Ok, I have to confess. I stop at convenience stores regularly. I also go through the drive-thru a couple times a week. Now, before you unsubscribe because you now believe I'm a frugal hypocrite hear me out.
I have a change cup that I keep in my car that is specifically for these purposes. Sometimes if I'm running errands, I like to stop and get a coffee or soda. See, I know I'm supposed to stay away from coffee houses and their $4-5 prices. But it's so easy to justify grabbing change out of my cup for a quick coffee or snack when I'm on the go. And sometimes when Haddie and I are out and we pass McDonald's and she starts asking for a "hambooger" it's a little too easy to dip into that cup and get a couple of items off of their dollar menu, to hold us over until we get home. That's frugal right? We didn't order a whole meal, just a couple $1 items. That's how I would justify it to myself. That and the fact that it wasn't coming out of budgeted money, since it was leftover change from different things.
Well, this morning I was reading an article where a mom was cutting down on her grocery budget by eliminating convenience foods, but since I've already done that I started questioning what my convenience items were. I was shocked by what I came up with!
On average we buy:
Three soda or coffee's a week @ $1.29 each X 52 weeks = $201.24
Two snacks a week @ $.99 each X 52 weeks = $102.96
Two dollar menu items twice a week is $4 each week X 52 weeks = $208
That's $512.20 a year that I could be saving!!! All from a change cup! I hadn't realized until I did the math how much I was spending. So what am I going to do to prevent this?
Be prepared! Definitely going to be putting coffee in a thermos or iced tea in a bottle to take with me before I leave, and making sure my little one has a full sippy. I'm going to keep storeable snacks in the glove compartment or console, and throw a couple of apples in my purse before I leave. I am still going to keep my change cup in my car in case I ever have a quick emergency like needing to use a pay phone or a gallon of gas to get home (I'm bad about forgetting to fill up!). But I'm going to empty that cup into a jar at the end of every week and every month me and the kids can roll the coins to deposit into our savings.
So, do you have any convenience items that you can cut back on?
