Brandon and I are working on making dinners easier. In the last year we’ve really struggled with grocery shopping and meal planning. In the past, I would go to the grocery store every two weeks. We’d come home with a load of groceries and still ask…”What’s for dinner?”
So, we’ve decided to grocery shop every week, usually on Sunday. Before going to the store, we sit down to write what’s on the menu. So far, so good. This week we’re having:
Sunday – Steaks, pasta salad garlic and mushroom green beans
Monday – Spaghetti, garlic rolls, salad
Tuesday - Sloppy Joe’s, baked french fries
Wednesday – Roast Chicken w/veggies, salad
Thursday – Eat out
Friday – Spicy Garlic Chicken w/rice
Now, I’m not going to bore you with the contents of our shopping cart, but add in lunch, snack and some breakfast items and we’ve spent $160. Ouch! That’s without coupons. Next week, I plan to put the coupons in action and hopefully the bill will be a bit lower.
Talk to me, how do you grocery shop? Do you have any tips to share?
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A couple quick tips: First, coupons are definitely a huge money saver but you seem to be working on that. Second, plan your meals around what’s on sale that week especially in the meat & produce departments. Then stock up on pantry items when they’re on sale like cooking soups, rice and beans. Third, plan meals that use the pantry items and that don’t require you purchase a lot of items that aren’t on sale. Check out my site if you need extra help with meals – Recipes for Moms (www.recipesformoms.com). Good luck!
So, my husband is the Dave Ramsey wannabe, and so we now do the envelope system… we set a max for Walmart. Say $500 a month… we go to Walmart at the beginning of the month, and stock up, and try our best not to go back!! Our problem is, if we need to go to Walmart to get one thing, we get that one thing, plus!! Therefore, making our bill around 200 bucks! So, the stock up thing works for us… then, you plan around that. You only can make something out of what you have at home… we have saved so much money!!