We've all had those awful shopping trips. You know the time when you actually sat down and wrote a list only to forget it in the car. It also had to be that day that your husband got called into work so you had to bring your kids shopping......do I even need to go on? By the time you leave the store you have a cart full of groceries (none of which was on your list) but you spent ten times more than you intended.....oh and when you got home you realized that you forgot the milk!
Saving money means starting with a plan and sticking to it. Yup keep on walking past the bakery, close your eyes and plug your nose if you have to. Stick to your list!
I have my list. I looked at all of the grocery store ads and picked out the best prices on meats. Then I planned 7 dinners I can cook with the list items. After a quick inventory of my pantry I finished the list with the ingredients I need for the meals that I don't already have in my pantry.
So the 7 dinner meals I decided on are:
1 Fajitas
2 Turkey Chili
3 Spaghetti with Turkey meatballs
4 Shepherd's Pie
5 Roast and Potatoes
6 Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
7 Meatball soup
My shopping list (everything I need for my meals minus what I already had in my pantry):
3 lb bag of chicken
Beef Roast
green pepper
red pepper
purple onion
3 yellow onions
16 0z bag of frozen peas
2 16 oz bag of frozen corn
5 lb bag of potatoes
6 oz can of frozen orange juice
tortilla shells
pkg of Whole Grain spaghetti noodles
Gallon of milk
loaf of multi grain bread
a bunch of bananas
a 3lb bag of cuties
5lb bag of Tillamook Shredded cheese
2 19 oz pkg of ground turkey
1 can hunt's spaghetti sauce
I went to Macey's, Smith's and Fresh Market to get my items and spent $50.05 on my groceries. You could pick just one store that has the best prices and still get a good deal. My grocery stores are fairly close together so I just go to them all.
Finding recipes to meet your budget isn't hard, especially with the internet at your fingers. Casseroles and crockpot recipes are great budget friendly ways to feed your family a healthy meal for less money and less time in the kitchen.....both pluses in my book! One of my favorite websites is A Year of Slow Cooking http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. Basically anything you can make in your oven you can make in a crockpot (she even has a recipe for Cheescake cooked in a crockpot!) There are lots of great websites with recipes. Be adventurous and step out of your recipe box.
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