Over the last year, I got into a really bad habit of stopping at the grocery store multiple times per week. I wasn't really doing a great job of menu planning, so just about every afternoon I'd be scrambling around trying to figure out what I was going to make for dinner. Often that ended up with a quick stop at the grocery store on the way to picking up my boys from school.
However, in addition to the stress of trying to figure out dinner last minute, I noticed that our grocery bill was starting to increase. Not only was I risking additional impulse purchases each time I stepped into the store, but I also wasn't planning the use of our food very efficiently.
Over the last several months, my husband and I (with input from our boys) have been figuring out our weekly menu plan on Saturdays (which I write on a whiteboard on the fridge so everyone knows), and then I put together my grocery shopping list.
Our weekly food budget is $100 per week, which is a lot easier to stick to when we only shop one day per week. We do actually shop at a couple of stores to get the most savings, but when we do it all in one day, I can keep a running total much easier to make sure that we don't go over our budget. You can make it even easier on yourself if you use the cash envelope system for grocery shopping.
I love our new system - I don't have to stress about what's for dinner (other than remembering to thaw meat), and we're saving on our grocery budget. I suppose I could save even more by reducing my shopping to once every 2 weeks or once a month, but I haven't gotten there yet.
Tips for grocery shopping once per week:
- Create a Menu Plan for the entire week
- Create a grocery list based on the meal plan and what you already have on-hand
- Choose one day a week to grocery shop
- Bring your grocery list {and stick to it}
- Be mindful of your budget. If you're going to go over your budget, cut out "wants" from your list and delay them to another week
You also could take these tips and use them to shop once per month too (with a weekly trip for milk and produce).
What about you? Do you grocery shop once per week? Has it saved you money?
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