Another grocery trip today!
Prices are going up, the dollar amount on my receipt is getting higher, the receipt is getting longer and the amount of items in my cart seem endless.
I'd like to think that I am careful and buy what we use. I'd like to think I shop for healthier options. I'd like to think I buy items on sale rather than full price. I'd like to think I'm resourceful and make most of what our family eats from scratch. I'd like to think that I rarely ever purchase ready to cook/serve food. I'd like to think that most of my bill are because of fruits and vegetables. I'd like to think I buy a variety of foods and am creative but use all I buy.
I was telling my friend the other day of my 'food prep days' as I call them... also known as my meat day, lunch day and my baking day.
My meat day typically includes browning bulk ground beef and prepackaging it into supper friendly portion sizes, making 8 lbs (or more) of meat balls cooked, portion-packed and frozen, slicing pork into chops, bulk chicken into separate bags, roasts cut into smaller family size roasts, stewing cubes, stir fry meat etc...and whatever is purchased has been on sale....Never full price!!
My lunch day includes making pizza roll ups, baking pizza pops, piggies-in-a-blanket, and meat buns...I never have to make sandwiches...EVER!!! I love never having to stress about what to make for lunches or not having lunch foods on hand. Everything is placed in the freezer, taken out in the morning and thawed by lunch!
My baking days include making buns, muffins, loafs, cookies and whatever is in hot demand on that given day.
I enjoy these busy days. I'd like to think of this as being efficient and helpful to my family. But as these grocery bills keep coming, I have to wonder if this is being as resourceful as I'd like it to be.
What are your tips for saving money at the grocery store? I'm all ears as I'm frustrated with the amount I spend monthly and feeling it just doesn't stretch far enough. I don't make a meal list, perhaps I should. Instead I tend to have several meals waiting and ready to be made depending on the mood, amount how mouths to feed and of course the occasion.
What do you do that works at your home that you'd be willing to share? I realize that what works for one person may not work for another but sometimes it just helps us get focused in the right direction.
I have been considering only spending a certain amount of cash between pay periods. With us changing jobs this month, it feels like a great time to start fresh with our budget too. I'd love to hear what works for you...or what doesn't!!!
8 comments:
When I go shopping I write beside the items on my list what they should cost, and then I make it kind of a game when I go shopping, I have to either make sure it is under what I predicted it cost or the same. Never over. Then when you save 20 bucks on your bill you feel great!!
Hey Andrea, so the 2 things I was going to suggest you touched on already, but I'll just say them anyway!
1. I'm a firm believer in meal planning- our grocery bill is always higher when we "wing it" and don't have a plan in place.... (but I know that's not realistic for everyone.) Of course it's not written in stone and sometimes things change last minute... but for the most part, 5 or 6 meals are all planned out.
2. I take out in cash the amount I have for groceries, and also for misc. items two times each month (and they go in separate envelopes).... It makes me really pay attention to when I'm spending more than budgeted because I'll have to use my debit card, and I know when I'm getting close to being out of cash so I really try and look at prices to make sure what I think I need is within budget throughout the month.... As much as possible, when the cash is gone, we're done spending money until the next time we get paid....
Good luck with everything!! :)
You amaze me with your meal prep days!!
I too notice that when I meal plan, it costs less money. Turns out though, I'm not a very good meal planner, as I haven't done it in MONTHS!!
Wish I could help, but I need help in this area too!!
Wow - sounds like you're a hero in the planning and saving part already!! I love your prep day ideas! Super cool. I wing it with pretty much everything in the food department in our household. I generally decide in the morning what we'll eat for dinner and so on... Doesn't work in the saving money realm, but it seems to work in keeping my sanity for now. Sorry, I have no advice, but I got some good tips from you! Thanks!!
Well, I quite enjoyed hearing how you are saving money and preparing ahead of time to save time and energy. I wish I had baking days!
I would echo the gals before me about meal planning. My grocery list is what I'll need exactly to make those meals.
The other trick that I've done, especially now being with MCC, is I don't cook a meal that includes a piece of meat, then starch, then salad or veggies. I make stirfry, that may have pieces of meat, I make curry, with meat, I make chili, with meat. Never a large piece for each person, but within the dish itself. I find that the meat stretches a lot farther. And of course, we eat lots of beans and lentil stews.
Hope that helps. You've certainly inspired me in the baking dept., especially for the lunches! Thanks Annie!
i'll echo the meal planning thing. it keeps you from buying the things you don't need, and can help you use up the things that you already have on hand.
i had an epiphany yesterday. i saw 1L cartons of juice on sale - 10/$10. awesome i thought. i need to head to lorette and buy some. and then i realized that just because they are on sale, doesn't mean i neeeed to buy them. obviously, some sale items are great to pick up - flour on sale for me is very worthwhile. juice would just be a treat.
I am not a great planner or saver...but I have a friend that is...she plans VERY simple meals...cheap meals...and only buys exactly what she needs for those 4 meals, etc. There is never any extra in her house. Her budget is lower than anyone I have ever seen! But then again...she does very little baking and true cooking.
I think menu planning is my only tip.
But I loved some of your thoughts! Any way you could do a blog series - one post for each of your days with recipes included? Pretty please? :)
healthy pizza pops!
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