People tend to either have enough time or enough money to accomplish what they want to do. As a stay-at-home mom, I don't have a lot of money for variable expenses, but I do have time to play around and find the best ways to make our dollars stretch. Our biggest variable expense is our grocery bill, and so far, I've managed to develop a system that keeps it to about 60$ per week. Here's what I do.
It starts with a quick perusal of the flyers from the grocery stores we frequent. Usually, for our area of town, it's either Food Basics or Real Canadian Superstore; these two have the best deals and if it's a toss-up between the two, sometimes I'll go to both. Once I've seen what's on sale, I can plan my meals accordingly. My breakfasts and lunches are usually about the same (cereal and sandwiches or soup, respectively), my husband doesn't eat breakfast and he takes leftovers for lunch. So the only meals that really vary are our dinners and whatever baking I do during the week. I have a list of possible meals, broken down by beef, chicken, pork, and vegetarian. We have a few favourites that we'll have every week or so, but the more I read food blogs and cookbooks, the more recipes I like to try out. My beloved husband is somewhat of a picky eater, but I know his tastes well enough to know what he'll like. He tends toward peasant foods, like root vegetables, soups, stews, and the like.
Once I've planned my meals (which means I write down 10 dinners on the back of my shopping list), I check to see if we have all the necessary ingredients, and write down any that we need to buy. I also take note of anything we're running out of, or that we're likely to run out of before the two weeks are up before the next trip. I'll also call my hubby to see if there's anything he wants or needs while I'm out. Once the shopping list is all written out, I highlight produce, frozen/dairy, and meat in different colours so that I have an easier time when I'm in a given section of the store. As an aside, I only plan 10 dinners because we have a lot of family and friends in town, so we often eat at someone's house, and I also leave room for a meal out every once in awhile.
As I mentioned, I shop every two weeks, usually on a Friday since that's when the flyer prices come into effect. That way, I'll get in on any awesome/time-sensitive specials, and the produce is fresh rather than picked over. Since I often have to bring my daughter with me, mornings tend to work best, and Fridays are best of all because most people are at work then, so I don't feel like we're slowing anyone down in the aisles or at the checkout. Before leaving the house, I make sure I have our grocery bins and recyclable bags, because not only is it a drag to pay 5 cents for plastic bags, but it's also a drag to carry multiple plastic bags in from the car by myself. As much of an adjustment as it's been, I really think it's a blessing that most stores make you pay for bags now.
My goal is always to stick to my list, and I've had limited success in doing so. Sometimes, if I've just forgotten to put something on there, or if I'm not sure we have quite enough of another, I'll pick up whatever it is. However, sometimes I have to be flexible if I've planned a certain meal, and the key ingredient isn't available (an unfortunate reality at discount grocery stores). This happens all the time, most often when I really want to make butternut squash soup and there's no squash. Or the meat advertised as being on sale ends up being more expensive than buying a whole chicken.
When buying produce for two weeks at a time, I get a lot of frozen (peas, corn) and canned (black beans, mandarins, corn) and I look for things that don't expire quickly: sweet potatoes, onions, apples, oranges, etc. I can't count how many times I've bought celery or pineapple or some kind of melon and thought I'd finish it right away, but ended up throwing it out. If I do get something like that, I have to chop it up as soon as I get home, otherwise I'll forget about it until it's too late. Which reminds me of a canteloupe that's been in the crisper for about three weeks now... I don't like my odds on that still being edible.
One last tip: if you cook with a lot of cheese (like we do), don't ever pay full price for one of those bricks! It goes on sale often enough for 4$, and when it does, stock up. Check the expiry dates: if unopened, those bricks are good for months, so work through them one at a time and buy more when it's back on sale. Don't freeze it unless you like crumbly cheese.
I'll close with our list of meals and grocery bill for this two-week period (Feb 12-26th):
Meals:
Southwest Sweet Potato Soup (with homemade bread)
Butternut Squash Soup (with homemade bread)
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Quesadillas
Quiche (with leftover SPBB mixture)
Tacos
Beef Stew
Roast Chicken, mashed potatoes, peas & carrots
Chicken Pot Pie
Pizza
Perogies & Zucchini Latkes
Grocery Bill: 113.08$ (including white chocolate and fresh berries for a special Valentine's Day dessert and 4 cream cheeses for 1.88$ apiece)
No comments:
Post a Comment