I'm finally getting the hang of it
Jason and I have been married almost 5 1/2 years and I am just now getting the hang of budgeting for food and doing meal planning that works with a busy schedule and 3 small kids! I know what you're thinking - "its about time, Stefanie!"... And I agree :-)
I decided about 2 months ago to put my energy into figuring out a way to help our dollar go further and to also get good, nutritious meals on our table, for every meal and not just dinner. I read some articles, looked on some websites, asked some of my close friends and picked my Mom's brain a bit, along with some of the older (aka, wiser) women at church. I came away with several different tips, but 3 that stood out to me were:
- Do your shopping often
- Don't go with an empty stomach
- Be as organized as possible
The first tip is one I hadn't thought of much. I was trying to go either once a month or maybe twice a month, but hadn't really given any thought to having a grocery day, once a week. I don't mean the whole day is taken up with grocery shopping (not sure it would come to that unless we've got a family the size of the Duggars!) but I would need to be ready for most of my afternoon to be taken up with grocery shopping; going to different places to get the best deals.
So this past week I started my new journey of weekly grocery shopping and so far, I'm a big fan! It was much easier to stay organized, much easier to make a list for 6 days and not 30, and much easier to find the energy for it.
Because gas isn't terribly cheap, I did find that just keeping my shopping to very local stores, was the best. None of this driving more than 10 miles to get a "good deal" or the money in gas takes away from the money saved at the register.
Something else I've done, is go to my typical stores that I know I'll shop at every week and create a layout of the aisles and go home and print out the order of the store layout. So when I make my actual grocery list, I know exactly what order to put the list in. I've been using a website called bustameal.com for most of our meal planning and LOVE it! I cannot say enough good things about that site - especially the itemized grocery list *they* make for you and can send to your cell phone, or you can print it out! Its awesome.
I'm eager to know some of the tips you all have! What works for you and how have you simplified your life in this way?
Comments
I also have a shopping list that is a layout of the store, but only for Winco. I haven't ventured to try to shop at more than one store lately. I should start that again though, b/c it can save money if you have the time to search through all of that ads!
Also, check out online coupons that you can print out!
Try this one for starters!
My two stores of choice these days are Food Maxx and TJ's. I don't get a lot at TJ's; just what I can't find at Food Maxx. We had some issues with Winco and just decided it was better overall for us to shop somewhere else.
Thanks for the coupon site!
I've also found shopping almost anywhere but Safeway is a good idea. Unless Safeway is running a great deal on something, they usually cost quite a bit more.
Like Holly, I started buying meats at Costco and freezing it. I am not a big freezer person, but this has been great. You can buy an amazing amount of Salmon for just under 20 dollars and can cut it into 6 or more great serving sizes. I will now buy pork tenderloin ONLY at Costco. You get FOUR tenderloins for $16.00 where at any other store you only get the two (they come in the packs with 2 loins/pack). That is four nights of meals to be spread over a few weeks. We also splurge every now and then and buy filet mignon there. It is AMAZING. Some of the best meat we have had...huge pieces, 4 of them for only $23.00. We put two in the freezer so that is a meal for another week.
To save money we also started buying our lunch meat at Costco. It is not as good as getting fresh deli meat, but for the same price we spend in one week at a grocery store, we can buy enough at Costco to last 3 weeks.
Safeway is a terrible store...I get more than angry everytime I go there. Ugh...don't get me started. Nob Hill is clean, organized, has FOOD on their shelves, amazing produce and great service...and they are cheaper than Safeway. I have also found that if you shop on a Tuesday or Wednesday the prices are MUCH lower. So...we shifted our grocery day from Sunday to mid week...makes a huge difference.
Blah, blah, blah...I sure rambled on that one!
This was helpful! I'm glad to see shopping weekly seems to be the popular thing to do :) I wondered if I was the only one having a rough time going once or only twice a month. I found myself doing BIG shopping days maybe twice a month, but then every couple of days I had to replenish the stuff that would've gone bad otherwise.
Good to hear from you all!
I shop at Food Maxx almost exclusively. Their produce is super cheap and we eat a lot of it, and I can get organic milk their at a reasonable price. I do a Costco run about once a month but I'm pretty selective about what I buy there as I find a lot of it is overpriced. I go to Winco occasionally to stock up on various grains like quinoa, millet, and brown rice. I shop at Safeway and Raley's only when they have a good sale on chicken or fish. (we've recently cut pork and beef out of our home diet for environmental reasons).
I stock up on chicken breasts when they go on sale for $1.69/lb and flash freeze them on cookie sheets, then store them in large ziplocks. I buy the bone-in type when they are on sale for $.99/lb, cook them in the crock pot, chop the meat up into chunks, and flash freeze to use for salads and casseroles.
We also eat a lot of whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and barley. I make beans from scratch regularly and make all of our bread and most of our other baked goods like tortillas, pitas, english muffins, etc. We eat vegetarian and egg-based dishes fairly often and that saves a lot of money too.