Well I had people say they would read my blog if I wrote one so here goes nothing!!! Bare with me I have never done this and am not quite sure how exactly to do this. I was thinking for my first post I was not going to do a recipe but how I got to the store and save money and get everything I need for a few weeks of dinners.
There are 3 steps I take before going shopping:
1. Plan ahead
2. Make a list
3. Cupons
1. Plan ahead a few weeks and make a list of meals. This way when your going to the store you know what you want for dinner and what you need to get in order to make it! I usually got threw my magazines and cook books and pick out 10 or so meals that I want to cook for the up coming weeks.
2. Make a shopping list according to your recipes you picked out in step one. Make sure when making your list you write down everything you need to make your dishes. The only exception here would be anything that can not be around the house for more than a few days such as some produce. In this case you know what you need and if you plan when you are going to cook these meals you can stop by the store and get just a few things the day before or the day of. Remember meat can be froze and taken out a day or 3 before you are planning on cooking it and put in the refrigerator to thaw.
Once you get your very detailed shopping list made and get to the store STICK TO IT!!! Impulse shopping will lead to allot of junk food and allot of things that do not fit into your meal plan. I know this is very hard even I cant come out of the store without some impulse buying!
Here is a site with a very good generic shopping list starter and many other lists as well:
www.grocerylists.org
3. There are allot of places to find coupons but one tip I would give when clipping coupons is to stick to your list and don't buy something that you don't really need just because it has a good coupon. I don't do to much coupon clipping but when I do the Sunday news paper is a great place to get them. Sometimes you will find a store that will double manufacture coupons like Safeway does. If you can find a better deal at a different store that u usually go to and it is worth it to do then shop many different stores.
There is also many different web sites you can go to and find some great coupons:
http://www.coupons.com/
www.shopathome.com
www.couponmom.com
www.redplum.com
Also remember ontop of coupons if you take your cans and bottles back before you do your shopping then you can use your refunds toward your bill!!! I hope this helps someone out there save a little bit of money at the grocery store. I know just doing these small things helps me save a couple hundred dollars a month!!
There are 3 steps I take before going shopping:
1. Plan ahead
2. Make a list
3. Cupons
1. Plan ahead a few weeks and make a list of meals. This way when your going to the store you know what you want for dinner and what you need to get in order to make it! I usually got threw my magazines and cook books and pick out 10 or so meals that I want to cook for the up coming weeks.
2. Make a shopping list according to your recipes you picked out in step one. Make sure when making your list you write down everything you need to make your dishes. The only exception here would be anything that can not be around the house for more than a few days such as some produce. In this case you know what you need and if you plan when you are going to cook these meals you can stop by the store and get just a few things the day before or the day of. Remember meat can be froze and taken out a day or 3 before you are planning on cooking it and put in the refrigerator to thaw.
Once you get your very detailed shopping list made and get to the store STICK TO IT!!! Impulse shopping will lead to allot of junk food and allot of things that do not fit into your meal plan. I know this is very hard even I cant come out of the store without some impulse buying!
Here is a site with a very good generic shopping list starter and many other lists as well:
www.grocerylists.org
3. There are allot of places to find coupons but one tip I would give when clipping coupons is to stick to your list and don't buy something that you don't really need just because it has a good coupon. I don't do to much coupon clipping but when I do the Sunday news paper is a great place to get them. Sometimes you will find a store that will double manufacture coupons like Safeway does. If you can find a better deal at a different store that u usually go to and it is worth it to do then shop many different stores.
There is also many different web sites you can go to and find some great coupons:
http://www.coupons.com/
www.shopathome.com
www.couponmom.com
www.redplum.com
Also remember ontop of coupons if you take your cans and bottles back before you do your shopping then you can use your refunds toward your bill!!! I hope this helps someone out there save a little bit of money at the grocery store. I know just doing these small things helps me save a couple hundred dollars a month!!
No comments:
Post a Comment