Meal Planning
So, I'm trying to get better at meal planning for several reasons including saving money, being more organized and shopping less. There are so many areas of being a homemaker that I feel like such a newbie in. This is one of them. Last month, I planned out meals for the the last 3 weeks of the month and did 4 hours of shopping for those meals in two days. For the rest of the month, I pretty much only had to pick up a couple things here and there, which kept me out of the stores for the most part. This is good for three reasons: I spend less money, it saves time and I don't have to drag my kids to the store one or more times per week.
So, now I'm taking this to a new level and trying to plan out the whole month of February. My dilemma is do I comparison shop, gather coupons, etc. and hit multiple stores or do I just stick with my main stops: Trader Joe's, Costco, Safeway and the produce stand. I tried the whole coupon bit a few months ago and felt like I was spending more time and money buying stuff I didn't really need (and being in the stores too often) than saving money. Part of the dilemma is that money is tight and comparison shopping or checking out discount grocery stores might be worth the financial savings...or it might not. Quality is also important to me and often, the better quality items are found at Costco, TJs and a local upscale market for produce. I'd appreciate any input.
Posted in: coupons, grocery shopping, meal planning on Monday, February 1, 2010 at at 11:30 AM
If I see a coupon then I'll cut it, but we don't get the paper and so that takes away a lot of options in that field. One option that I have had luck with is going on a maker's website and telling them how much I love their product (like this wonderful mozzarella cheese brand). They gave me 6 coupons for $1.00 off! I've also done it with a brand of bread I like and I got 3 loaves for FREE! So if there is a food product you use often, email them and let them know!
I take the month's menu with me to the grocery (as well as my weekly list... as you can't keep produce longer than a week in the winter over here). If there are items on sale that I KNOW I will need to use in the following weeks, I try to pick them up then. It helps save money, but I don't have to go extremely out of my way to do it.
As far as all the stores you go to... wow... you are brave! At the most my boys are done at 2 stores, if I'm lucky. =)