Sometimes just having a plan can save us money. In my Google Reader this morning I noticed that Beautiful2God has a meme entitled Money Saving Monday. In this meme, she lists ways that she can save her family money during the week. I really like that idea so I am linking up this week.
Here are my plans for saving us money in the grocery store this week.
- Stay out of the grocery store. Here lately it seems that this is truly the best way for me to save my family money in any category - just don't go shopping.
- When we run out of bread or milk, make a list and send my husband. He is very good about only getting what is on the list. He doesn't look down any aisles for good buys or sale items. He grabs what is on the list and gets it done.
- Remember to thaw out the meat for the next day's meal. I don't know why I let this slide. I know that each night at supper we are going to need to eat again the next night. Like Nike, just do it.
- Keep the dishes clean. Do you know that lots of families tend to go out because the sink is full of dishes? Ours does. Who wants to cook a meal when you haven't cleaned up from the previous one? Use your dishwasher as the sink. Clean it out and then put all dirty dishes in it as they become dirty. Another tip that my grandmother always lived by (and they never ate out) was to wash the pots and pans all along during the preparation. When the meal is done, there are very few items left to wash and clean up is a snap.
- If we have a craving (or as we call it - a hankering) for something, put it on the list to have next week. Don't run out to the store to buy just one item, and especially don't go to the grocery store just for tonight's meal. I tend to buy too much if it's right after work. Of course, we have to add snacks for my 5 year old and all of us are thirsty.
So now I have a plan albeit a small one. I'm going to print this out and tape to my refrigerator door as a reminder of my plan for the week.
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Great reminders! Thanks for linking! (Sorry my linky is goofy right now, hopefully that will be fixed soon...). I have trouble even with a plan, remembering to thaw the meat! WHen we go to the grocery store, we go after breakfast, and I have to take a 4 yo and a 1yo, so I pack a yogurt and drink for the 4 yo and Cheerios and a bottle for the 1 yo. I usually eat a banana that I get or I eat from a blox of granola bars that I keep in the car. That helps us from spending extra on junk. I also try to keep track of all of the money going out on my trip, and keep it as low as possile, so it helps me not to overspend.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby would be the one to overspend at the store... He would see something on sale and "think" that we need it. Or see that candy is a "good deal"... I said, "when is candy ever a good deal? All we do is sit here and eat it until it is gone...." He likes to stay out of the stores...
You are right about staying out of the stores. I have ONE trip I make each week, I have my $70, and that is what I spend... If I get back into the stores on another trip, I will definately spend more then I bargin for.
I agree with every single one of these! Especially the one about keeping the dishes clean, when the counter is messy and the dishwasher still has clean dishes in it, I don't want to cook. Great ideas!
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