How I Plan for Monthly Shopping
I am getting ready to set out on my monthly jaunt for groceries. I've written about it before and you can read more about it HERE. I drive about 100 miles round trip to visit 7 discount grocery stores in three neighboring counties to see what deals can be found along the way.
There are tons of groceries and stores and people and, well, just lots of everything. And at the end of it there are lots of sore feet but I think it is all worth it in the end when you consider the massive amount of cash you saved.
I have talked at length in previous posts about monthly shopping but have never delved much into how I plan to go shopping. It is by no means a hop into the car and go on our merry way event. Well, I have done that but most of the time I spend quite some time planning.
I thought I would talk a bit about how I plan before I do my monthly shopping:
*What Food Do I Have?
This is pretty backwards and opposite from how people mostly plan. Most people think "what am I out of?" and then work on replenishing that. And some foods I do that with too, but when I am planning to go shopping the first thing I ask instead is "what do I have?". If I have 8 boxes of gluten free cocoa puffs (as I do right now, they were 69 cents last month) then I know I can plan a lot of cereal breakfasts and I don't need to get cereal. I try to take inventory of everything I have by where it is located: what is in the cupboard, what is in the pantry, what is in the fridge, what is in the deep freezer?
By doing it that way it helps me with my next point,
*What Kind of Space Do I Have?
When I am looking at what I have I am also taking into account how much room I have to buy more things. If I have a completely full freezer and deep freezer then I should probably steer clear of things that are going to need to be kept frozen because where am I going to keep them? I've done this many, many times and have ended up with a husband who had to spend tons of time trying to get everything to tetris-style fit into it's proper place before it spoils.
So,when shopping, keep in the back of your mind how much room you have to work with. I once found organic milk for 25 cents per half gallon before but as it needed to be frozen and our freezer was already almost full I was only able to get a couple cartons. I had to choose to let the deal go. It was hard to do but not doing so results in spoiled food and wasted money. Oh the struggle!
*Do I Even Need to go Shopping?
By now we've looked at everything we have and all of our available space. So with those two things in mind, you need to ask yourself if you actually even need to go shopping. Do you have enough to make it through?
About every 10 months or so I find myself in a wonderful, joyous month. It’s a month where every nook I could keep food is full. This is when I know I don't need to go shopping but rather use up what we have. It's a wonderful feeling to use what God has already provided you with rather than have to go and get more. Plus you'll save most of your monthly food budget for the month if you aren't needing to buy.
* What Can I Make?
Nick laughs at me (often!) because I will often be on the couch the night before monthly shopping, surrounded by a sea of scrawled on papers with a laptop. I write everything down I have, then scour pinterest and the web for recipes to use up what I already have to make a meal.
Cornflake crusted tuna steaks anyone?
My point is, you can only save money with monthly shopping and staying out of stores as frequently if you actually use what you have. Genius, right?
And if I don't use something in a relatively short amount of time from purchasing it then the grosser and grosser it becomes to me in my mind. Do you know what I mean? Even if that can of tuna is perfectly good, it's been sitting there for two months and I just don't want to do anything with it. So I try to look at everything we have and figure out what I can make to use it up in a meal, and move on with our lives. Plus, the more meals I can create with things I already have on hand then the less I have to spend on buying more food.
*What Do I Need?
If you really want to make chicken picatta because you have capers and chicken and linguine, then you are going to need to buy some lemons. You have most of the things you need, you just need to get yourself a lemon.
So, you put it on the list. Or you know you are out of ketchup. So, you put it on the list. This leads to our next and final question:
*What Can I afford?
If your grocery list is longer than the amount of money in your budget, then you may have to start cutting and the chicken picatta may need to get nixed. If lemons are through the roof expensive then you could change it into chicken parm because you already have mozarella and tomato sauce. It might not be what you were in the mood for or what you were planning on, but you may have to make some changes to fit into what you can afford for your family.
And guess what?
You'll live. I promise. It might stink but you'll make it.
My real life in real time example of this is that I really wanted to make dinner tonight. We've been rushed all week and have been eating at crazy hours and I just wanted a nice "ahh" time where we could sit and break bread together.
But I have no food because tomorrow I am going monthly shopping and our meats are gone. Meats? Is meats a word?
So, we are eating pancakes, applesauce, and bacon tonight. Is it what I would have planned if I could pick the perfect meal for tonight? No. Is it overly healthy? Not particularly. Will we still be able to have a family meal? Yes! Will I have a family that goes to bed with full bellies and happy hearts? Absolutely.
And that's what matters.
Monthly shopping for me is a give and take. It's getting to have some really nice meals and sometimes having to have my not so favorite meal. It's knowing when to scoop up a deal and when to let it go because we don't have room. It's a dance for sure, but for us it's worth it with how much money we save our family.
So those are the things to think of. Here are some things I take with me shopping:
*Coffee and Some Water
You're going to need a boost of whatever you'd like. It's a long day. Stay energized. Stay hydrated. Here’s my fave water bottle.
*Cooler Bags
My awesome Aunt Jan has bought us these freezer bags that are amazing! They fold up and come in stylish colors and keep things cold for hours. Maybe days but I haven't tested that yet. We seem to have scads of them, so we put all of our cold items in them while shopping.
*Kid Activities
I feel like if you are taking kids then you should already know this. But I’m here screaming it for you. For us it helps to have a bribery item. We let the kids play their tablets at the last store ONLY if they've been good at the rest of the stores. That dangling carrot is miraculous, I tell ya.
*A Plan for Lunch
I leave the house at seven in the morning. We are trying to get home before lunch. If you can't do that and you are going to need to eat out, plan ahead. Can you afford to eat out? Do you need to take a meal? Is there a cool place or playground you could visit for an impromptu picnic? When Nick and the kids go, I’ll pull some things out of the groceries we’ve bought, pop into a park we hardly ever get to, and have a little break from shopping while getting some fresh air. We sometimes times will surprise them with Subway. We get two footlongs and everyone gets a six inch. They think they are living it up. " Free soda refills! I get to tell them what I want on my sandwich!" Seriously, they think they are living the high life. Something small like that means the world to them and I'm tickled they're happy.
So, there you have it, my game plan for monthly shopping. Please let me know if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help! I love helping other mamas save money :)