Life can be crazy and busy.
In an effort to cut down on my time at the grocery store as well as cut down on our grocery budget I've come up with a Two Week Grocery Plan system.
I am by no means an expert.
Far from it.
This is just the system that works for me.
I've tried all sorts of systems and different ways.
I've tried grocery shopping once a week.
I've tried grocery shopping every few days.
I've tried not meal planning but just winging it.
I've tried talking my husband into going out to eat the majority of the week.
You name it and I've tried it :)
And I might add that all of those ways ended up costing us quite a bit of money.
And honestly...I'd rather spend my money on a vacation than on food. :)
Long story short...I have found that for our family two weeks worth of groceries works best.
Here's why.
It saves us money and it saves me time.
I am not running back and forth into the store several times a week.
I know that every time I go into the store for a loaf of bread I will more than likely
come back out with something else that I thought we might need.
Chocolate, juice, icecream...obviously not needed items.
And in all honesty I really despise grocery shopping.
I'd rather be doing a bajillion other things.
So that's the plan.
Shopping for two weeks worth of food.
SET A BUDGET
Next I set my food budget.
I've tried whittling it down...I've tried raising it up.
I think I've finally found a good dollar amount that makes it doable for our family.
I try and spend no more than $110 a week on just food.
This is a comfortable amount for our family.
Now here's the deal.
This may seem like a large budget to you.
Or it may seem like a small budget.
I don't know.
What I do know is when setting your food budget don't base it off of what others are spending.
Base it off of your own families needs.
Do you have a small family?
Then maybe you can spend less.
Do you have big eaters?
Then you might need to budget a bit more.
Make it doable for your family.
You want to be able to stick to your budget.
Not become discouraged every time you go grocery shopping and go way over.
Trust me.
I would always leave feeling discouraged that I couldn't get my groceries to be $80 a week.
It just wasn't realistic for my family.
I could spend $80 but then at the end of the week be in need of a few more meals.
So.
Set your budget.
Alright.
The next thing you're going to do is...
SHOP YOUR PANTRY
I take pretty much everything out of it and set it all on my kitchen table.
I write down everything that was in my pantry.
Then on the same piece of paper to the right I write down the days that I will be needing meals.
This is where it turns into a game :)
I try and use almost all of the ingredients that I have in my pantry in the upcoming two weeks meals.
So see...I crossed off Bean with Bacon soup and added it to my Tuesday menu.
Shop your pantry!
Here is what I came up with for my next two weeks worth of dinners.
I don't have it written down but each dinner will be served with either a garden salad or veggie of some sort.
MAKE A GROCERY LIST
Now that my meal plan is made it's time to start making the grocery list.
I have learned that in order to fly through my groceries it helps to have my shopping list categorized.
I spend less time buzzing all over the store after forgotten items.
And I never have to repeat going back to an aisle anymore.
Do it the way that works best for you.
Here's what I typically write....
Dairy
Meat
Noodles
Bread
Canned
Cereal Aisle
Baking
Produce
Frozen
Chips
I start at the top of my meal plan.
Bean with Bacon Soup with Grilled Cheese.
I already have the soup and cheese.
So I add bread under breads.
And butter under dairy.
Then I move to the next meal on our list and do the same thing.
PRICE IT
The last step that I take is to price each item on my list.
I typically tend to price just a tad bit over which is fine!
Better overestimate than to underestimate.
Once everything is priced I total it all up.
There are several reasons I do this.
The main reason is so that it gives me a good idea of what I will be spending.
If it looks like I might be cutting it close to my budget I might swap a few of the more
expensive meals out for something a bit cheaper.
Like spaghetti :)
I also do it as an incentive to stick to buying exactly what is on my list and nothing more.
If I think there's a chance I can save $20 of my grocery money I'm more apt to stick to my grocery list.
The amount I totalled up this time was $183.
I ended up spending $191.
So I was close!
That leaves me with $29.
Which is perfect.
I try to save at least $20 for the end of the two weeks.
We sometimes need another gallon of milk, bread or some more fresh fruits and veggies.
So that's it.
I'm sure I'm missing something.
If you have any questions or even advice I'd love to hear it!
How do you go about your grocery shopping?!
What works best for your family?!
