Tracking spending and grocery shopping

Tracking my spending should be easy, but it's not. I find it rather difficult and always have. I think combining tracking spending with accountability with a spending freeze will make it a bit easier.

That said, today, I  spent $3.56 on take away coffee because I had failed to prepare adequately for my day. I made a lunch last night but didn't make any coffee or fill my water bottle. I also didn't set out anything for breakfast for this morning -- all things I should have done last night to prepare for a day on which I have to work.

What makes THIS time different?
I've been through many cycles of tracking, slipping up, and then giving up. But this is the first time I've ever felt like I have a chance of truly paying off my debts, saving a significant amount of money, and turning my financial life around.

This time, I have a plan. It didn't work perfectly today, but it worked better than it ever has before. I'm working on three days at a time for my spending freeze, looking ahead over the upcoming three days for possible pitfalls and other temptations, and taking steps to achieve my goals.

Yes, I slipped up today. I will probably have other slip ups in the future, but already my slip ups are far smaller than they ever have been before. I took a lunch to work. I took my water bottle even though I forgot to fill it. In the past, my slip up would have cost me a lot more than $3.56. It would have been more like $13.56 today followed by a slide into $13.56 every day.

Tomorrow, I don't have work. I have no reason to leave the house really except to take my dogs out for a walk. I have a meal plan in place for tomorrow too.

Tracking and improving my grocery budget:
I am proud to say though that I went to the grocery store yesterday with my son in tow -- usually a mistake -- and managed to spend a lot less than I usually would in that situation. I didn't save as much as I normally would, but still enough that I feel like I did a good job. Last night, I took the following steps to save on my groceries:

1. Evaluated my needs -- what was I out of, what was I too low on not to buy and made a list of those items
2. Evaluated the sales flyer from the nearest store and compared my list against the flyer
3. Evaluated available deals on Saving Star and activated deals that fit my list and also anticipated future needs
4. Evaluated my coupons and compared them to my list and Saving Star deals
5. Talked to my son about our budget and grocery needs vs wants
6. Allowed my son two wants that were on sale AND available deals on Saving Star AND that I had coupons for 
7. Allowed myself one want that was on sale AND an available deal on Saving Star AND that I had a coupon for

Here's the breakdown of my purchase, before coupons, after coupons, and after Saving Star:

• Original subtotal: $65.72
• After club card savings and coupons: $47.94
• After Saving Star rewards (pending approval): $45.04

If you haven't used Saving Star, you activate various offers (like say $5 back on a $15 Angel Soft toilet paper purchase). You submit bar code numbers for the qualifying items in your purchase and then scan and upload your receipt with those items on it. They evaluate your bar code numbers and receipt and either approve or don't approve the purchases. If they approve, you are given a rebate in the offer amounts. Once you reach $5 or more, you have the option to keep accumulating or to have the funds transferred to you via PayPal.

In the past, I used to be able to save 60% on a grocery purchase easily without going extreme on the couponing. My process, both then and now takes less than 30 minutes per week, not counting the actual shopping. Unfortunately, in the past my local store used to double coupons but they stopped quite some time ago.

Now that I've done a bit of grocery shopping, we'll be working meal plans and eating through everything before we go grocery shopping again, even if it means eating some really weird meals.

How are you saving on your groceries?