I used to meal plan but have found I’ve gotten somewhat lazy about it! I’m blaming it on having a toddler, being pregnant and all this snow! I have noticed since I go to the store thinking, I’ll make this or this and sort of guess on the rest that we spend more. And we eat out more. Thank you for the reminder that this makes such a difference! I know that at this point in our lives we are much more stable financially and we can do it this way but it seems like such a waste when we could eat just as well for way less!
Jessica Fisher
We’ve been eating in this month and it’s been really nice.
Joanne T Ferguson
G’day and very interesting article today!
As there are limited if any coupons here, there is a lot of junk mail. I know someone who does this on a regular basis and with the amount of petrol they use up in a week, it does not make up for all the wonderful savings they claim. People do what they “have” to do when they “have” to and greatly admire your courage and honestly in how you got so in debt and well done, you have a lot of people worldwide cheering you on!
Cheers! Joanne
Dawn B.
Hi there! I like your blog! I agree with you on all your points. I try to remember to make a meal plan as often as I can. Sometimes it doesn’t actually get put down on paper, it’s more just a basic plan in my head- but I find that if I do actually write it down and shop my own pantry first, then shop sales if I need anything else, it makes things a lot easier and cheaper in the long run. Some days are so busy that I get frustrated when it is just about dinner time and I ask myself “What am I making tonight?” 🙂
My $30K Year
I shop almost exclusively from the grocery flyer nowadays. A couple of things I keep in mind:
As I think you’ve mentioned before, Jessica, the flyer sale prices aren’t always excellent deals. I make sure to check the usual price at the store and see whether the sale is a decent discount. Sometimes items will show up in the flyer (especially 2 for $X specials) at only 20 or 30 cents below shelf price. That’s just encouraging you to buy something you wouldn’t have without prompting. If I still want the item for a particular meal, I might get one — but only one, because “2 for $X” almost always means you can get 1 for $1/2X.
Near my grocery list I keep a list of foods/ingredients that I know I will use, but want to buy on sale. Right now my list has beef short ribs, tilapia, corn muffin mix, candied ginger, and sourdough bread on it. Then I keep an eye on the sales flyer and check to see whether there are any special discounts on those items while I’m at the store. Yesterday, I got some butter because it was on a decent sale and it had been on that list for a while. It serves to keep those items in the back of my mind when I’m shopping, even if they’re there for a looooooong time, like ground beef was until last week’s big sale.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like you’ve got some great organizing strategies going! Good job!
Leslie
Just yesterday I experienced what you meant by “unreliable ads”. I’d been waiting for pork shoulder roasts to go on sale somewhere so I could cook a roast in the crockpot for some green enchiladas I’ve been craving. Finally Lucky has it on sale for 99 cents a lb this week so I make a special trip over there. I find the pork shoulder next to a sign saying it’s 99 cents but the price on the meat is actually $1.29. I go to the self-checkout and it rings up at $1.29. I call the clerk over and she says it will come off automatically. Nope. So she calls the meat guy who looks and says the .99 price is for whole pork shoulder roasts. I have a half, apparently, it was over 4 lbs, seemed pretty hefty to me. There were no whole roasts left in the bin when I got there, so I didn’t see any difference in sizes. Nowhere in the ad or on the sign did I see the word WHOLE. I bought it anyway but was pretty ticked that they deceived people like that, and I paid about $1.50 more than I’d planned to.
My $30K Year
Aww, that’s a pain. We bought one of them last week when they were on sale in the flyer for $1.29/lb. Kinda hurt to see the new lower price this week. I’ve learned to wait out meat sales at Lucky, though (except this time!), because often they’ll have enough stock left over that the price will drop even further the next week.
Jessica Fisher
If the ad or the sign didn’t specify, then I think you were well within your rights to ask for the better price. Maybe next time?
Kjane
I’ve been married for thirty five years and I have always used grocery sales and ads to rule meal planning. I also use coupons, but am not obsessed by them. I have to watch myself for the tendancy to overstock on sale items which is why I love pantry challenge. I laughed at your filet mignon/pork chop example. So true! We buy good steaks once a year-rib eyes on Valentines Day. Our income flucuates due to my husband’s work, so keeping grocery costs down has always been good for our budget.
Patti
Years ago I meal planned. Then as time went on money wasn’t as tight and I bought whatever and wasted food. Then, I lost my job in 2008 and had to rely on those meal planning skills again. In addition to everything you’ve mentioned here are a couple more:
1. If you’re trying a new recipe, make sure it’s something you think you’d like to eat and not just making it because it’s cheap. If you don’t eat it, there’s no savings. I’m a sucker for new ingredients (Korean spicy bean paste anyone?). I refuse to waste it so I have to use it.
2. What’s the quantity of the dish you’re preparing? There’s only my husband and me, so we end up with leftovers….a lot of leftovers. Thankfully, both of us don’t mind eating them. I’ll usually plan another meal just from leftovers (one dinner or a couple of lunches) and then any remaining amount goes in the freezer for a quick meal or, if it’s a whole cut of meat I try to re-purpose it for another meal . If I accumulate too many freezer meals, the menu for the week is an “Eat the Freezer” week. However, until we bought a standalone freezer, our freezer space was limited so I really committed to eating leftovers within the first week as I had limited space to freeze them.
Jessica Fisher
Great tips. Thanks for adding them to the list!
Helen
I don’t have the time or patience for sale shopping any more. I used to be a super couponer/drug store game shopper. Especially once I had kids and we started eating better it wasn’t worth it to hit up the stores with double coupons (too many restrictions and everything non-sale too expensive). I shop a local chain that is employee owned and doesn’t truly have sales. Sometimes you find a random sale, or I have noticed each month one brand of vitamins is BOGO. But the prices are good, we get what we need, and that’s what matters to me. Then we have staples we buy at Sam’s and are able to buy high quality healthy items from Azure.
Janice
I used to meal plan but have found I’ve gotten somewhat lazy about it! I’m blaming it on having a toddler, being pregnant and all this snow! I have noticed since I go to the store thinking, I’ll make this or this and sort of guess on the rest that we spend more. And we eat out more. Thank you for the reminder that this makes such a difference! I know that at this point in our lives we are much more stable financially and we can do it this way but it seems like such a waste when we could eat just as well for way less!
Jessica Fisher
We’ve been eating in this month and it’s been really nice.
Joanne T Ferguson
G’day and very interesting article today!
As there are limited if any coupons here, there is a lot of junk mail. I know someone who does this on a regular basis and with the amount of petrol they use up in a week, it does not make up for all the wonderful savings they claim. People do what they “have” to do when they “have” to and greatly admire your courage and honestly in how you got so in debt and well done, you have a lot of people worldwide cheering you on!
Cheers! Joanne
Dawn B.
Hi there! I like your blog! I agree with you on all your points. I try to remember to make a meal plan as often as I can. Sometimes it doesn’t actually get put down on paper, it’s more just a basic plan in my head- but I find that if I do actually write it down and shop my own pantry first, then shop sales if I need anything else, it makes things a lot easier and cheaper in the long run. Some days are so busy that I get frustrated when it is just about dinner time and I ask myself “What am I making tonight?” 🙂
My $30K Year
I shop almost exclusively from the grocery flyer nowadays. A couple of things I keep in mind:
As I think you’ve mentioned before, Jessica, the flyer sale prices aren’t always excellent deals. I make sure to check the usual price at the store and see whether the sale is a decent discount. Sometimes items will show up in the flyer (especially 2 for $X specials) at only 20 or 30 cents below shelf price. That’s just encouraging you to buy something you wouldn’t have without prompting. If I still want the item for a particular meal, I might get one — but only one, because “2 for $X” almost always means you can get 1 for $1/2X.
Near my grocery list I keep a list of foods/ingredients that I know I will use, but want to buy on sale. Right now my list has beef short ribs, tilapia, corn muffin mix, candied ginger, and sourdough bread on it. Then I keep an eye on the sales flyer and check to see whether there are any special discounts on those items while I’m at the store. Yesterday, I got some butter because it was on a decent sale and it had been on that list for a while. It serves to keep those items in the back of my mind when I’m shopping, even if they’re there for a looooooong time, like ground beef was until last week’s big sale.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like you’ve got some great organizing strategies going! Good job!
Leslie
Just yesterday I experienced what you meant by “unreliable ads”. I’d been waiting for pork shoulder roasts to go on sale somewhere so I could cook a roast in the crockpot for some green enchiladas I’ve been craving. Finally Lucky has it on sale for 99 cents a lb this week so I make a special trip over there. I find the pork shoulder next to a sign saying it’s 99 cents but the price on the meat is actually $1.29. I go to the self-checkout and it rings up at $1.29. I call the clerk over and she says it will come off automatically. Nope. So she calls the meat guy who looks and says the .99 price is for whole pork shoulder roasts. I have a half, apparently, it was over 4 lbs, seemed pretty hefty to me. There were no whole roasts left in the bin when I got there, so I didn’t see any difference in sizes. Nowhere in the ad or on the sign did I see the word WHOLE. I bought it anyway but was pretty ticked that they deceived people like that, and I paid about $1.50 more than I’d planned to.
My $30K Year
Aww, that’s a pain. We bought one of them last week when they were on sale in the flyer for $1.29/lb. Kinda hurt to see the new lower price this week. I’ve learned to wait out meat sales at Lucky, though (except this time!), because often they’ll have enough stock left over that the price will drop even further the next week.
Jessica Fisher
If the ad or the sign didn’t specify, then I think you were well within your rights to ask for the better price. Maybe next time?
Kjane
I’ve been married for thirty five years and I have always used grocery sales and ads to rule meal planning. I also use coupons, but am not obsessed by them. I have to watch myself for the tendancy to overstock on sale items which is why I love pantry challenge. I laughed at your filet mignon/pork chop example. So true! We buy good steaks once a year-rib eyes on Valentines Day. Our income flucuates due to my husband’s work, so keeping grocery costs down has always been good for our budget.
Patti
Years ago I meal planned. Then as time went on money wasn’t as tight and I bought whatever and wasted food. Then, I lost my job in 2008 and had to rely on those meal planning skills again. In addition to everything you’ve mentioned here are a couple more:
1. If you’re trying a new recipe, make sure it’s something you think you’d like to eat and not just making it because it’s cheap. If you don’t eat it, there’s no savings. I’m a sucker for new ingredients (Korean spicy bean paste anyone?). I refuse to waste it so I have to use it.
2. What’s the quantity of the dish you’re preparing? There’s only my husband and me, so we end up with leftovers….a lot of leftovers. Thankfully, both of us don’t mind eating them. I’ll usually plan another meal just from leftovers (one dinner or a couple of lunches) and then any remaining amount goes in the freezer for a quick meal or, if it’s a whole cut of meat I try to re-purpose it for another meal . If I accumulate too many freezer meals, the menu for the week is an “Eat the Freezer” week. However, until we bought a standalone freezer, our freezer space was limited so I really committed to eating leftovers within the first week as I had limited space to freeze them.
Jessica Fisher
Great tips. Thanks for adding them to the list!
Helen
I don’t have the time or patience for sale shopping any more. I used to be a super couponer/drug store game shopper. Especially once I had kids and we started eating better it wasn’t worth it to hit up the stores with double coupons (too many restrictions and everything non-sale too expensive). I shop a local chain that is employee owned and doesn’t truly have sales. Sometimes you find a random sale, or I have noticed each month one brand of vitamins is BOGO. But the prices are good, we get what we need, and that’s what matters to me. Then we have staples we buy at Sam’s and are able to buy high quality healthy items from Azure.