad.  Allow me to explain what I like about Wal-Mart and then we can talk about what I don't like.  Maybe then you'll see I'm not all that crazy.

Hang with me.

Let's start with what greets me as I walk into the discount behemoth.

I appreciate that Wal-Mart has a recycle bin for their plastic bags.  If you (like me) are going to use those white plastic baggies, the least we can do is to recycle them and The Mart makes it easy to do this.  The bonus is you get to say hello to the little elderly greeter.

For those of us who are trying to stretch that grocery dollar as far as it will go, generic items are an enormous help.  Wal-Mart's store brands, Great Value and Parent's Choice, are great options for the comparable branded items.  I have used a Great Value or Parent's Choice substitute on almost every item available that I purchase and I have yet to be truly disappointed.  In all honesty, if they weren't in the tell-tale white box with blue lettering, I wouldn't recognize the difference.  In the other stores that I shop, there are store brands also but not nearly to the extent that Wal-Mart provides.  I realize this is a strategic marketing move that Wal-Mart has made to entice frugal shoppers but at least I know that I took the bait.

My favorite thing about Wal-Mart, however, is the fact that they include the price per ounce on every single one of their shelf labels.  I learned early on in my study to become a Cheap Mama that price per ounce means everything.  It's the easiest way to compare prices between two objects especially if they are of differing sizes or if you're trying to figure out if the larger size is truly the more economical choice.  In the other local stores that I shop the price is only listed for the whole item.  This means I have to pull out my phone calculator and do the math myself.  This isn't always easy with two kids in tow so I love that Wal-Mart does the work for me.  If you see me shopping and peering at the price labels, 9 times out of 10 I'm looking at the small number to the left first to see what the cheapest option is, and then checking the total cost of the item to make sure it won't bust the weekly grocery budget.

I took this picture for a previous post so forgive the picture.  The total price is in yellow but the price/ounce is included in the orange box to the left. 

Another fabulous feature of Wal-Mart is that they will match any competitor's  prices as long as you show the circular at check-out.  I don't know if they will honor the price pulled up on your smartphone so if anyone knows, please leave a comment.  I really love this feature because let's say for argument's sake that I am addicted to diet coke.  I know the best value for diet coke and this week Target happens to have it on sale for the lowest available price.  Unfortunately, I cannot enter Target without completely losing my mind and buying unneeded clothes for my children so I really don't need to go to Target this week unless I want to blow this month's budget.  Never fear!  I can take the circular with me to Wal-Mart, show the price at checkout and get the item for the Target sale price no matter what the actual price is at Wal-Mart on that given day.  It's a win-win.  I get the crack cocaine diet coke and don't lose my financial mind at Target.

The last reason I love Wal-Mart is because they carry the zip-up hoodies that I can't seem to quit.  I don't know why I love them.  I only know I do.

For those of you who have stuck with me throughout this post (you deserve a medal!) let me list quickly the reasons I don't like Wal-Mart.  Hopefully this will be enough to keep me on your good side if you're a Wal-Mart hater.

Wal-Mart will never put their meat on sale.  Ever.  However, my local grocery stores run specials on meat almost every week so I purchase those items from the local stores.

The rough parking lots mean that I will darn near give the baby Shaken Baby Syndrome on the way into the store and on my way out of the store will inevitably bounce the cases of diet coke so much that they fall off the bottom shelf of the cart leaving me to load them back on in the middle of the parking lot.  Good times, good times.

The fact that there are always 900 check-out lanes but only 3 checkers available is something I will never understand.  However, this allows me time to catch up on the gossip rags so that I never have to pay for them.

Hopefully you now understand my love/hate relationship with Wal-Mart and maybe you'll be encouraged to give The Mart another try if you've avoided it as I used to do. 

Happy shopping, Cheap Mama!

Rome Wasn't Built In A Day. Why Decorating Takes Time

I thought about naming this post "I'll Just Wait 'Til I Find It At TJMaxx" because that's the approach I've taken in decorating my house since I became a Cheap Mama.

One of my favorite things to do when I was working and blowing cash like it was a competitive sport, was to stop at a bookstore and purchase stacks of home decorating magazines.  I discovered a passion for interior design after it was too late to do anything about it, so I found my outlet in poring over beautiful spaces and looking at what made them work.  I still love to do this but now I read them at the public library while my son plays at the puzzle table.

The one thing I have learned by studying these rooms is to recognize true style.  When you understand style, you can recognize a good reproduction when you see it.  This is how I shop for my house.  I once read a quote in one of those fabulous magazines from a famous interior designer.  She said a well done room takes time.  I think in this era of done-in-a-day decorating shows we have somehow lost this truth about decorating.  Rome wasn't built in a day, as they say, and neither will be your house.  Decorating it and filling it with beautiful things will take time.  And, Cheap Mama, in this case time is on your side.

Because with time, you will be able to look for the inexpensive great finds that are part of your style.  You will be able to find those items that when placed correctly in your home, will look like a million bucks and no one will know there's a discount store sticker on the back that you never could scrape off completely.

I use these images that are catalogued in my mind from those magazines when I'm shopping places like Big Lots, TJMaxx, Ross, Tuesday Morning, etc.  It takes a shrewd eye to determine what is junk in these places and what will look great.  With the "idea rooms" in my mind I am able to be a discerning shopper and know when I've found a great deal; the item that is an excellent cheap knock-off of the real deal.

Knowing that decorating a home or room takes time and finding good reproductions takes time, I've begun exercising a lot more patience when it comes to feathering my nest.  I am sometimes tempted to give into the quick and easy purchase.  But I know if I do that, I will end up spending more money than if I had exercised a little patience and...you know, waited until I found it on sale at TJMaxx.

Happy shopping, Cheap Mama.

Here are a few of my recent Cheap Mama finds.

Mirror from *gasp* Big Lots!

Slip-covered chair from a local consignment store

Rug from Big Lots.

Sofa table from Goodwill.

Blog Redesign Update

As you can see, I finally completed my blog redesign.  My friend Kristen at Three In The Nest gave me some great sites for backgrounds and headers.  The sites are The Background Fairy, Delicious Design Studio and Dotty Dot Design.

My new design is from The Background Fairy and I used Picnik to personalize the header.  Both are very easy to use and free!

I hope you like the design!

Why I Hated College is Why I Love Twitter

Acceptance.  The End.

Only kidding.  I'll actually write a little bit more about the subject.  When I went off to college I was an Oklahoma hometown girl going off to a university with 20,000+ students.  I didn't go with any close friends and went potluck on a roommate.  I never gave any of this a second thought because I figured that, just as I had made friends in high school, I would make friends in college.  I didn't pledge a sorority only because I was so utterly exhausted from all of the "have tos" that I had done in high school in order to get accepted to college that I only wanted to do the bare minimum required - go to class and sleep.

This meant that making friends and networking was an uphill battle.  I joined groups, put myself out there, talked to my classmates and slowly but surely made some acquaintances.  But the close friendships I had experienced in high school just weren't there.  For years I couldn't figure out why memories of college seemed a little sour and one day I figured it out.  In college, I never felt accepted for who I really was.

I always felt like my sense of humor was too dry, my laugh too loud and my wardrobe not designer enough.  I have little doubt that most of this can be attributed to the immaturity of college age kids but it still stung.  For me college seemed like a time when you had to keep trying on different versions of yourself in order to fit in and be one of the group.  This just wasn't something I was used to and wasn't something I wanted to do in order to be accepted.

The whole subject of acceptance comes to mind when I think of Twitter.  Perhaps it's because I've chosen to follow and connect with the right people (so far) but I love Twitter for the same reason I hated college - I am accepted for who I am.  There are always people with whom I disagree or who probably don't love every word I tweet but we are all civil with one another.  The even bigger bonus? I have found people like myself and find that we have the same sense of humor, laugh loudly too and our clothes usually come from Target.  I know that age and maturity probably has a lot to do with this but I find it so refreshing to find that we all seem to have figured out who we are.  And we put ourselves out there.  And find we are accepted.

Blog Redesign

I have been trying to work on a blog redesign this week.  For some reason I am drawn to blog themes that look more like I'm decorating my daughter's room than designing a blog on chic, cheap living.  I know this is not the direction I need to go, but oh pink damask how I love thee.

Speaking of my daughter, her constant feeding and napping needs have made it difficult for me to finish the redesign in one sitting.  Not to mention having to have yet another discussion on Lego Star Wars characters with my son every three-and-a-half minutes.  Hence, the current appearance.

Until I figure it out, please kindly ignore the fact that my design looks half finished.  Because it is.

*To see how I got the finished product, check out Blog Redesign Update

What Happened When I Gave Up Shopping For Lent

I am a practicing Baptist, not a Catholic, which means that during the Lent season I can still eat meat on Fridays and I don't have to give anything up as a sacrifice.  However, I live in southeast Louisiana which is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith.  This means that during the weeks between Mardi Gras and Easter Sunday I'm surrounded by a Friday night fish fry at the Knights of Columbus and friends talking about how they miss diet Coke, chocolate, or whatever else they've given up for Lent.  Actually, eating deep-fried catfish is my idea of a great Friday night so I'm more than happy to partake in the Catholic traditions.

Each year when I was in the working world and around other adults (instead of these two hooligans who only care about snack time) the discussions starting in February always centered around what everyone was going to give up for Lent.  I listened with interest but never gave a thought to participating myself.  However, two years ago I was in the throes of spending more than I knew was necessary and on top of that was considering staying home.  I knew if I became a stay-at-home mom my spending habits would need to drastically change so I decided to give up shopping for Lent.  I know, crazy right?

The only items I allowed myself to purchase were groceries and any needed emergency items such as medicine or tampons.  Tampons are important, y'all.  The first week wasn't so bad but as time went on it got harder and harder not to pull into Target, Ross or TJMaxx and see what new goodies they had.  I had justified my previous spending because, as the earlier list of cheap stores shows, I never shopped expensive retail stores.  I was always shopping in the bargain stores for all of my home and clothing stuff.  However, $50 here and $100 there quickly adds up and until I stopped shopping cold turkey I had no idea how much money I was blowing every month on things I didn't need.

As the Lent season progressed I realized that shopping for me wasn't just a transaction.  It was an outlet, an emotional experience.  If I was having a bad day or displeased with something in my house or closet I went out for some literal retail therapy and felt better...for a moment.  Then buyer's remorse would usually set in because what I purchased wasn't a necessary item and then I would get bummed out.  And the vicious cycle continued.

It wasn't until I had to literally keep myself from pulling into the parking lot of a store that I realized how much time and money I had been wasting on unnecessary things.  I began to see purchases as falling into one of two categories: Need or Want and I came to see that the vast majority of what I purchased each month was a Want and not a Need.

It was eye-opening to see that my son didn't need more clothes.  My husband didn't need new ties for work.  I didn't need new throw pillows for the sofa.  When I pared my life down to the essentials I realized how much we already had and how little extra we really needed.  I'm embarrassed to remember how much money I wasted and am forever grateful for that Lent season two years ago that taught me that blessings do not come with price tags.

Cut the Cheese

My husband and I received our tax refund this week and the extra money in the bank has me planning all kinds of wonderful ways I could burn through that cash.  New rug in the dining room? New sofa in the playroom? No more skimping on the monthly food budget? I have about a million different ways to spend that money floating around in my head.  But when I come back to reality I realize that the money needs to be put into the savings account and used for a rainy day.  Ah, well, a Cheap Mama can dream, can't she?

In all of my new-money-dreaminess I had to remind myself that the way we have kept our heads above water, financially speaking, is by my implementing all of my Cheap Mama tricks and sticking with them month in and month out. It's not always easy or fun but it does help me sleep at night knowing that I'm doing all I can to be responsible with what God has given us.

The grocery budget is always the easiest place for me to save money but it is also the easiest place for me to blow money.  The way I keep my head on straight in the grocery store and not give in to those impulse purchases is to continually say to myself the phrase that keeps me focused.  It's my grocery store mantra.  Cut the Cheese.

In my experience as a Cheap Mama I've come to realize that if any of the work is done for me when it comes to food items, I'm paying for the extra convenience.  Is it a pre-made meal? I'm paying extra for that.  Is the product pre-cooked?  I'm paying extra for that.  Is the cheese already in convenient little plastic-wrapped slices for me?  I'm paying extra for that.  Cut the Cheese means to look for the food products that are in their whole, natural state; the actual ingredients themselves because they will always cost less than the pre-packaged, done-for-you food items.  They are also usually the healthier item as well.

So when I am in the grocery store and can feel myself losing it because my head hurts from making the 817th food decision, the kids won't stop talking at me,  and the old lady in front of me has parked her shopping cart in the dang middle of the aisle with no way to get around her, I take a deep breath.  I put the impulse purchase back on the shelf.  I center myself.  And I remind myself to Cut the Cheese.  It reminds me to get back on track in my effort to stretch my grocery dollars and the bonus is, it always makes me laugh.  Because let's face it, farts are funny.  Always.  Funny.