2. Dig in your freezer, peek in your fridge, poke through your pantry; taking an inventory of what you already have and need to use up.
3. Write a list for what you will need to complete a weekly meal plan.
4. Speed clip coupons, clipping only the coupons you are about to use on this trip to the store, or might possibly use on this trip to the store.
5. Shop using your list, but allow yourself to divert due to unexpected buy one get ones or sales.
Shopping tonight was actually a pleasure (funny because that is our local grocery store's motto). I do most of my family's shopping at Sam's Club because frankly I can't beat the prices. However, sometimes the large quantities really add up in my cart and I can't get the variety I need. Lately, I have been a bit bored with food--probably for this very reason. Starting my grocery list with a cookbook read-through really got the ball rolling on what types of food to buy this week. It also helped me clip coupons quickly with out an overwhelming pile of coupons in my hand at the store. But the best part? I only spent $77.xx for my family of five to eat for 5 or 6 days. Our budget is $125/week, but this was just set today after meeting with our money coach. It appears groceries in our budget are impossible to track due to combining purchases with household items, clothing, ect. We are going to track groceries-only for a month and see if this goal is realistic. But for now, I get to be excited for a good start to groceries for the week! I used about $10 in coupons and had lots of store BOGOs in my cart as well. The whole process only took and hour and a half as well, done after bedtime so I didn't miss family time on a Saturday night. Here's to hoping my family loves some of the new recipes we are trying this week too!
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