Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping

I guess this is an addition to my Swiper Noooo Swiping posts. A few of you mentioned in the comments that grocery shopping is where you needed a little advice on saving. Now. Let's be real. I am in no way an expert on savings or budgets. I am not an "extreme couponer"or anything close to it. I'm just a regular wife and mother that has managed to save my family a little money by doing a little organizing before hitting the store.

Like many of you, I plan meals. I write down two weeks (or sometimes a week and a half cause we eat leftovers) worth of meals. If it's something that I am making for the first time I'll write down the recipe too. Then I go through the kitchen and scratch off what we already have. Non grocery items have their own place on my meal plan too. I only write everything down once and that's the only piece of paper I take to the store. 

Before I leave for the store I go through my coupons and find the ones I'll need for my trip. Since I don't buy anything that's not on my list I don't have to worry about taking all those coupons with me. When I get home from the store I put the list on the fridge to remind me of the meals that I've planned. As we eat one, I cross it off the list. It may seem crazy but this reminds me of what we have in the house. In those moments where I'm scrambling and I'm about to order takeout, I check the fridge. Nine times out of ten I'll see a quick meal that can easily be made. No eating out. Money saved. 

Now. Keep in mind (*resisting the urge to quote Erykah Badu) that we are just a family of three. So I don't have to make huge meals everyday. We normally have leftovers and we eat them. Food does not go to waste in my house anymore. Not since I started planning our meals. Another quick note I want to make is that we don't buy a lot of snacks. I buy fruit for Savannah and we always have at least two bags of tortilla chips in the pantry. (I make salsa on a regular basis) That's it. Hopefully this helped with some of the grocery questions. I know these concepts aren't new but I just wanted to share my grocery shopping and meal planning process.

Shopping list from a week and a half ago organized by meal w/ random items at top

I do not throw away inserts until I am absolutely sure I am done with it. It's probably at least eight inserts in that stack.

As you can see my grocery list isn't long. We still have a meal left. There's normally enough from each meal for us all to have three meals. Dinner, Lunch and dinner again. For some, I know that they couldn't imagine eating the same thing that many times in a row. There are times when I'll cook even if we have leftovers but I'll never have more than two meals sitting in the fridge at the same time because something will go to waste. Which is a waste of money. And yes, I do buy name brand products. Tide, Charmin, cereals etc. But I read the circulars to find who has what on sale and then apply my coupons. And no, I'm not driving all over San Antonio for an item here and an item there. I limit myself to the commissary on base, Wal-Mart and Target or another local grocery store. Three places tops.  Any thoughts or tips for me? Was this helpful at all? Can't wait to read your comments!

P.S. Even though the commissary is a military grocery store on base it does not save us tons of money. Meat and cheese is cheaper on base but you really have to "learn" your stores to know who typically has the best prices on certain items on a regular bases.

Swiper Noooo Swiping II

Well we made it to November. I can't say it was frustration free but we made it. This month we are staying with our cash only system. This new way of looking at our money spending habits has been so eye opening. In October I wasn't sure how I was going to make it. It's the fourth day of November and I have to say I am confident about conquering this month.

When we filled up our envelopes last month I had so much doubt. At the end of the month when there was still money left in the grocery envelope I felt such a strong sense of achievement. Knowing that I had saved my family money was a great feeling. I know this month will present it's own set of challenges. Thanksgiving is coming up. I'll be buying some food items that I wouldn't normally purchase. Christmas shopping has got to get done and I can already here that "retail devil" on my shoulder telling me to buy Savannah every cute little thing I see.

Luckily, I have come up with some pretty crafty (at least I think they are) ways to keep our spending in check this holiday season. I created a wish list on Amazon full of all the items that we plan to get her for Christmas. I have done price comparisons all over the web. For me, shopping online keeps me out of the stores and away from temptation. Between the decorations and the Christmas music I am a sucker for impulse shopping. When it's time to pull the trigger for her Christmas gifts I'll be going to her pre-made wish list, filling up my shopping cart and checking out. The "retail devil" won't stand a chance.

Yesterday, that "retail devil" was on back hard. I wanted to buy myself some clothes. Instead of heading to the mall with itchy palms I decided to clean out my closet. I organized all the like items together so that I could really see what I had. By the time I got finish doing that not only did I not feel like going shopping but the desire to buy new things had dwindled. I could clearly see in my closet that I had everything that I "needed".

Of course I want to get in on some of the latest trends for the season and now I know exactly which items I'm looking for. I was able to take an inventory and plan how I'm going to spend my money. I built outfits and made a list just like I would if I were meal planning and making a grocery list. This was a huge step for me. I'm learning that it's about more than limiting our purchases to a dollar amount. It's about giving value to the money that I am choosing to spend.

How has everyone else been doing with their switch to a cash only lifestyle?