I just love your posts! You crack me up with your hilarious observations of *the Frugals* with our treasure trove of glossy money paper and ricey goodness! I felt a little upset about your co-workers and their bet on the ziplocks…the truth is is that some folks just don’t get it. I remember the days when I thought it was a *splurge* to buy luxury body washes, brand name detergents and those $5.00 boxes of cereal. Now I have a house BRIMMING with all those items. I spend about $50.00 a week for food and HBA items vs. the $150.00 weekly that I would spend at my local supercenter- and that was considered a *good* week. Being frugal is not about speeding across town to save 3 cents on a can of peas- it’s about quality, quantity, and saving money for the things that are truely important to your family.

For those of you who have resistant husbands, I would start with trying to understand where he is coming from. Alot of guys have never had to experience how hard it is to *stay inside the lines* of a grocery budget… because usually it’s US who’s doing the shopping…therefore they do not really understand the value of couponing. But they will! Believe me, my hubby NOTICES an extra $400.00+ in our bank account every month!

I know it’s difficult, but try to keep your excitement down to a dull roar. For whatever reason, they will not share your excitement about getting that $5.00 box of cereal for 50 cents-YET. It will come when the house starts filling up along with your bank account! I think at first it may seem *cheap* to them that you are stoked because you saved $1.50 on a jar of pasta sauce. Again, they haven’t seen the overall picture yet.

As someone else so wisely put it- keep him out of the store with you for now. We have all been there- the cashier that acts like you are a huge pain for using coupons, the call to a manager for approval, the sighing customers behind you in line (before they hear your total..then they change their tune!) You don’t want him to see this side of things. It will only add to the *cheap/bad provider* factor.

Other than that, concentrate on quality and quantity. I think at first my hubby thought this was some kind of goofy whim I went off on, but since I was saving a little cash he didn’t say too much about it. I started coming home overjoyed about my little grocery/drug store victories and he looked at me like I was crazy! After a few months of couponing, instead of asking me how much I spent, he started asking “How much did you save?” :)

Now, after a year of couponing, he runs out to grab the Sunday papers for me and he gets really tickled hearing about all my upcoming deals- he even enjoys going through the CVS flier himself to spot all the good deals! And much to my surprise, recently he was talking about my savings to a bunch of guys he works with and took in a grocery receipt to proove it the following day- Now it’s me giving him ODD looks! LOL…

I have been couponing hard for almost 2 years and we save a ton. Now he tells the people behind me in line at the checkout counter that if they don;t want to wait then go to another line. He was so upset at one couple for taking about me out loud at a checkout line. Then he announced to them when we paid $12.50 for $150 worth of groceries. The lady wanted to know how I got all them coupons. lol

Mike now goes to the store and with a list he will use coupons if I lay them out (didn’t used to) He now will even go through my coupon book if there is something he needs at the store.

Saving money is awesome and No we don’t reuse Ziplock bags either. Why should we?
.-= Rachlea´s last blog ..Food CIty Deals Oct 18-Oct 24th =-.

We started out with another site and, thank goodness!, found our way here to Dana’s site. The other site saved us some money, but not nearly as much as this one.

My husband had grumbled about the long shopping trips (he always had to be begged and bargained with to come along) but armed with one list from this website and coupons he was completely hooked after $97 worth of groceries came down to less than $10 at the register.

After that, he was the one asking ME to go shopping!
.-= Sophy´s last blog ..Can the top 3 hold their edge in final 6 races? =-.

He’s turned into the coupon holder when we go to the store, and gave himself the name “coupon boy”.

Here are two ideas for those who have “anti-coupon” significant others.

1. Stick to your budget, don’t take him to the store with you, continue to use coupons, and let the food stockpile. They will believe it when you see it. You don’t spend any extra money, but you do gain extra food.

2. Don’t take him to the store with you, continue to use coupons, but the money left over from your budget, save. Then at the end of the month, show him, in cold hard cash. You don’t get extra food, but you do save money.

Remember, men are visual creatures, when they see it, they believe it!