4 People, 350$ a month PART 1
i know this has nothing to do with decluttering and organizing.. but this blog is not only about that.. but also about my life.. and tips I have figured out as well..
This is alllll about grocery shopping.. I currently grocery shop bi weekly for a family of 4.. monthly total is roughly 350$.. now Im sure there are people who do it WAY cheaper than I do..but for us.. our grocery bill used to be over 450$ a month.. so thats 100$ savings
Today I just wanted to share with you how I plan and do all this...
Grab a pen..
Paper...
and nice big cup of coffee and be ready for a LONG post...lol
First off... what do you even have to spend on groceries.. are you happy with your system?? if so.. pass this post and go to the next one.. however if you are not happy with how you system is.. if your running to the store on a daily basis, and just feel your bill is off the charts.. keep reading..
This past year I spent a month in California..while I was there i learned about food.. whats helpful to boost your energy and mood.. , how much should you eat at each meal and a day, etc etc..
There were 2 things i learned while there that stuck with me the most..
when it comes to eating.. nothing should be off limits.. eat what you want.. in moderation and just be aware that a few sodas a day or that extra candy bar you picked up at the store and ate.. they are not going to make you feel any better.. and that everything she was really talking about.., did not involve boxed meals, or prepared foods.. everything she talked about making sounded like lots of things I like to eat just made in a not prepared foods way.. Now I am not talking down on eating prepared foods.. sometimes things are crazy and ya need to whip up a box of hamburger helper of mac n cheese for the kids.. these things happen.. my problem was.. that is all my family was eating.. thats not healthy for me or them...
So when I got home from California in september.. I sat down with my husband and said.. OK what do you like to eat for dinner.. we came up with a list of about 20-30 meals he likes that I make.. some things were still to processed for me.. so I came up with ways to make them from scatch instead of with prepared foods.. they actually taste WAY BETTER...
Im a stay at home mom.. so we depend on my husbands paycheck for everything.. however he gets paid bi weekly.. which makes paying bills and our current topic, GROCERY SHOPPING a challenge.. i need to shop for 2 weeks worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks, coffee juice, diapers and what not for 2 weeks..
so... i sat down and made a 2 week menu for our dinner meals.. i started a little to ambitious.. and have altered my schedule a bit since i first started my bi weekly by only what we need grocery trips.. not every night is going to be a 5 star meal.. we have to be realistic.. we have lives....lol
here is what my base menu looks like for 2 weeks
you can see by looking at it.. some nights are easy meals.. like baked chicken.. i throw it in a baking dish and add a little seasoning and bake.. other nights like Sunday dinner are full blown here ya go everything you can want in a meal is on the table.. but thats hard for me to do every night.. it gets exhausting and the fun of cooking gets sucked out of it all..
so 2 week menu..
then I take my list and I head to the kitchen.. I check my list against what is already in stock in my house.. maybe I hit a sale on French Cut green beans and frozen corn and dont need that.. those items get marked right off the list..
the purpose of this is so Im not buying anything extra.. Im only buying what is needed for the 2 weeks..this allows room in my fridge and freezer as well as keep my cleaning out the cupboards of expired food down.. one less thing to do, more time with the kiddos...lol
now I have the basis for my grocery list.. i did not even open a sale paper yet.. my meal is based on what we need.. not what my brain thinks I want to eat..
now some things will always be on the list.. fresh fruit and produce..i always need potatos, milk, bread eggs.. we eat a lot of deli sandwiches in the house.. so Im always buying deli meat (on sale of course) and my kids like specific things for lunch.. or if its a meal I know they wont eat like Baked potato or taco night.. the kids are not down with that.. so I always keep chicken nuggest and fries on hand..
so I make sure all those items are on the list.. i double check the bathroom for toothpaste and shampoo for hubs (im a hair freak and use special things for my hair)
once I have everything down on the list that I need.. I sit down with the sale papers..
now I do not drive all over town hitting every sale and every store.. I GO TO 2 stores and THATS IT.. and they are generally the same stores.. (Walmart- soda and diapers) and generally Market Basket...
here is what my lil area looks like on grocery planning day..
i take my list and compare it to the flyers.. who has the most items on my list on sale that week?? why would I waste the gas to run across town to shaws just because they have 1 or 2 things I need on sale.. if I just buy the store brand of that item at market basket or hannafords.. its the same thing as getting the brand name item on sale... soooo i make my life easy.. generally market basket has the most on sale that I need..
What store is it for you??? have you ever thought about cutting down your shopping time by sticking to 1 or 2 stores instead of running to 5???
so.. i now have my checkmarks of who has the most on sale.. as usual its market basket.. they even have some random items i did not think about on sale.. like dishwashing liquid.. I LOVE me some Blue Dawn dishoap.. I use it for dishes but my homemade shower cleaner has it in there as well.. its a really good sale.. something thats n ot usually this cheap at any store.. so I will buy the extra this week..
Now up until this point I have talked about not buying any excess.. ONLY BUY WHAT YOU NEED.. I generally try not to buy in bulk unless is a killer deal and I KNOW we wil use it.. like my dishwashing tabs.. we have a BJ's wholesale.. sometimes I have a great coupon, now its ALOT of tabs.. however I will go through them. I run my dishwasher once a day.. so thats somethng I will use..
SOmetimes the grocery stores have a GREAT deal on full Pork Roast.. now 22$ for a huge pork roast may seem like alot.. however if I bring it home and cut it up.. I can get 3-4 roasts out of the deal as well about 10-15 pork cutlets based on how thick or thin we cut.. THATS ALOT of meals for a family of 4 at an exceptional price.. those purchases to me, when I have the money to do it.. are very worth it to my family.. however if your not someone who has the space to store it.. there is no point..
Now if you coupon and love the deals you get.. Please continue that.. do what is working for you.. Im not saying it cant be done cheaper.. Im saying it doesnt have to be so much excess..
Tomorrow is my grocery day.. so look for post 2 toomorrow afternoon or evening.. I will tell you some tricks I have learned to make shopping with kids easier, as well as to stay on my budget for the week...
Hope this helps someone out there..
Much Love and Blessings..
Shanun
This is alllll about grocery shopping.. I currently grocery shop bi weekly for a family of 4.. monthly total is roughly 350$.. now Im sure there are people who do it WAY cheaper than I do..but for us.. our grocery bill used to be over 450$ a month.. so thats 100$ savings
Today I just wanted to share with you how I plan and do all this...
Grab a pen..
Paper...
and nice big cup of coffee and be ready for a LONG post...lol
First off... what do you even have to spend on groceries.. are you happy with your system?? if so.. pass this post and go to the next one.. however if you are not happy with how you system is.. if your running to the store on a daily basis, and just feel your bill is off the charts.. keep reading..
This past year I spent a month in California..while I was there i learned about food.. whats helpful to boost your energy and mood.. , how much should you eat at each meal and a day, etc etc..
There were 2 things i learned while there that stuck with me the most..
when it comes to eating.. nothing should be off limits.. eat what you want.. in moderation and just be aware that a few sodas a day or that extra candy bar you picked up at the store and ate.. they are not going to make you feel any better.. and that everything she was really talking about.., did not involve boxed meals, or prepared foods.. everything she talked about making sounded like lots of things I like to eat just made in a not prepared foods way.. Now I am not talking down on eating prepared foods.. sometimes things are crazy and ya need to whip up a box of hamburger helper of mac n cheese for the kids.. these things happen.. my problem was.. that is all my family was eating.. thats not healthy for me or them...
So when I got home from California in september.. I sat down with my husband and said.. OK what do you like to eat for dinner.. we came up with a list of about 20-30 meals he likes that I make.. some things were still to processed for me.. so I came up with ways to make them from scatch instead of with prepared foods.. they actually taste WAY BETTER...
Im a stay at home mom.. so we depend on my husbands paycheck for everything.. however he gets paid bi weekly.. which makes paying bills and our current topic, GROCERY SHOPPING a challenge.. i need to shop for 2 weeks worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as snacks, coffee juice, diapers and what not for 2 weeks..
so... i sat down and made a 2 week menu for our dinner meals.. i started a little to ambitious.. and have altered my schedule a bit since i first started my bi weekly by only what we need grocery trips.. not every night is going to be a 5 star meal.. we have to be realistic.. we have lives....lol
here is what my base menu looks like for 2 weeks
you can see on top I have 2 weeks worth of meals.. Below that on the left is EVERYTHING i need to make those meals. the right side is the basics I buy every trip..
you can see by looking at it.. some nights are easy meals.. like baked chicken.. i throw it in a baking dish and add a little seasoning and bake.. other nights like Sunday dinner are full blown here ya go everything you can want in a meal is on the table.. but thats hard for me to do every night.. it gets exhausting and the fun of cooking gets sucked out of it all..
so 2 week menu..
then I take my list and I head to the kitchen.. I check my list against what is already in stock in my house.. maybe I hit a sale on French Cut green beans and frozen corn and dont need that.. those items get marked right off the list..
You can see not a ton is crossed out.. but if you look at whats crossed out its the big money items.. Like meat and stuff.. those add up quick.. i have hit a couple really awesome sales recently.. so I have some meat already.. the big purchases on meat this week will be ground beef and some chicken
the purpose of this is so Im not buying anything extra.. Im only buying what is needed for the 2 weeks..this allows room in my fridge and freezer as well as keep my cleaning out the cupboards of expired food down.. one less thing to do, more time with the kiddos...lol
now I have the basis for my grocery list.. i did not even open a sale paper yet.. my meal is based on what we need.. not what my brain thinks I want to eat..
now some things will always be on the list.. fresh fruit and produce..i always need potatos, milk, bread eggs.. we eat a lot of deli sandwiches in the house.. so Im always buying deli meat (on sale of course) and my kids like specific things for lunch.. or if its a meal I know they wont eat like Baked potato or taco night.. the kids are not down with that.. so I always keep chicken nuggest and fries on hand..
so I make sure all those items are on the list.. i double check the bathroom for toothpaste and shampoo for hubs (im a hair freak and use special things for my hair)
once I have everything down on the list that I need.. I sit down with the sale papers..
now I do not drive all over town hitting every sale and every store.. I GO TO 2 stores and THATS IT.. and they are generally the same stores.. (Walmart- soda and diapers) and generally Market Basket...
here is what my lil area looks like on grocery planning day..
My flyer I chose (market Basket) my list, my notebook that has the random items I know I need. like this week I need canola oil.. my menu to double check and my nice fancy pen.. not really fancy.. i just like the way it writes..lol.. (again Im OCD about my handwritting)
i take my list and compare it to the flyers.. who has the most items on my list on sale that week?? why would I waste the gas to run across town to shaws just because they have 1 or 2 things I need on sale.. if I just buy the store brand of that item at market basket or hannafords.. its the same thing as getting the brand name item on sale... soooo i make my life easy.. generally market basket has the most on sale that I need..
What store is it for you??? have you ever thought about cutting down your shopping time by sticking to 1 or 2 stores instead of running to 5???
so.. i now have my checkmarks of who has the most on sale.. as usual its market basket.. they even have some random items i did not think about on sale.. like dishwashing liquid.. I LOVE me some Blue Dawn dishoap.. I use it for dishes but my homemade shower cleaner has it in there as well.. its a really good sale.. something thats n ot usually this cheap at any store.. so I will buy the extra this week..
Now up until this point I have talked about not buying any excess.. ONLY BUY WHAT YOU NEED.. I generally try not to buy in bulk unless is a killer deal and I KNOW we wil use it.. like my dishwashing tabs.. we have a BJ's wholesale.. sometimes I have a great coupon, now its ALOT of tabs.. however I will go through them. I run my dishwasher once a day.. so thats somethng I will use..
SOmetimes the grocery stores have a GREAT deal on full Pork Roast.. now 22$ for a huge pork roast may seem like alot.. however if I bring it home and cut it up.. I can get 3-4 roasts out of the deal as well about 10-15 pork cutlets based on how thick or thin we cut.. THATS ALOT of meals for a family of 4 at an exceptional price.. those purchases to me, when I have the money to do it.. are very worth it to my family.. however if your not someone who has the space to store it.. there is no point..
Now if you coupon and love the deals you get.. Please continue that.. do what is working for you.. Im not saying it cant be done cheaper.. Im saying it doesnt have to be so much excess..
Tomorrow is my grocery day.. so look for post 2 toomorrow afternoon or evening.. I will tell you some tricks I have learned to make shopping with kids easier, as well as to stay on my budget for the week...
Hope this helps someone out there..
Much Love and Blessings..
Shanun
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