I’m not the only one concerned about the rising cost of food prices. Yahoo shared some tips about keeping the grocery bill down, but I already knew those.
After analyzing my budget yesterday, I decided I would try something new with my food budget. I got myself a calendar marker board ($6 at Target) with a dry-erase market and made up a menu for the next two weeks. I went through several magazines (I use Woman’s Day and Fitness) for nutritional and easy recipes. What I love about Woman’s Day, too, is they have a monthly menu planner with shopping list on their website. But that doesn’t really work for me because I know my son. He’s not going to eat most of that stuff on there. So what I did was flip through the magazines and found good recipes – some you can even get two meals out of one. So I clipped the recipes. And the best part is I have most of the ingredients on hand already. The others I would buy anyway. I love those kind of recipes!
Anyway, then I clipped my coupons from two weeks worth of Sunday newspapers. I set aside the ones I knew I’d use when I shopped and put the ones I knew I wouldn’t in my organizer.
Man gave me his old grill so I now have that as an alternative cooking option. I have scheduled into the menu grilled chicken and hamburgers. 😀
Now armed with a menu for the next two weeks, I started to make a list. I always forget something, though. So I went to the Internet and found a great online grocery checklist tool. I thought this was great! I simply check off what I’m going to buy and then print it out.
I went to the store this morning and spent about $7.00 less than normal. I also saved $4.00 in coupons. Even though it might be a pain in the butt to clip the coupons, I think it’s so worth it in the long run. On average, I save about $4-$5 per two weeks. That’s $117 a year!
I feel so…organized. And it makes me happy to know what I’ll be cooking for the next two weeks – and there’s not one repeat the entire two weeks. Of course, I have factored in “no cook” days. I call them “Free For All” days. hehe
So, tonight we’re having beef tenderloin wraps. And tomorrow… chili dogs!
Sounds good to me. I also have the store cards, because sometimes they give you an even better discount with the card — they do around here, anyway. I have about six of them, one for every store in the area, and I keep the prices in my head, so, if I need to zip around in one day to more than one store, I can comparison shop. I’ve been saving from $12-$22/week with the store cards.
Made it to Florida! It was a nice drive but speaking of money…took $150 worth of gas and just to think if I did this trip a year ago that would be cut in half. I’ll have to check out that link sounds interesting. It’s sad that the price of everything is going up but our paychecks aren’t. 🙁