Welcome back to another week of The Teacher’s Salary series. Feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email if you have any suggestions for future topics.
Click HERE to see links to some of my previous posts from this series.
Last week, I talked about learning the drug store game. When I first started clipping coupons, I got completely sucked into the drug store game. I found myself heading out at night when Kev was home and Savannah was in bed, travelling from store to store in search of all the great deals I was seeing online. While part of me knew that I would never be able to keep that up, I did it anyway so that I could learn the ropes.
It’s easy to get drawn in to the thrill and adrenaline rush of getting lots of products for free or next to nothing, but let’s be realistic for a second…it’s not sustainable, nor is it healthy! I don’t know about you, but I clip coupons and play the drug store game in order to benefit my family, not just for the fun of it {although it can be fun too!}. And if doing it means that I’m jeopardizing my health or my family, then it’s certainly not worth it and I’ll eventually get tired of it or burn out.
My hope is that any of you who are just starting out might avoid some of my mistakes and find a balance early on as you learn the ropes. With that in mind, here are my 4 ideas for preventing drug store game burnout.
1. Set aside a budget – and stick to it
When I was getting started learning the drug store game, I was thrilled at how much I was saving and easily got carried away. Especially when just getting started, you may have to spend a little out of pocket to get you going. Once you have built up some of your “rewards,” you hopefully won’t be spending too much out of pocket, but if you aren’t careful, you may end up with tons of great deals on household and beauty products and then not have much money leftover for the rest of your groceries. Though I may have “needed” the diapers and shampoo and they were great deals, I still needed to put food on the table {what a concept, huh?}!
2. Limit yourself to 1 hour on it each week
By setting a time limit, this will help you keep yourself in check. Remember, time is also money, so you don’t want to be spending a crazy amount of time on this. Start slow and you will learn the ropes. Eventually, you probably won’t even need an hour each week for it, but this might be your only link to reality when you are just starting out.
3. Give yourself permission to miss a deal
Let me say it right now: you will miss a deal! You will even miss GREAT deals! And you know what, it’s completely okay! There is no possible way to catch every great deal at every store without spending your entire day in the car running around from store to store. Again,you are trying to save money, so don’t let the adrenaline rush of scoring a good deal cause you to forget that gas is expensive and your time is limited and valuable. The great thing about sales and coupons is that there are sale cycles…so that item you missed will eventually go back on sale again. You can snag it another time….so just relax!
4. Have fun with it!
I wrote a post a while ago about how saving money is work. Let’s be honest about it – it takes time and effort to save money, but I do believe it is possible to have fun with it. Set some goals, keep track of your savings, brag to your spouse about your trip, or bring along a frugal friend so that you can stay motivated and have some fun!
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Any of you experience drug store game burnout?
Any other ways to avoid it?
Linking up with:
Ruth for Thrifty Thursday
