I love going to the grocery store. I know some people may hate it, but I think part of what helps me enjoy the grocery store visit is that I do not live there. It’s a once-a-week thing. I do not go every day for this or that, and I don’t buy my recipe ingredients on the fly. (Not criticizing those who do – or saying they are unorganized – my mom and lots of my good friends do their shopping this way…) However, I find more enjoyment at the store and find that I save more money when I plan and organize my shopping trips.
Here’s what I do: (and the day of the week has changed – I used to shop on Monday morning but I find Friday is better for me because I do more cooking on the weekend and I don’t want my ingredients to have to hold that long). On Thursday night I sit down and plan the meals for the next week. I ask Cody what he’d like to have and he usually has a couple of suggestions of things we haven’t had in a while. I write out a schedule of what meal we’ll have what night based on other plans, etc. I usually always plan at least one night for leftovers. We very rarely plan an eating out meal, although sometimes they happen spur of the moment b/c I don’t feel like cooking that night or we’ve gone out to the house and it’s just easier to grab something quick.
After I plan what meals we’ll eat, I survey the ingredients available in the pantry and make my list based on just what we need. OR, if we are out of staple ingredients such as sugar or ketchup I’ll put them on the list even though I might not plan to need them that week. Here again I use a notepad from www.buttonedup.com – the Shopping Pad. It organizes my groceries, discounted items, pharmacy, and other stuff (which I generally use for those items on the grocery side that aren’t groceries like laundry soap and paper towels). I make my list on this pad and then I go through my coupons and see what items I have coupons for. Occasionally going through the coupons will make me think of something I’ve forgotten to add to the list, but I generally DO NOT buy something just because I have a coupon. We do not have unlimited storage space, and when I did this, I noticed I was actually spending more at the time simply because I had a coupon, but it wasn’t worth it if it wasn’t something we actually needed at the time. (I know this goes against many of the couponing plans that some of you may follow… just telling you what works for me.)
So, then Friday morning I’m ready with list in hand and coupons clipped to the list to take my bags and head to the store. I know every ingredient I’m going to need for the week, and I’ve checked the store specials to see if I want to make any of those specials part of a meal for the week. My store also hangs coupons on certain items, so I make sure to check as I shop and see if another brand of the same item has a coupon. I love HEB… I wish everyone could have an HEB store… part of why I save so much every week is because of their store coupons and meal deals… but, not everyone can have them, so I won’t dwell on this. Another way that I usually save a lot is by buying the HEB brand of things. I never really did this before – buying the store brand – except at Target I would buy some Market Pantry brand items. But, I really like that most of the HEB brand products are made right here in Texas and that puts money not only back into our economy b/c I’m shopping there, but it also helps local businesses, which I like. (And the products most times are better quality/flavor for less!)
Another key to saving is sticking to your list. After you’ve spent time to carefully plan your list, don’t add a bunch of extra items just because you see them and they are on sale! If it’s something that fits into your week, or an item that you forgot to write down, that’s understandable, but don’t excuse away every additional purchase. Chances are those are items that either are not as healthy for you (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos out now… I need to buy some!) or are items that you wouldn’t actually consume that week so they are just going to get old (like saying OMG they have Spring Oreos now… I need to buy some when you have seven boxes of Girl Scout cookies at home!).
Some might wonder how does buying for the whole week actually save you money? Here’s why – because you are only in the store ONCE during the week. Not only do you save on gas to get there, but you also limit your chances of picking up those spur-of-the-moment items. Also when you run by the store on your way home to grab the ingredients for dinner that night you haven’t had the opportunity to check your pantry and see what you already have on hand, so you end up buying items that you didn’t actually need.
Remember: I’m not saying you need to change your system just because I said so and it works for me… I’m saying this is what works for me and this is what helps me save money. Every week I can buy the groceries for the entire week for three people, cooking approx 9 meals a week, plus our toiletry needs for right at $100 and my savings ALWAYS comes out to between $10 and $20. (My shopping trip yesterday (couldn’t go Friday b/c of my schedule change… flexibility…;) for example: I bought groceries for the week, a case of bottled water, two greeting cards, allergy eye drops, AA batteries, Benadryl itch cream, Glade fabric and air refresher, and hair de-tangler for a total of $98.30 - HEB brand savings of $5.06, on sale savings of $.82, and coupon savings of $6.93. Total savings: $12.81.
I challenge you this – if you go to the grocery store more than once a week – add up your receipts and see how much you are actually spending in an average week. Then do it my way for one week. See how much you save, and let me know. :)
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