PDF In this economic climate everyone is cutting back and while it can be a challenge, finding ways to stretch that dollar, it can also be rewarding and (dare I say it?) fun. Well at least rewarding. Ok? Better? Moving on.
I have mentioned before that I am a huge fan of Franklin Covey. They also sell software to build and print your own forms for your planner. They have templates built in that you can modify to suit your needs. I use the Menu Planner and Shopping List, but of course a plain piece of paper will work just fine. On one side I have my list, divided into sections; produce, meat, dairy, dry goods, canned goods, frozen food, bakery, miscellaneous, and cleaning. I find that splitting it up like this makes it so much easier for me to keep track… your mileage may vary. On the other side, is a list of the week, three columns (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner), 7 rows for the days of the week. I print quite a few of these to keep in my planner, so that I always have one available. I really try to keep my grocery store trips to one per week, so this type of careful planning is a must. Then I get started:
- Get the URL for your local supermarkets. Most of them now have their circulars online. Mine are Publix and Winn Dixie. I really prefer Publix, so I always check there first. I check their circular for sales on meat. I choose one red meat, one or two chicken, and a fish. I don’t eat pork, but I will buy it for my husband’s lunches and meals for the kids. Once I choose which meats I’ll purchase…
- I go looking for recipes. Of course I comb my archives first, but then I go through other cooking blogs (check my blogroll page under “foodies”) or google, food network, epicurious, Alltop etc. I round out the week with a pasta meal, a salad meal, or a vegetarian meal or soup. At this point, I should mention that I don’t hold myself to what day of the week goes with each meal. There has to be a little bit of flexibility, or else I feel too restricted and the whole idea goes awry. Once I’ve found the recipes that I want to make and eat, I add the other ingredients that I’ll need to the list.
- When that’s done, I go through their BOGO (buy one get one) offerings for anything else I might need, or want to try. Extra virgin olive oil, canned beans, beef hotdogs, shampoos, crushed tomatoes, pasta, tuna, etc. If there’s something on the BOGO list that we use all the time, I really stock up. I invested in a stand alone freezer for frozen vegetables, frozen pizzas, sorbets, ices, etc. Sometimes boneless, skinless chicken breast is $1.99 a pound and I buy lots and lots and lots of it to freeze!
- Next, I go through the house and see what else we might need, cleaning supplies, paper goods, health and beauty aids. One caveat: If I find I need quite a bit of cleaning supplies, I add a trip to Wal-Mart to the plan, as Wal-Mart consistently has better prices on cleaning supplies and health and beauty aids.
- The next step, and probably the most important is to go through the refrigerator and make sure there’s nothing in there that is in danger of spoiling. If there is, I figure out a way to use it immediately, either making a stir fry, a salad, a soup, whatever.
- At this point, I also wipe down the shelves in the refrigerator and on the door. They get dirty, no matter how hard you try to keep them clean and I find that a sparkling clean fridge makes me very happy.
- I know that people say this all the time, but it’s really true. When you go shopping, make sure you don’t go hungry. There have been plenty of times that my empty tummy made me purchase the $6 bag of yogurt covered pretzels and we really want to avoid that.
- When I get the groceries home, I make sure that I (not the children) put the perishables away. I take out all the dairy that’s already there and put the new ones in the back, just like they do at the market. I empty the produce drawers and put the new stuff on the bottom, the older stuff on top, to make sure that gets used first too.
- The final step is that the form goes back into my planner (your could put yours on your desk, bulletin board, even the fridge!) and cross off each meal as you make it.
Just following these simple steps, I’ve shaved a true $100 off our weekly food bill. It might seem daunting, but I promise, it’s really so simple.
A word about coupons: I know that a lot of people do really well with coupons, but I don’t find that they’re helpful for us. The coupons that I find in our local paper and/or online, are usually for prepared foods and really unhealthy, processed food. If you’ve got a resource for coupons that save on real, whole, unprocessed foods, I’d love to know about it! Please share in the comments.
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