Well she does not really put dollar bills in the trash. She throws away money at the grocery store. She has a real bad habit of going to the grocery store and purchasing things she thinks she will need instead of making a list before going to the store. She will think she needs onions and while she is at the grocery store, she will just pick some up. In the meantime, she already has plenty of onions rotting at home from the last time she went to the store and thought she needed onions. I've told her over and over again, she is just throwing money away by buying things she already had. She finally let me go through her pantry and she does not need to by another can good. She has enough can goods to feed a small army. We finally made a list of things she does NOT need to buy because she has plenty of it already. My mom is pretty nonchalant about spending which really worries me. She is 51 years old and does not have alot saved for retirement.

I've offered her a couple of suggestions to help her save money:

  • Take inventory. Go through the cabinets and fridge and see what items she needs.
  • Make a list. Write down exactly what she needs and stick to the list.
  • Check for coupons. She has a subscription to the Sunday paper. She should check and see what coupons are available for items she was planning to purchase anyway.

Using my tips above, she should be able cut her grocery spending in half.

2 comments

  1. Anonymous // September 4, 2007 at 2:44 PM  

    Oh gee,
    Your mother and my mother could be best friends.
    My mother just turned 50 and has NO savings...
    Maybe your mother is better off.
    She concerns me beacuse she hates the computer, so she has my other two sister monitor her bank accounts. She doesn't even know how to log in but she will be the first to yell/curse them out if she doesn't understand a purchase on her debit cards.
    I tried helping her last winter. I went out of my way and set her up an ING savings account. She put $1000.00 in there. I thought everything was going to go good but a month later she took it out. I am really concerned for my mother. She makes decent money but her cable bill would be like $500.00. THis is because she will let months add up or rely on a check that she mailed that was never cashed.
    Of course she wouldn't know because she doesn't check her accounts.
    And every month it's "I'm gonna save".
    It almost disgusts me how she throws away money.

  2. SingleGuyMoney // September 4, 2007 at 5:05 PM  

    Kay, I know exactly what you mean. I have access to my moms accounts too and it doesn't look good. She does not check her accounts or balance her checkbook. I just recently got her to direct deposit her paycheck. She would cash it and keep it all in her purse until she had spent it all.