Want a very easy way to save time and money in the grocery store? Make a list!
You can waste a lot of time wandering around the store trying to remember what you needed and then trying to find it in the store.
Years ago, when I was grocery shopping with a baby in tow, I made up a grocery list to make shopping easier for myself.
I put all the items in categories, grouping similarly stored items together. Fruits, vegetables, frozen goods, canned goods, dairy, household items, etc each have their own category. I left a couple lines at the bottom of each category to add things that were not on the list.
I print out a stack of blank lists and keep them in the drawer. Evey week, I take a new one out and keep track of the things that we need on the next grocery shopping trip.
When I hit the grocery store, I start at one side and work my way to the other, while getting the items on the list. It eliminates wandering through the aisles trying to find what I need from a scattered list and keeps me from getting distracted and spending money on things we do not need.
I can complete my grocery shopping in about 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes or longer. Here is a copy of my Grocery List to print out and take with you on your next trip.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Friday, August 3, 2012
Meal Planning - Save Time & Money
Meal planning saves time and money and makes life easier.
I admit, before I started I was skeptical, but in my house, it has proven itself.
I hate to stand in front of the fridge after a long day and try to figure out what to make for dinner. Add a hungry spouse and kids and some extra-curricular activities and it can be really stressful.
We started meal planning to avoid some of that time crunch stress and to make it easier to divide up the dinner making responsibilities. Some nights I make supper and some nights my husband does. We always make sure that the weeks meals are planned before we go grocery shopping so we can get the things that we need for the next weeks meals.
I started out using a magnetic pad of these forms that I found at my local Michaels store. We stuck it on the fridge and planned our meals out a week at a time.
Now we do the plan a month at a time but it is flexible, so if we need to change it we do. We just write the changes on the calendar where everyone can see it. It takes us about 20 minutes once a month to make the plan up which is a very small investment for the time that it saves us. You can make a weekly or bi-weekly schedule, whatever works for you.
We get out the calendar for the month and write down all the commitments. These include special occasions, meetings, appointments, dance classes, swimming lessons, school events and whatever else is going on.
(I use CalendarsThatWork.com or you can use an existing calendar or you can even use a blank piece of paper)
Once all the commitments are written down we decide who is making dinner which nights. If I have a commitment one night, then my husband cooks that night and vice versa. It keeps things organized.
Next we decide what is for dinner. We try to use the ingredients we have in the house and to mix up the selection so we are not having spaghetti 7 days in a row. We like to try new recipes every month as well, to keep things interesting. Some days, usually on the weekend, we will plan a dinner with family or friends, like a roast or a big BBQ in the summer. We also allow for 1 or 2 nights a month to go out or order in, as our budget allows.
We also build meals with leftovers into the plan. If I make a roast chicken for Sunday dinner then Monday's dinner will have leftover chicken as part of it, maybe Chicken Quesadillas. If there is still chicken on Tuesday, then that days dinner may be chicken sandwiches or chicken soup and so on until the leftovers are all eaten. Planning for and using leftovers helps to reduce or even eliminate the amount of food waste we generate. More money savings right there.
We plan batch cooking where we need to as well. If we make a big pot of chili or soup for dinner one night then we freeze the leftovers in single serving portions for lunches. I will often double the recipes for other things and then freeze a complete meal to pull out and reheat on a night when we are rushed.
Once the meal plan is complete, then we make our grocery list. We check the cupboards and freezer to see what we have and what we need for the upcoming weeks meals. I make a list of everything we need and try to make sure to follow the list. Following the list helps to ensure that I do not buy things that we do not need, which saves money.
There are times we change the plan based on what is on sale in the flyers or to use up things that we have in the cupboard and freezer. This saves us both money and shopping time.
Meal planning also allows you to spread out some of the food expenses. When it gets closer to the holidays we make a plan for the whole meal and start shopping in advance so that we are not buying everything at once and spending a bunch of money on one shopping trip. The perishables are purchased in the last trip before the dinner but there are lots of other things that can be purchased in advance.
For us, making a meal plan has almost eliminated the time we used to spend staring into the refrigerator trying to decide what to make at the end of the day. It has saved us time at the grocery store by giving us a clear idea of what we need for our week of meals instead of wandering around the store trying to decide. It has saved us cooking and cleaning time after a long day at work because there are things that we prep ahead of time and then can just pull out when we are ready to start cooking.
Our meal planning has also made things easier for me in the kitchen. If it is my night to cook dinner and I am running late my husband can look on the meal plan to see what is for dinner that night. Then he can get it started instead of waiting for me to get home and tell him what we are having.
You do not have to use a calendar and plan a month in advance. Get a piece of paper or a notebook and plan a week at a time. It only takes a little time planning to save a lot of time and money in the kitchen.
I admit, before I started I was skeptical, but in my house, it has proven itself.
I hate to stand in front of the fridge after a long day and try to figure out what to make for dinner. Add a hungry spouse and kids and some extra-curricular activities and it can be really stressful.
We started meal planning to avoid some of that time crunch stress and to make it easier to divide up the dinner making responsibilities. Some nights I make supper and some nights my husband does. We always make sure that the weeks meals are planned before we go grocery shopping so we can get the things that we need for the next weeks meals.
I started out using a magnetic pad of these forms that I found at my local Michaels store. We stuck it on the fridge and planned our meals out a week at a time.
Now we do the plan a month at a time but it is flexible, so if we need to change it we do. We just write the changes on the calendar where everyone can see it. It takes us about 20 minutes once a month to make the plan up which is a very small investment for the time that it saves us. You can make a weekly or bi-weekly schedule, whatever works for you.
We get out the calendar for the month and write down all the commitments. These include special occasions, meetings, appointments, dance classes, swimming lessons, school events and whatever else is going on.
(I use CalendarsThatWork.com or you can use an existing calendar or you can even use a blank piece of paper)
Once all the commitments are written down we decide who is making dinner which nights. If I have a commitment one night, then my husband cooks that night and vice versa. It keeps things organized.
Next we decide what is for dinner. We try to use the ingredients we have in the house and to mix up the selection so we are not having spaghetti 7 days in a row. We like to try new recipes every month as well, to keep things interesting. Some days, usually on the weekend, we will plan a dinner with family or friends, like a roast or a big BBQ in the summer. We also allow for 1 or 2 nights a month to go out or order in, as our budget allows.
We also build meals with leftovers into the plan. If I make a roast chicken for Sunday dinner then Monday's dinner will have leftover chicken as part of it, maybe Chicken Quesadillas. If there is still chicken on Tuesday, then that days dinner may be chicken sandwiches or chicken soup and so on until the leftovers are all eaten. Planning for and using leftovers helps to reduce or even eliminate the amount of food waste we generate. More money savings right there.
We plan batch cooking where we need to as well. If we make a big pot of chili or soup for dinner one night then we freeze the leftovers in single serving portions for lunches. I will often double the recipes for other things and then freeze a complete meal to pull out and reheat on a night when we are rushed.
Once the meal plan is complete, then we make our grocery list. We check the cupboards and freezer to see what we have and what we need for the upcoming weeks meals. I make a list of everything we need and try to make sure to follow the list. Following the list helps to ensure that I do not buy things that we do not need, which saves money.
There are times we change the plan based on what is on sale in the flyers or to use up things that we have in the cupboard and freezer. This saves us both money and shopping time.
Meal planning also allows you to spread out some of the food expenses. When it gets closer to the holidays we make a plan for the whole meal and start shopping in advance so that we are not buying everything at once and spending a bunch of money on one shopping trip. The perishables are purchased in the last trip before the dinner but there are lots of other things that can be purchased in advance.
For us, making a meal plan has almost eliminated the time we used to spend staring into the refrigerator trying to decide what to make at the end of the day. It has saved us time at the grocery store by giving us a clear idea of what we need for our week of meals instead of wandering around the store trying to decide. It has saved us cooking and cleaning time after a long day at work because there are things that we prep ahead of time and then can just pull out when we are ready to start cooking.
Our meal planning has also made things easier for me in the kitchen. If it is my night to cook dinner and I am running late my husband can look on the meal plan to see what is for dinner that night. Then he can get it started instead of waiting for me to get home and tell him what we are having.
You do not have to use a calendar and plan a month in advance. Get a piece of paper or a notebook and plan a week at a time. It only takes a little time planning to save a lot of time and money in the kitchen.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Grocery Shopping - Shop Local
Summer, for us, means local shopping at it's best. Shopping at Farmer's Markets, local colleges, family gardens and in your own garden are all great places to "shop" to stretch your grocery dollars and have a little fun doing it.
The Farmer's Markets are all open after a winter hiatus and a trip to the market is one of our favourite ways to spend a Saturday morning. There are activities for the kids, goodies made by local artisans and of course all the wonderful breads, meat and produce available.
In the summer I try to buy most of our fruits and vegetables at the Farmer's Market. Everything is fresh and delicious and it also supports local producers and businesses.
The cucumber that costs $1.00 at the Farmer's Market may be $1.69 from the grocery store. That is a $0.69 savings. and those small amounts add up fast when you are shopping for groceries. We usually plan to spend between $20-$30 on fruits and vegetables when we go to a Saturday market and always come home with much more than we would have if we spent the same money at the grocery store. Click on the link to check out the Market at Red Deer or the Alberta Farmer's Market Association for markets across Alberta.
Farmer's Markets are also great if you like to do canning, dehydrating or freezing. You can buy big cases of in season, fruits and vegetables and take them home to make jam, preserves, salsa, dried fruits or to freeze to eat later in the season or during the winter. By the end of September our cupboards are full of delicious homemade jams and jellies, a selection of dehydrated fruits and our freezer is full of frozen vegetables and fruits. Buying the produce in season and preserving it is much less expensive than trying to buy it in the middle of the winter.
We also do some of our food shopping at a local college. The college is located in a rural community South of where we live and has a strong agricultural base. We get our eggs from a person who works with my husband there who has chickens on their farm. We use approximately 1 dozen eggs per week and save at least $1.00 per dozen which adds up to savings of approximately $52/ year. The college also has a meat cutting program and they sell the meat that the students cut. The meat is excellent and the savings are significant. You do have to get there early though because it is very popular. The college also has a horticulture program and sells the produce and flowers that are grown there. Excellent quality and great prices.
We love apples at our house; apple pie, apple muffins, apple butter, apple chips, apple tarts - you get the idea. My parents have a big apple tree in their backyard and a lot of apple trees out on the farm. The last several years they have offered us apples from the trees. We have a great time picking the apples and eating them too. Last year we made some delicious apple butter, dehydrated apple chips (my daughter's favourite), and froze bags of apple pie filling and grated apple for muffins and tarts. They gave us all the apples we wanted all we had to add was the labour to pick and prepare them and a few spices - which was totally worth it. Thanks Mom & Dad!
We also have a garden in our backyard that supplies all the peas, carrots and onions that we need for the year. We also try planting a few new things every year. This year we planted pumpkins, cucumbers and green peppers. If they work out we will probably plant them again next year. If they do not then we will try something else.
If you do not have a garden or know someone who can share their garden - look for a local U-pick garden or orchard. There are a lot in our area - our favourite is The Jungle Farm. We go every summer to pick baskets of strawberries for making jam, dehydrating and freezing and again in the fall for pumpkins and the Fall Fair.
Shopping local is a great way to support local producers and artisans and a great way to stretch your grocery budget too.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Grocery Shopping on a Budget - Where to find Canadian Coupons
I did say that I was going to be expanding the topics on this blog beyond recipes and tutorials.So here we go.
I always thought that I was just living my life, doing my best to live within our resources, save some money and have some fun while we were doing it.
Apparently, I am doing some things that other people are not. I did not realize this until I was asked several times in a week about our grocery budget and even stopped at the grocery store checkout by a couple of women who wanted to know where I had got all the coupons that I had just used.
Our grocery budget is approximately $300 - $400 per month, which works out to about $75-$100 a week. Quite often we spend less than that at the store per week. Sometimes, if there are really good sales that week, we stock up on some items and go over $75. It all works out for us in the end. One person that asked me about our grocery budget said they were spending approximately $400 per week on groceries. That is our budget for a whole month which means that she was spending $1200 or more per month on groceries!!!!! I also talked to a lot of people that did not know how much money they were spending on groceries, which surprised me.
I won't give up all my secrets in this post but I will let you know where I find a lot of the coupons that I use.
There are all kinds of coupon sites on the internet but not all of them work for Canadians. Many of them have coupons valid in the US only - which is frustrating if you find a really good coupon for something that you buy all the time. The coupons on these sites are for use in Canada. Some of them may be valid in the US but I recommend that you check before you try to use them, just to make sure. Also, in Canada; Alberta for sure, many of the coupons are 1 per purchase so there is little chance of extreme couponing here.
www.websaver.ca
www.save.ca
www.gocoupons.com
www.brandsaver.com
(This is Proctor & Gamble's site. You can sign up for their sample program and get coupons too)
www.squawkfox.com (This site has all kinds of tips on frugal living & coupons)
www.kraftcanada.com (This site has recipes and coupons)
www.simplyfrugal.ca (Coupons, tips & tricks for saving money)
I also check the local newspaper and the weekly store flyers. There are often coupons printed in the paper or there are inserts with coupons in them. If they are for an item we use or something that we want to try, I clip them out and save them for the next time that item is on sale. I buy the item then so I can stretch that discount coupon even further.
Using coupons is an easy way to reduce your grocery bill and save that money for something else, like paying bills or having some fun.
I always thought that I was just living my life, doing my best to live within our resources, save some money and have some fun while we were doing it.
Apparently, I am doing some things that other people are not. I did not realize this until I was asked several times in a week about our grocery budget and even stopped at the grocery store checkout by a couple of women who wanted to know where I had got all the coupons that I had just used.
Our grocery budget is approximately $300 - $400 per month, which works out to about $75-$100 a week. Quite often we spend less than that at the store per week. Sometimes, if there are really good sales that week, we stock up on some items and go over $75. It all works out for us in the end. One person that asked me about our grocery budget said they were spending approximately $400 per week on groceries. That is our budget for a whole month which means that she was spending $1200 or more per month on groceries!!!!! I also talked to a lot of people that did not know how much money they were spending on groceries, which surprised me.
I won't give up all my secrets in this post but I will let you know where I find a lot of the coupons that I use.
There are all kinds of coupon sites on the internet but not all of them work for Canadians. Many of them have coupons valid in the US only - which is frustrating if you find a really good coupon for something that you buy all the time. The coupons on these sites are for use in Canada. Some of them may be valid in the US but I recommend that you check before you try to use them, just to make sure. Also, in Canada; Alberta for sure, many of the coupons are 1 per purchase so there is little chance of extreme couponing here.
www.websaver.ca
www.save.ca
www.gocoupons.com
www.brandsaver.com
(This is Proctor & Gamble's site. You can sign up for their sample program and get coupons too)
www.squawkfox.com (This site has all kinds of tips on frugal living & coupons)
www.kraftcanada.com (This site has recipes and coupons)
www.simplyfrugal.ca (Coupons, tips & tricks for saving money)
I also check the local newspaper and the weekly store flyers. There are often coupons printed in the paper or there are inserts with coupons in them. If they are for an item we use or something that we want to try, I clip them out and save them for the next time that item is on sale. I buy the item then so I can stretch that discount coupon even further.
Using coupons is an easy way to reduce your grocery bill and save that money for something else, like paying bills or having some fun.
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