[Ms Coo P'on]

Originally Posted by PortlandCouponFinder

It's nice to hear that I am not the only couponing dad.

Too funny! But yes he is my coupon KING, he's a mathematical genius and get's our scenarios down to very little OOP. He has also shared his skills with some of the guys at work and it's so funny to hear him on the phone talking coupons.

[hcsig]

Yep, I think in the 2 years and some odd months my DD has been alive I have been shopping by myself 3 times! Granted 15 months of that was due to a deployment. She actually does really well in the store for the most part, as we make it kind of a game. If it is a small trip she gets to carry the basket until it is too heavy and then she helps. If it is a big trip then she gets to walk beside the cart and help pull off what we need.

Oh and I agree that there is nothing wrong with giving timeouts in the middle of the store. I have done it more times than I care to count or kept walking down the aisle as my DD breaks down into a temper tantrum over something little.

It is established that we only buy what is on our list and as we are going to each section/aisle I will tell her what we need so she is prepared to only get those items. Even at 2 she understands that we stick to the list, no exceptions and anything extra that goes in our cart she has to put back herself. I will admit if she is really good I will usually get her some type of little treat (usually candy to share)

[mariat23]

I really love with all these posts and the one with the husband flipping through the binder I can relate too - as well as the fighting sibs - we still call them all dears!

[jcdamomma]

It's school supply clearance time...get them each a calculator and have them add everything up as you go...whoever is closest to your total gets a "prize"...in my house it would be a non-monetary prize such as picking the movie that the family watches for family movie night or choosing the afterschool snack for the next day or a bike ride with just mom or dad!

[daisysue62]

I have a 4 and almost 2 year old and up til now have always had to bring both kids with me. Now my 4 year old is in preschool and my Dh works from home on Mondays and Fridays so I can leave the 2 year old home napping while my 4 year old is at school and I have 2.5 hours to shop ALL BY MYSELF!!! So much faster and easier.

My kids don't ask for anything, they just drive me nuts because they won't leave each other alone. If they behave I occasionally buy them a treat (chocolate or strawberry milk).

[IKnowWHoIAm]

If I can avoid taking both kids with me I do. I have an 8 yo daughter and a 3 y.o son. They are a distraction and sometimes I will miss deals. I do better when I shop alone or just have one of the kids with me.
The older one gets bored quickly and sometimes does not like walking around the store. I have tried giving her jobs of helping me find stuff on the shelf but that does not always work.

[SemFi621]

I make a list and have my coupons already in an envelope. we bring a drink and hit up the bakery for the free cookie. my daughter brings a notebook and pen and ''makes'' a list or ''draws'' what we need on it. she even has her own envelope with her coupons (pics she cuts out of magazines or my leftover trash from clipping)
i also let her pick up the things we need and put them in the buggy or search for the next item (she gets so excited when she finds it), she is also the searcher of the blinkies and tearpads. and if i can i always try to have a coupon for a candy at the checkout if she gets antsy or the line is long.

she has gotten to where now she will pick up an item and ask if we have a coupon for it.....

I try to make it like a game for her, because it is like a game to me to see how much i can get and save.... Today I got $341 worth of groceries for $118

My hubby works 12 hour shifts 6 days a week and is in the guard, so i take her everywhere and try to keep my sanity...

[LetaB]

I almost always shop alone.

The last time I took DH with me, he kept moving my binder and my bags, and I actually had to say to him, "You must stop putting things in the cart now." I went in with a $50 budget and spent $67. I went through the receipt and everything he put in the cart totaled $19, so if not for him, I would have come in under budget.

DH has had to work crazy hours lately, so yesterday I took all three kids with me to Walmart. It cost me $12.50 in quarters to leave them at the arcade. Lord only knows how much it would have me cost me (in time, money, and aggravation) to have taken them through the store with me. I do not have the sort of kids who do well in the store - the younger ones both want to walk and if I strap them in the cart they cry the whole time. Hopefully things improve as they get older, but my kids are otherwise great, so shopping behavior is not my hill to die on. I just leave them home whenever I can.

[sully1464]

my dd (9) is getting into couponing with me too. She was oooohing and aaahing to me how we stacked Qs at Target today and got 40# of dog food for free....love it...but i do enjoy my quiet couponing times too

[mikespapistwife]

I often bring all the children with me (5) but we only do ONE or TWO deals when I do this. We go in with a mission, everyone helps and we leave happy. But I live a hop, skip and jump from my main store and only a little further from all the others, so it's no big deal to go several times a week , sometimes with them, sometimes not.

[jaspere]

It depends...sometimes I have both my girls, sometimes just 1 and when I'm lucky by myself *LOL*

[geri1960]

My kids are grown now - but when I first started serious couponing I was a single mom. 2 kids - boy and girl - 2 years apart in age. I had no extra money. I actually could have made more on welfare, but my thought was, I can make it.

Before we went to a store, we had a conversation. I told them, this is how much we have, this is what we need, and if you help me...we can all do something fun on payday.

Some might think that's adding pressure to small children, but I also taught them we are all in this together. We did do fun stuff on payday (weekend). Sometimes we got to spend a little and sometimes we had to get resourceful. Both are very good with money today - they do not have debt, even after college and my daughter is planning a wedding determined to not overspend her $8k budget.

Parenting is hard. I often wish there was an instruction manual in a zipbag attached to the umbilical cord - like you get when you buy an iron.

[jennrn915]

My DD is 9 and she is a great couponer and shopper. My 15 y/o DS doesn't like to shop with us but enjoys the benefits of our couponing lifestyle.
DD has learned good prices and often finds unadvertised sales. She did a few transactions at Kroger's a couple weeks ago on Bic razors. She ended up telling the other women in line how to get the deal,too! I'll take her with me any day.
She also remembers coupons we have and will point it out to me. She got free nail polish that way today ...!

[Jennie K]

Originally Posted by PortlandCouponFinder

I don't know about all you moms out there but it seems like whenever we take our kids with us to do our grocery shopping we end up spending WAY TOO much money on impulse buys which, in turn, blows our couponing strategy and budget.

When our kids were under 5 (they're 6 & 8 now) we could leave them in Fred Meyers' Playland and do our shopping (one of the best ideas Fred Meyers ever came up with) but now they are older that's not an option.

Usually my wife can send them over to a friend's house for a playdate so we can do the shopping.

Do y'all take your kids with you when you grocery shop, or if not, what do you do with them?

I have four children, 2 in their 20s, a 14 y/o and an 8 y/o...I have been so fortunate that none of the 4 was "that kid" who whined and asked or demanded for stuff in the stores LOL. I love taking my youngest with me and she loves shopping! I signed up for our grocery store's "Cookie Card"...I paid $1 (which goes to a children's hospital) and every day she can take her card to the bakery for a free cookie, so that makes it even more fun for her.

[2007keri]

As a mom of a 3 and 4 year old, we don't have a play area in any of our stores here and I have to take them shopping with me so they come with me. I just always make sure that I have q's for their fave items and then we don't blow our shopping trip budget.

[dragonfly1215]

It was so much easier when school was in, wasn't it? I have 3 kids all above the age 7 so not that big of a deal if I need to take them with me to the store. But I tend to spend more when they tag along with me. I like to go to the stores in the morning when the lines are shorter and shelves are well stocked. It is nice sometimes to bring one child, it gives you somebody to chat with when you are at the store for a couple of hours. Plus my daughter who's 7 likes to go so her brothers have to carry in the shopping bags into the house. Thats how we do it, if you go to the store you have helped mom enough, load grocery cart, count items, unload onto the belt, then into the car. If you stayed home well, I call when I pull in the drive way, it's your turn to help carry everything in the house. I unpack as I like everything well organized in my stock pile. I have a rule everybody helps, someway. My husband makes my stockpile shelves thats his way. I do enjoy bringing my sister sometimes as I try to help her out, giving her some coupons to use as well. Takes longer to shop but great company. I do find myself more talking to other costumers when I'm alone. Like giving seniors coupons for a item if I am getting some for a great deal or a family with alot of children to feed. Instead of getting the "look" from non couponers I get thanks maybe I should start saving my inserts. They see me coming with my 3 inch binder anyway, makes me feel good.

[newberjm01]

when we go shopping at Giant Eagle they can stay at the eagles landing nest and each store has a different age range but they have to be potty trained (which is usually starting age of 3, for most GE) and that is just so awesome..i wish walmart or other stores near us like tops would get on the wagon with this idea...

if i cant do this, like in walmart i take my hubby, he will take the kids and look around for other things that we need and ill do the grocery part by myself...this way i can consentrate on what i need to get and make it fast..i hate shopping at walmart during the day...if i can i let the kids spend thenight with a relative and go shopping at 2 or 3 am when no one is in walmart, its very peaceful!...but thats a rarity...

[Thriftstoremommy990]

On Food Stamp day I let them each pick out 1 drink, 1 snack and 1 pack of gum. They know they'll get those treats if they behave while we're shopping. I use that incentive to stay sane!

[Jesterrose]

If you hear Elmo coming down the aisle, it is me and my 2.

I play Pandora elmo station. If they act up, no music. We only listen while shopping and they do behave mostly.

One time they were being a pain, I said ,"that's it we are not buying broccoli. " My son howled because he wanted it. Women were laughing as I put the broccoli back. He was in tears.

Honestly, I run all over town with them. The worst is long checkout lines.

[hotrodswife]

My kids go with. My hubby works out of state. They are usually good and trip to the dollar store is the treat. However, after a week at their grandmothers they were horrible. I left Aldie's crying. I also left their rootbeer that I bought for ice cream floats on the sidewalk as we walked out. Yes I gave away free rootbeer. I told them they did not earn the treat and someone else would enjoy it. They cried all the way home, but the next trip they were as good as gold.

[hotrodswife]

My kids go with. My hubby works out of state. They are usually good and trip to the dollar store is the treat. However, after a week at their grandmothers they were horrible. I left Aldie's crying. I also left their rootbeer that I bought for ice cream floats on the sidewalk as we walked out. Yes I gave away free rootbeer. I told them they did not earn the treat and someone else would enjoy it. They cried all the way home, but the next trip they were as good as gold. I would rather take the kids than DH.

[tiyashrivasthav]

I take my niece every time. She enjoys there very much.

[kimbra923]

I take my son about 75% of the time and as long as we aren't there for more than 45 minutes, he is pretty good. I just give him a couple things to "remind" me of what we need to purchase. We also go down the small toy aisle and allow him to look at a couple to break up the trip. I know that probably wouldn't work for most, but it gives my son an incentive to behave and also to find something that he could purchase when he has his own money. He also enjoys giving our coupons to the cashier or help scanning in the self checkout. Find some way for them to help and grocery shopping will be a little more bearable!

[joshmamabear]

my couponing buddy is now 11 and he grew up going with me to stores so he knows the drill by <3 I started couponing soon as he was born and time just flew by.

now that I don't use coupons too much, he knows I check the GCMs of grocery stores to use our amex blue. He also checks formula aisle for clearance formula that we can buy while I check the general clearance shelves. I hope this kid will turn out to be a savvy saver with all that he learned.

[keylimepie]

My kids are grown, when they were little, I was not into couponing, and I always spent more when they were with me. Sure wish I had taught them about couponing, they would be better shoppers now!