Shop The Grocery Sales First - Then Decide What's On The Menu
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I normally sit down and plan my meals for a week or two at a time, make out my grocery list, and then go shopping. But these are not "normal" times. Our family budget has hit the skids. Cutting back on spending has become topic number one in our household, and the grocery store seems to be the best place to start. Now instead of starting with a list of our favorite meals for the week's menu, I start with the grocery store sales flyers.
If you shop the sales at grocery stores already, you are familiar with all the "Reduced" sections, the buy-one-get-one-free specials, the "Today Only" sales, and all the store brand deals. Now ask yourself, what would my grocery cart, and my grocery bill, look like if I ONLY bought those items? What would my dinner look like?
It may take some time before you feel comfortable restricting your meals so dramatically. But, you know the kinds of foods you and your family like. Also, be aware that your best sale days are most likely on the weekend. I've been in a grocery store that didn't have any sales on Thursday, but they were practically giving the store away on Friday.
Here's what I learned about strategy. If you start with the fresh vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, and dairy, you can get some main ingredients in mind. You'll almost always find some kind of deal on bagged vegetables, poultry, meat and cheese. Choose only those main ingredients that your family will eat and that have a reduced price or special offer. Keep going along the edges of the store and load your cart with only items that are on sale.
Now that you've gotten your "basic ingredients" it's time to buzz through the inner aisles. Quickly scan all the sale flags down the aisles, decide if your family will eat it, and grab it if it sounds good. Don't spend a lot of time figuring out what to cook; when you put your items in the cart, you'll start to see meals come together before your very eyes. And, don't forget, you'll have some pantry items at home, too.
One word about coupons here. Coupon clipping is certainly a money saver, but only if you clip coupons for items that you use. Don't buy an item that you INTEND to use someday. You won't save any money by having a jar of marmalade sitting in your pantry for a year. Do clip coupons for those paper products that never seem to go on sale. If you are not absolutely committed to a certain paper, beauty, or cleaning product, purchase the product offered by the coupon to save a few cents if the price turns out to be less than your usual product.
Once you return home with your sale items, the assortment will be a little baffling because you don't have a menu to follow exactly. Now your creativity will come into play. Pile your veggies in one spot, your meat, fish, and poultry in another place, your cheese or other dairy products in a pile, and your inside aisle items in another pile. Look in your pantry for any rice, noodles, or potatoes. Can you see where this is going? Pick an item off each pile, review your choices for feasibility, and there you are. Your dinner choice has been made. Now don't you feel smart?
Shopping several times a month using a "sales items only" strategy will begin to pay off very quickly. Watch your grocery bill shrink while you create unique menus that have your family asking why you never thought of this meal before. You may even find out that you can really cook! I challenge you to give this strategy a chance and see if you can't trim your grocery budget and cook creatively in the process.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
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