My Shopping Orders

Alright, I'm sure you have been holding your breath just waiting on the edge of your seat for this post. I have been  avoiding packing working hard on it all week.

First off: I always look at what’s on sale around town. I get my grocery adds in the mail on Tuesday’s (and Wednesday’s, and sometime’s Thursday’s…) and I take note of anything that’s a super-duper steal, especially meat; the other week I got pork chops for $1.29 a pound! I also go online to Safeway.com and check out their “Just4U” section, which I love. It saves me so much money! With my card specials I get $5 off $20 worth of groceries almost every other week. Also, Dave’s Killer Bread, the sprouted kind, for $3.29 a loaf about once a month. Jaw-dropping, really. (Not on sale it's $5.69. Ouch!)
   If I find something that’s at a stomping price I’ll try to plan the majority of my meals to be as inexpensive as possible so that I can stock up on the sale. Otherwise I just make whatever the heck I feel like, within reason. (As much as I feel like eating steak every night, it’s just not fiscally feasible.)

Next: P-L-A-N. I know some people go *all* out here (breakfast, snacks, lunches, more snacks, and dinners), other’s don’t do any planning; I am in the happy middle. I know what we’re eating for breakfast most days anyway (Eggs, with toast and sometimes I manage to include veggies).  I keep it simple with lunches (leftovers!). And I have a list of “grab-n-go” snack foods that I try to keep stocked (fruit, veggies, bread, cheese, yogurt, etc.). So for me, planning consists of dinners and checking the pantry and fridge to make sure we’re not out of staples.

Then the (not) hard part; shopping! Planning makes my grocery trips so easy. Or at least as easy as it can be with a two-year-old in tow. I go once a week, on Mondays. Armed with a list I get in, get what I need, and get out. One tiny trick; I go to the discount store *first*. Their stock is constantly changing, but as a general rule they have the *best* prices on bacon (all natural, raised without antibiotics, none of the –ites or –ates , for two bucks a pound last week), sometimes cheese, and canned beans (when they have them).  Then I go to Safeway and/or Top Foods, and wrap it up at the farm stand and health-food store.  Also, I usually go to the farm stand twice a week, once on Monday (my regular shopping day) and again on Thursday. I found I throw away much fewer scary looking veggies this way.

In the past I’ve done the whole “cash only” thing but I’m currently just using my debit card, which also works! 

How much I spend: Honestly, it varies. I try to just spend $50 a week, but there’s also the usual Costco trip about once a month where we spend probably $60 on food, and we bought a quarter of beef last year which worked out to about $35 per month. (So very, very worth it.) Total, we’re at about $300 a month for a family of three (about to be four).

And there you have it! What about you? Are you a super-duper planner? How often do you shop? Let me know!

Have a great Reformation Day!