Saving Money On Groceries

I am always trying to find ways to save us money and one of our big expenses per month is the cost of food. Here are a few ways I have found saves money at the grocery store.

• Find a grocery store with a rewards card. I use Bi-Lo and for every fifty dollars I spend I get five cents off per gallon of gas. Now, this adds up very quick for us and I usually get around seventy cents off per gallon on a tank of fuel.
• Find one that has e-coupons. They load to your card and you don't have to dig through printed coupons. I usually forget I clipped the coupon or forget it at home so this saves us money since I am so forgetful.
• Set a budget and stick with it.
• Always pick up an sales ad to see their current specials.
• Make a list before you leave the house and stick to it. I had a bad habit of grabbing this that weren't on my list and two weeks later they still remained in my cabinet.
• Do an inventory of the items you already have so you can plan meals with those items.
• Eat leftovers. I often heat leftovers for lunch the next day.

I think the best thing I have done to save money, time and stress is make out a menu for a week, bi-weekly or monthly. I use a step-by-step process I found online. It comes with forms to complete each step. It has been so long now I am not sure of the site. I provided these forms below if you choose to use them. When you first start using this it is time consuming but after the first time it goes much faster.

1. Make a list of the meals I usually prepare. I write down every meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) I can think of. I write the three columns at the top of the sheet and flip it over to make an list for snacks. I keep this list to add meals and so I can use it the next month.
2. Plan out four weeks of menus. I printed a form that comes with the menu planner.
3. You can transfer step 2’s form to My Weekly Menu Planner form if you choose.
4. Make a master shopping list for each week including all ingredients needed for each meal.
5. Now you are ready to go shopping.

 

Step 2 four week menu form.

Step 3 My Weekly Menu Planner

Step 4 Master Shopping List

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