So Days 17 and 18 were pretty uneventful. We had leftover nachos last night and than tonight my amazing Mom sent hubby and I on a date :) THANK YOU MOM!!! Lunch was a blessing today because I didn't have anything for my Hubby to take ("Tan-man" and I just had brunch with waffles and eggs with a little fruit) and it turned out they had a picnic for them at work today. Now that we are getting down to the wire I have been thinking, reflecting, researching, etc on how to save more money. There are many ways to decrease your monthly spending on groceries. One way I highlighted in a previous post was meal planning. I have always used a variety of different ways to reduce our food bill since the beginning of our marriage but there are a few new ones I have learned. Here some ideas that might help you guys! :) If you have some that help you, please share in the comment section below! :)
Ways to trim your grocery budget:
1. Meal Plan-
Meal planning can help you avoid buying ingredients you either don't need or from buying ingredients you already have. It will also keep you organized, especially on those hectic days when you are trying to come up with something to fix for dinner.
2. Shopping the markdown meat and produce-
Buying meat close to the sale-by date is a great way to save money. You can either cook the meat and freeze it to add for quick meals later, or you can divide the meat into freezer containers and freeze meat in meal portions to thaw when you are ready to eat it. I buy this type of meat all the time :) Produce is the same way. Although it doesn't really have an expiration written on it, you can tell by it's ripeness. For example, the other day I bought a bunch of 6-7 bananas that were in the discounted fruit section because they were beginning to get a little bit of brown spots on them. We ate them within just a few days so it was a great savings for us! You can also do things like slice discounted peppers and freeze them to use for recipes later, use bananas for banana bread, pudding, or zucchini to make yummy zucchini bread. The possibilities are ENDLESS! :)
3. Couponing-
I used to coupon like crazy! However, since having my second son and changing a lot of how we eat, I don't have the time to coupon near as much. There are some GREAT sights to help you learn. My favorite is Southern Savers. You can get many things for free or hardly any cost like; deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc. Jenny, at Southern Savers even has online tutorials on how to do it! It takes some times but can be very, very worth it.
4. Shop sales-
This one is pretty explainitory. For example, when shredded cheese is on sale for buy 1 get 1 free, get a few extra packs. It will stay good for a while and cheese is an ingredient used a TON of meals. However, beware that sometimes those deals aren't the best. If the cheese, for example, comes out to be around $1.50 or less each, that is a pretty good deal. If not, don't buy extra. Pay attention to the price of products that are bought often so you know when to spot a good deal.
5. Don't buy junk-
This can be a hard one sometimes... Buying empty calorie things like chips or sodas can weigh your budget and yourself down. If you cut the chips or soda and substitute for tea healthy sides like fruits or raw veggies it can help.You will find that you will fill up easier eating fruit rather than chips. And tea is way more economical than those sodas that cost so much. At our house we rarely drink anything but water and milk.
6. Go Homemade-
Make your own things like biscuits, bread, waffles, etc... If you aren't going to coupon, put in a little extra time like our grandmothers did and make your own things from scratch. Not only will it help you cut costs, but it will bring a little nostalgia to your home, pass down recipes to your children, and can leave beautiful memories for your family. My favorite memories growing up were with my Grandma making Christmas candies, pies, bread, etc in the kitchen... :)
7. SHOP ALONE!!!!!-
I don't think I need to explain this one moms! LOL I try to go when I don't have the kids. It's almost therapeutic and acts as my mommy time :) A lot of times I go at 8 after we have eaten, had our family time, and put the kids to bed.
8. Go when you have the time-
Don't rush in the store, you are likely to forget things or get flustered to where you can't think sales and budget clearly.
9. Try new recipes-
Sometimes trying new recipes can help with budgeting. Maybe it is something that requires little ingredients, that can help with costs. However, beware of recipes that require special and sometimes expensive ingredients.
10. USE CASH!!!
This one is my favorite and part of Dave Ramsey philosophy. Use cash when you go shopping. You will find it a lot harder to let go of your money when you are paying cash for all of it rather than swiping a card. You will be less like to buy the extra items you don't really need that are piled in your buggy too.
So there you have it, a few ways to help you cut some costs! :) If you have some great ways to help us out, leave a comment below in the comment box! Have a great day!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment