The first thing I do is come up with a menu plan. That usually means I'm all over the internet on my favorite sites, looking for recipes I want to try out. Some of the sites I've been frequenting lately are Once a Month Meals, Six Sisters' Stuff, and Smitten Kitchen. Once I have all of my recipes picked out, I throw them into my meal plan spreadsheet. I was doing themed nights earlier this year, but this month I decided to just do whatever struck my fancy. It just depends on how I'm feeling when I'm looking at recipes.
So with that done then it's time to put together a grocery list. Once I know what I want to buy, I look at the sale circulars to see what's on special for the week in which I'll be shopping. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I only go shopping once a month. I know it may seem odd, but the 3-4 hours spent in a single day is worth me not having to go to the store every week. Plus this way I can get in all 4 or so shops in a single day. Being the planner I am, I use a spreadsheet to do a per-unit cost comparisons so I can make sure I'm getting the best deals. It took me a few tries to come up with a format I like, but here is what I've been using for a long time now (Cost Comparison).
Once I have all of the numbers, then I can pick the lowest cost items & firm up my list. I used to print out a copy of the cost comparison & take that shopping, but I've found a really cool app that I use instead now. Out of Milk lets me create shopping lists, note whether I have coupons, and they also have an updated database of specials for various stores so I can sometimes find unadvertised savings. I'm sure there are other apps out there that work just as well, this just happens to be the one I stumbled onto.
Oh, i almost forgot about coupons. Now I am by no means into extreme couponing, but I will use coupons for the things I was planning on buying anyway. I load digital coupons onto my loyalty card so they're accessible when I swipe the card at the checkout. I also get a few coupons in the mail from various stores due to the loyalty programs & my shopping habits. Once in a while I'll also clip coupons from random magazines, but the majority of my savings really comes from planning.
So with all of that in mind, here's what my April shopping looks like.
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| Dillons - $82.98 |
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| Dillons (cont'd) |
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| Walmart - $53.34 |
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| Walmart (cont'd) |
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| Natural Grocers - $14.72 |
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| Sam's Club - $74.24 |
That makes a grand total of $232.31 for all of my groceries this month. I'll probably end up spending the remaining $17 on milk, fruits, and miscellaneous snacks. I normally shoot for $200 for the groceries so I can have a $50 cushion to top-up as needed, but since we'll be out of town for 10 days this month it works out well.
Well, that's pretty much my process for feeding the family & staying on budget. Not bad huh? If you want to give it a shot & need some help let me know. I'm always happy to help :)
