I was talking to Dh about all that I bought this past week, and all that I managed to save. I have stocked the pantry full of food, and the cleaning supplies are full to overflowing. Dh said that he didn't think I'd have to buy cleaning supplies for about a year... (I think he's kidding, but I bet I'll come close on some things). Anyway, I began thinking late last night about where do I go from here?
It's almost like a huge rush to find these awesome deals and stock up, and it's a real blessing as our pantry and cleaning supplies were quite low. (All except Cream of Chicken soup) *grin*
- I'm still going to shop the big advertised deals of both grocery stores as well as Walgreens and CVS. I think that if I have a coupon for those things, and our family uses the items, well it's just a no-brainer to saving money. (This in itself is tons of fun!)
- I won't completely stock up on those items unless I find our stock at home looking depleted, then I'll buy in larger quantities.
- If the sale is really good, like 70-80% off with coupons, and it's again something we could use, then I'll consider buying in larger quantities as long as I know it's something that can last... like dried box products or personal items.
- I plan on continuing to use CVS and their Extra Care Bucks for our family. This should still make it fun to see how low I can get my Oop and still earn ECB's. (I love to challenge myself!)
- I'm going to continue to make a weekly menu (actually I usually plan out 2 weeks). This is my most dreaded part of planning. But once it's done, I know what we are having each night for dinner, and I also know what to shop for. I'll go to the pantry several times each week to see if I can use items in there first, further saving money at the grocery store. Making my meal plan also helps cut down on our eating out, as there is a plan in place for each meal...and like I said in a previous post, I'm not scratching my head wondering what is for dinner...it's right on the fridge!
- I'm going to make a grocery list each week based on my weekly menu...and allow for it to be under my budget for the week, so that if I see hot deals, I have a little wiggle room in the budget to stock up on them. This will also be good, to insure I won't overspend on the grocery budget.
- I'm going to set a grocery budget for each week. When I think of budgets, I think b-0-r-i-n-g.... lol! But it really is a great tool, and marker for your family. I mean, if you don't set a benchmark, how do you even know how much your spending? Or how much you can save? This will also be my personal challenge to see if I can hit the budget or even go under each week. What will that budget be? Well, I'm not sure..... I don't really have a feel for how much I can spend on groceries yet. So for now, I'll set it higher at $100 per week. I really hope to actually lower it.... My goal will be to challenge myself to go as low as I possibly can without sacrificing the quality of wholesome foods. I'm tracking the money I saved, and I plan on putting it in the bank. (More about that in a future post!)
So what at about you? What are your grocery goals for the coming weeks/months? Leave a comment!
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3 comments:
I just signed up for e-mealz.com It's a meal planning service where they plan seven meals for the week and give you a shopping list for them all. They have a Publix meal plan based on the sales at Publix this week. And, they keep the total for all 7 meals between $70-85. It's $5 a month.
And they're normal meals that your family will eat. Not weird complicated meals with strange ingredients.
We decided it was worth the low cost for me not to have to think about meal planning for a while. I'm on my first week using the plans and have printed out the second week's lists to prepare for my shopping on Tuesday. So far, so good.
And, you can cancel anytime if you don't like it.
Hey, I like that idea! A lot! I am going to check it out...thanks for that website!
I was having the same thoughts today. My freezer and pantry are as full as they've been since Brian took over the checkbook three years ago. (And, lest you think my dh is evil, I would buy more than I needed just to stock the cabinets when we didn't need things...and I wasn't using coupons! When he took over the banking, we established our grocery budget, which did not allow money for stockpiling...well, it would have if I'd known then what I know now! But, I digress...)
So, anyway, the freezer and pantry are well-stocked. Many of the things that the pantry is stocked with are staple goods, to there will still be things that I need to buy each week, but there will be many things for which I have coupons that I will NOT need to stockpile. For those things, I think we'll eat out of our pantry and trust that another great (or at least reasonable) deal will come along again before they're needed. That will leave me needing to buy only perishable foods and meal-specific ingredients in the meantime. We'll see how it goes.
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