It seems like I make a variation of the same five meals, over and over again each week. It makes shopping rather easy, but it doesn’t challenge the chef within. I love to cook, so this is kind of depressing.

Since I needed a way to save money on groceries to fund our new savings account, I decided to start following the advice every article I’ve ever read about saving money on groceries told me. Here’s the short version: 1) shop the store flyers, see what the loss leaders are and make your menu around that. 2) write a list, taking into account what you already have on hand and what’s on your menu. 3) use coupons. 4) take advantage of store shopping “rewards” cards. 5) don’t shop hungry!

How I do it: 1)I peruse the flyers on Friday to get my brain working on a menu. 2)I write a list of the meals I want to make and then take a quick inventory of what I already have, fill in the list with the items I need. One of my downfalls with food shopping is that I buy things just to “have it in the house”, you know, just in case I feel like whipping up some chicken parm or something ridiculous like that. 3) I recently became a bit of a coupon whore when up until a month or so ago, I was totally against it. I hated clipping the damn things, only to find out I didn’t buy the correct item or combination of items when I got up to the register. Fooey! Now, I only clip the coupons of the items I usually buy, if I find it is not worth it when I get to the store {like the generic brand is half the price, even with the coupon} I toss it or leave it near the item on the shelf for some other frugal person to find. Since I drag Robbie with me shopping, he has become in charge of making sure I use the correct coupons as we go down the aisle. 4) I have every rewards card there is, but honestly, it only comes in handy when I actually shop the sales at the stores. Typically, I do all my shopping at Walmart because I find their prices better on the items I buy. Walmart also price-matches, but I have yet to be brave enough to bring in the other store flyers. Since I have 3 grocery stores within a 3 mile radius of my home, its not a burden to go to Shaw’s to get the deal on pork chops on the way home from Walmart. 5) Robbie and I try to make a point to eat a healthy lunch before we go grocery shopping. However, Saturday I spent $18 on nothing at Shaw’s because I was empty-stomached. 6) my personal addition: use whatever resources you have available to you. Where my mom lives is a working farm, I get free eggs as long as I bring my cartons back, and when the veggies come in, I pick whatever I want. The only expense is the time picking and prepping the veggies. This is nominal to me because I get to spend a little time with my mom and I’m outdoors, not in front of the TV or computer. She also saves the Sunday paper coupons for me, so I don’t have to buy it. Last week, I saved over $10 with my coupons, and I was able to stock up on some items, all while staying within my budget!

I have a menu calendar within my Google calendar. I set this up so I could stop asking the eternal question “what’s for dinner?”. It also helps me diversify the meals I make by seeing how long ago I made pulled pork, or spaghetti and meatballs. It saves me time looking through the cupboards and wondering what to make. I can also cook ahead if I’m time challenged later in the week.

Hope this helps, and I know you will save money if you use one or all of these tips! Happy shopping :-)