I decided to start blogging my savings due to multiple people asking how I do what I do. I tried many things before I found what worked for me. Initially, just looking at sales. Then I came across The Grocery Game. The concept was great and can work well for someone who doesn't have the time to plan. But I couldn't see paying to save money. Then I was introduced to a friend at church, Sue. She has a family of 9 and shared with our mom's group what worked for her. From that, I found a couple things that would definitely be things to live by.
The main thing I learned was to have a price list. I will explain in detail what this means in a future post. I clip coupons, review circulars from Safeway, Food Lion and Weis. I also shop at Aldi's, which is a great discount store that always has great prices, so I use them when I can't get good prices at the other chains. I also refer to a blog http://www.moneysavingmom.com/, which helps with savings currently going on in stores.
I menu plan for our week, which helps me decide what I need to get, that I don't already have at home. This brings me to the word "stockpile". I buy things when they are at their cheapest. This way I have them on hand at home at all times. It prevents running out and having to pay full price for an item. And conversely when I don't feel like shopping, I know I have plenty to get me through those weeks. I have found creative ways to store this stockpile, which I will show later.
Our family budgets $100 per week for groceries, including cleaning and personal items. I usually am under that per week, but then I store the extra money in the event I come across a big sale such as meat. Prior to making my menu and grocery shop, I pray that God will help me find the deals to meet what we need for that week. He hasn't failed me yet, and always seems to surprise me when I least expect.
I hope this will help you in your shopping adventures. It is a task we all have to do, but we don't have to break the bank in doing.
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