Yesterday I decided to go a different route when it came to grocery shopping. I used to do the same as everyone..make a list for meals that are supposed to last me 2 weeks and stay under a budget! THIS NEVER HAPPENED! For one, I would always forget to put something on my list so I'd add that to the buggy which would also add to the grocery bill. Secondly, half the time my husband, children or even me would decide we didn't want that particular meal that night or any night. That leads me to the one thing I hate to do, throw food away! Unfortunatley, my family is not big on leftoves. Now, there are a few things we might eat a second time and by a few I mean 2 meals. Therefore, half of what I'd spend at the store would end up in the trash! Obviously, this was not the best route for my family.
Ok, now back to my new method of grocery shopping. I decided to use the same budget as before, but divide it by 15 days (meals). That allows me to spend $13 a day on lunch and dinner for my family. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but if you factor in a few meals that your family may eat as leftovers, it goes a long way. The only downside to this method is having to go to the store everyday or every other day. This isn't a problem for me. Both of my girls are in school so I'm not having to deal with that (a whole other blog) and if need be I can do 2 meals at a time which is what I did yesterday. Also, I'm usually at the store 2 or 3 times a week anyway picking up milk, bread or eggs!
So yesterday I went to get ingredients for vegetable beef soup, spaghetti and meatballs and a few other things we needed. I make sure to look in my pantry and refridgerator to make sure I don't already have something! I also like to plan meals around stuff I do have. As I went down my list, I marked off my item and then wrote the price out to the side so I could make sure I wasn't going over my limit.
I decide to shop our local commissary. Even though TX has no tax on food products, they still tax other things and apparently charge a service fee. My fee was $1.48 which put me over my limit, but now I'll know to factor that in next time. I also realized another perk to this shopping method....I can use the 20 items or less aisle!! It was so nice to get in and out (as quick as you can on a payday at the commissary).
All in all, I hope my method works because this is the best way for our family as of now. Maybe you might want to try my method too! If for no other reason than to use the 20 items or less aisle!
On a side note:
*Reusable bags are awesome! They are like bottomless pits!
