Beyond Menu planning….the 1st step

Although, I was always frugal, I didn’t always do my groceries for this amount.  In 2006, with only 2.5 children, I found that my grocery bill was creeping up towards $600 a month.  That may not sound like a lot to you now.  However, my family was much smaller then.  Plus groceries were much cheaper.

So, when I stumbled on a website called Money Saving Mom, I was blown away.  People were feeding their very large families for less.  MUCH less than I was currently doing. 

I can be very goal oriented and driven when something intrigues me.  Cutting my bill in half?  Well, that is something that definitely excited me! 

However, I didn’t think that decreasing my spending from $150 per week to only $50 per week was possible.  I already bought generic.  I used coupons.  We didn’t eat a ton of processed foods. I menu planned.

How, how how?  How did they do it?

The first thing I discovered was that almost every frugal grocery spender shopped at multiple stores.  They did not choose a grocery store of choice and just grin and bear it each week. 

So, that was my first step.  I decided to shop at more than 1 store each week.  At first, I started with 2 main grocery stores (Giant and Weis). I would make my list and then  scan both fliers.  I would buy my items at whichever store was cheaper that week. So, I would make 2 lists and shop at 2 stores.

I noticed savings immediately.

Not drastic savings, but a decrease. 

Of course, my game plan evolved as I continued to learn.  I still shopped multiple stores.  However, the store that entered the picture was one that changed my grocery life (violins strum in the background).

Next time, I will share with you about Aldi’s.

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