Grocery shopping revisited...

A few weeks ago I wrote about my grocery budget, and how I was planning to use $20 of my $125 per week to stock up on food and supplies for my pantry. A dear friend of mine asked me a few good questions about how I approach shopping, menu planning, etc. I thought that perhaps I should share a bit of how I have approached grocery shopping in the past and how I do it now.

I am sure I have a larger budget than some and a smaller budget than others. Ultimately, we should all work within our means and be good stewards of what we have been given and the income that comes into our homes. We live on one income. My husband earns that money that comes into our home, and I manage our home and teach our children. That's how we have chosen to live our lives.

Now, back to groceries... I have tried many, many different strategies for grocery shopping. I have shopped every other week. I have shopped once a month. I have shopped weekly. I have shopped with a debit card. I have shopped with cash. Once upon a time, I even used a credit card. I have used coupons. I have skipped using coupons. I have shopped at one store, and I have shopped at several stores. When I had younger children and fewer children my budget was less. I confess that I have really struggled with staying within a budget. I have found a few things that help me stay on budget.

I think the most important shopping strategy that keeps me on budget is spending cash. Cash is scary. Cash means that I have to pay attention to everything I put in my cart even before I enter the store. I have to go in with a plan. I need meal plans and a grocery list and a calculator. I stop at the bank before I go to the store. I take the cash I need. Within one strip I can hit three stores. I don't always need to go to all three. Last week I did. Sometimes I go to Sam's Club, and I need to go a different direction. I do shop weekly now.

I guess that brings me to another point. I do shop at more than one store. I actually shop at about 5 different stores but not all in one week. I do look at the loss leaders in the weekly ads that come in the Sunday paper. If you don't get the paper, you can most likely look on-line and find your store's weekly ad. I also look at MyGroceryDeals.com This helps me look at three of my stores at one time.

I include everything except pet food in my grocery budget. I buy paper towels, napkins, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent and the like plus food items with my grocery budget. I do buy some organic items. One item that is on my list every week is Stonyfield yogurt. It is a must for our family. In the winter I buy most of my produce at the grocery store, but in the spring, summer and fall I buy from the local farmer's market. I use my grocery money to shop at the farmer's market. I will tell you that I do not buy much meat at the store. We buy our beef and pork from a local farmer. So, meat is generally not part of my budget. I do buy chicken at the store because it is hard for me to get local chicken on a regular basis. This local meat is organic and grass-fed. I also buy spices, flour, oats, corn meal, cocoa powder, etc. from a local Mennonite-run bulk food store. I buy my flour, oats, wheat berries, etc. in 50# bags. The cost for these items does not come from my monthly budget. It comes from money we set aside from our tax return and gifts.

For the most part I do not use coupons. However, we just started getting the Sunday paper again, so I have started using some coupons. Of course, I do try to pair them with sale items. I also try to stay flexible on brands, so that I can make use of coupons. I only use coupons on items I buy regularly.

I do make my own bread on a fairly regular basis. I make tortillas at home. Bread items are one of the easiest items to make myself. I don't get totally hung up on this if I am having a crazy week. I will buy the best store bread that I can. I make my own granola most of the time. I really try not to spend a lot on boxed, cold cereals, but we do eat some of them each month. If a box is more than $2.00 I won't buy it. A dollar fifty would be even better. I think making these items from scratch does help the grocery budget. I try not to be a perfectionist about it, and this is sometimes hard for me. I do try to avoid buying a lot of pre-made, boxed or frozen type foods. There are many recipes around the Internet for homemade side dishes and such. The Hillbilly Housewife has a lot of great recipes.

When my children were babies we used cloth diapers and wipes. The only baby I used all disposables with was Natalie. Jonathan was only cloth diapered for about three months, but the twins wore cloth from the age of sixth months until they were potty trained. This really saved my grocery budget especially with twins. I almost always had two in diapers for several years. I think we saw a great savings from using cloth. Of course, I did have some moments in time when I used disposables on the girls. Sometimes life just got crazy. For the most part though they were cloth diapered. On a very personal note, we also make use of cloth personal pads. I am sure I have seen a great savings with this.

I hope this gives you a little glimpse into my grocery shopping strategies. Please ask questions if you have them. May you be blessed...