If you are like me, feeding the family good, nutritious food is a priority. However, things are getting really expensive and that sometimes seems a daunting chore! I think it is common to think that saving on food means sacrificing quality and nutrients. Well, it does not have to be.
When I was growing up, once a week my mother would sit all of us down and ask for our input on what we wanted to eat the following week. We would go food shopping on Saturday so this was generally done on Thursday or Friday. We would all tell her what we wanted to eat and she would compile a weekly menu. Then, while she made up a grocery list she had us go through the pantry and fridge and tell her what we had left over from the week before. We also made an inventory of bulk products i.e. toilet paper, granulated sugar, flour, etc. By the end of our meeting my mother had a solid grocery list from which she never, ever steered. The weekly menu would be posted on the fridge with a magnet and we all knew what to expect. My mother never threw unused, rotted food away. Never.
As time went by, I lost that valuable habit. I got involved in my own adult life and just did not take the time to plan ahead. Two consistent things happened due to my lack of discipline. First, I would invariably start thinking about what to feed the family on my way home from work. I love to cook so that was not the problem. The problem was I would create these wonderful dishes in my mind and stop at the supermarket for ingredients. Exhaustion and hunger prevailing, I would enter with a mental list of 3 things tops and come out with a full cart. How do I manage to do that? Second, as soon as I got home and started putting things away I would discover (no big surprise) that I already had a lot of the stuff I had just purchased. Consequently, I ended up wasting a lot of food that was never used and was no longer edible. Wasted food = $$$ in the garbage! Who knows how much money I have thrown out in the past!
Well, as things got harder and times changed I realized I needed to take a deep, hard look at my bad habits and correct them. I went back to basics, I guess one could say I turned into my mother, and started planning and getting organized. What a difference this has made! I am now spending 50% less on my groceries. 50%! That is a lot of savings.
Getting Organized:
Although, creating a menu and a grocery list seems to be a drag and sometimes overwhelming it is not that hard. If you have family members like mine who cannot answer a simple “what would you like me to cook for you?” (”Anything is fine. . . . .”) you are going to have to resort to memory, your friends, cook books or even the internet. However, if you have a super cooperative bunch kudos to you! Sit them down and compile your list of wanted meals!
Make up a list and start your menu. Go through your pantry and fridge and decide what things you need to purchase thus creating a grocery list. Make a promise to yourself that you will keep true to your list even if you stumble upon the most beautiful display of ingredients that make your creative juices flow!
I promise you that you will see a huge difference in your grocery bill every week if you follow this basic and simple plan. It will eliminate the tendency of over purchasing products you will never use.
Come on over to http://www.TheFrugalChef.com for more great tips on how to save money on food!
The Frugal Chef