Shopping trips made easy

I find that with a little bit of planning, I can keep our grocery bill WAY down.  My husband gets paid every two weeks, so I try to reserve shopping for pay day.  That means, I plan a menu for two weeks and then purchase the ingredients in a single shopping trip.  Staying away from the stores means spending less money.  Today, I spent $61 for two weeks worth of food.   Yes, convenience foods are often cheap, but they are LOADED with sodium and high fructose corn syrup and preservatives.  While it may seem cheaper in the short run to purchase these foods, buying healthier foods and cooking from scratch will save you a lot of money in health care costs in the future.  Again, if your budget is limited, don't spend your money on empty calories.  You must spend your money wisely on food that will keep you fuller longer (think whole foods). 

Before I go  shopping, I almost always check a couponing site to see what is on sale and if there are any coupons available for those items.  My favorite is www.southernsavers.com  I then determine what is a good deal and add it to my list.  If there is an item on sale that I don't usually purchase, I put it on the list anyway.  For example, I got a quart of half and half for less than a dollar a while ago, even though I have never cooked with half and half.  What I ended up doing was going to allrecipies.com and clicking on their "ingredients" section.  I typed in the ingredients I had (just half and half in this case) and a whole bunch of recipes came up that I could use half and half with.  I chose a couple that required mostly ingredients I already had and then added any other ingredients to my list. 

My budget for one weeks worth of groceries is $25.  I then have another $25 that I spend on "stock up" supplies.  If I find an item that is on sale, I stock up on it.  At my grocery store, sales usually run in 3 month cycles.  So I buy a 3 month supply of that item.  Last week they had oscar mayer bologna on sale for $1.  Yes, I know it's not the healthiest thing in the world, but my kids really enjoy it and when it goes on sale for a dollar, I will indulge them.  I bought two to put in the refrigerator and 8 to put in the freezer.  They will eat it plain and often have it for an after school snack.  Hopefully that will hold us over until the next sale.  That is also why we have an abundant supply of  barbecue sauce.  I got a bunch of it for 50 cents a while ago and we now use it in almost everything.  I have a tendency to prefer my food a little bland, but my husband remedies that by added a tablespoon or two of barbecue sauce and he's happy.  He'll even do that when we're out of spaghetti sauce.  We live kind of far for most grocery stores, so when a late night craving hits and I haven't been shopping for a while, he can usually find something (like a can of beans) and throw some barbecue sauce on it.  He's happy and I'm happy that the beans are being eaten. 

This is what is on the menu for the next two weeks:

soup and sandwiches
mini meatloaves
tacos
tostadas
spaghetti and toast
meatballs
pizza
asparagus and rice
chicken casserole
spaghetti pie
chili bean nachos
stir fry

A while ago, my grocery store had their ortega taco shells on sale for $1.50 and there was a couple attached to them for $1 off two.  So I bought a bunch.  My grocery store sent me the recipe in the mail for the mini meatloaves with a bunch of coupons for the ingredients necessary to make it.  Score.  If they turn out good, I'll post the recipe.  I already had most of the ingredients on hand to make these recipes, which allowed me to spend a little more money on the "impulse buys"  and snack food for my kids (apples and pears...whatever is on sale for 99 cents a pound and has lots of fiber to keep them fuller longer). 

Good luck shopping!