A secret to grocery shopping
Many ask me how I get by with not breaking the bank when I go grocery shopping each week. There is a little secret, well at least my secret! I simply sit down at the beginning of each week-usually Saturday or Sunday afternoons-and glance over my 4 week rotation menu. I make a list in each category of what I need to buy. For example, Dairy, Meats, Canned, Fruits/Veggies, Misc. With breakfast and lunch, we have a very strict schedule of what we eat, so we know exactly what to buy and how much of it. As far as dinner goes, I sit down and write out what I will make for each night with the inclusion of an eating out night (Usually Friday or Saturday) and small group (we eat dinner there).
There are thousands of recipes to choose from that are simple and taste great on Kraftfoods.com or Allrecipes.com. There are certain foods that we don't like, fish, seafood, liver...so I don't ever include a recipe that has any relation to those foods :) But there are a ton of recipes that are usable on a every other week basis-Baked spaghetti, poppyseed chicken, homemade pizza, stir fry, etc. I keep a black index card box with a ton of recipes that are tried and true & easy that I can pick easily from.
Since I have the daycare, we are on a monthly food schedule that I've written out. There are weeks A-D. We stick to this and add in our dinner needs. This makes it extremely easy when it comes to knowing the cost week to week. We try very hard to stick to a $70/week budget. This is to include household items such as toilet paper, paper towels, dog/cat food, etc.
Another way we save a lot of money-about $30.00/week-is by going to Aldi's. No need to clip coupons-they don't take any! This is a grocery store that has everything Walmart does, just at extremely cheap prices. The only negative part of the experience is the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. I do not recommend buying the majority of produce here. I usually stray from the fruits (especially bananas) and it's a hit or miss with vegetables. I just plan to buy my produce from Walmart or produce stands.
Well, there you have it! That is how we do groceries at the Goldens. I use "we" as a loose term. If I say "we", I really mean I'll be spending about $30 more at the store if the hubs goes :)
There are thousands of recipes to choose from that are simple and taste great on Kraftfoods.com or Allrecipes.com. There are certain foods that we don't like, fish, seafood, liver...so I don't ever include a recipe that has any relation to those foods :) But there are a ton of recipes that are usable on a every other week basis-Baked spaghetti, poppyseed chicken, homemade pizza, stir fry, etc. I keep a black index card box with a ton of recipes that are tried and true & easy that I can pick easily from.
Since I have the daycare, we are on a monthly food schedule that I've written out. There are weeks A-D. We stick to this and add in our dinner needs. This makes it extremely easy when it comes to knowing the cost week to week. We try very hard to stick to a $70/week budget. This is to include household items such as toilet paper, paper towels, dog/cat food, etc.
Another way we save a lot of money-about $30.00/week-is by going to Aldi's. No need to clip coupons-they don't take any! This is a grocery store that has everything Walmart does, just at extremely cheap prices. The only negative part of the experience is the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables. I do not recommend buying the majority of produce here. I usually stray from the fruits (especially bananas) and it's a hit or miss with vegetables. I just plan to buy my produce from Walmart or produce stands.
Well, there you have it! That is how we do groceries at the Goldens. I use "we" as a loose term. If I say "we", I really mean I'll be spending about $30 more at the store if the hubs goes :)
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