Meal Planning & Budgeting

 I thought I would try a bit of a different type of blog post today. I wanted to show you all how I go about meal planning, how I budget and how I shop for groceries each week.

What I do is allot us $100 per week for groceries and necessities. Necessities are things like shampoo, dish soap, laundry soap, toothpaste, etc. Whatever I don't use out of that $100, I roll it over to the following week. I try to buy a few items each week that will stock us up so that we don't have to buy that product for quite some time, like toothpaste, razors or shampoo. I did a toothpaste stock-up about 3 years ago and I still don't need to buy it. We just recently ran out of shampoo, so we did a minor stock-up yesterday at Rite-Aid. I watch sales. I read the ads. I figure out how to get the most bang for my buck. I like walking out of the store with 5 bags full of stuff and paying only $35 for it all. I find this to be one challenge that I'm always up for.

The very first thing I do is figure out a menu. I try to utilize what I have on hand, for the most part, but I usually do have to purchase chicken. We eat a ton of chicken.

Here's what my meal plan for next week looks like. I went heavy on the chicken to compensate the heavy ground beef menu that I have for this week.

My two main supermarkets are Safeway and Fred Meyer. I do the majority of shopping there because they both offer online grocery shopping and grocery pickup. I got used to grocery shopping this way. It's economical and it's easy to comparison shop with 4 different stores at the same time (Safeway, Fred Meyer, Walmart and Amazon).

First, I figure out what even sounds like it would be tasty. I generally just go with the main dish when I do these meal plans. Side dishes are easy enough and I have a fully stocked pantry, which includes many types of rice, pasta, etc. I always have potatoes on hand, as well. If worse came to worse, I can forage a nutritious veggie side dish out of my yard. I don't worry about those things. Side dishes are not written in stone and are subject to change, depending on what we feel like and what we can find. While I figure out what we'd like, I'm also jotting down what I will need from the store and any good deals that particular store has going on. I plan my meals between Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesdays are when I get an online sneak preview of Wednesday's sales items for Fred Meyer and Safeway. Wednesday is when I finalize what we will be dining on and that is when I start adding items into my grocery carts.
I usually purchase my groceries every Saturday for pickup on Sunday. However, Safeway has their $5 Friday specials, so I will venture into the store on those days to get the best deal, if it is something that I need. If it's just a bunch of bakery goods and chips on $5 Friday, I skip it. If it's $5 per pound good ground beef, I'll drop $25 stocking up on it. This Friday, they have 5 for $5 bags of shredded lettuce and shredded cabbage. I'll pick up 3-5 bags of the shredded cabbage because I can put it into my Ninja and blitz it up into small pieces that can be frozen and added into soups and stews and I have yet another stock up item that cost $5 or less and it will last for several months in my freezer. On my list, you'll see grocery items with an S that's circled. That simply means that those items are cheaper at Safeway this week, like half gallons of milk for 97 cents. I'll buy the limit of 4 of those because I'll be making my own yogurt.

Granted, a lot of this produce will not be purchased once my garden produces, but, for right now, I have to purchase it.
If you notice up at the top, I have tabs open for Fred Meyer, Safeway, Walmart and Amazon. It's super easy to go between them all and see where I will find the best deal. I do not buy anything fresh from Amazon. We don't have that option available to us. 

I leave specific instructions on how I'd like to have them pick out my produce. The way that I figure it is that these people are taking my place in the store, so it's up to them to shop as I would. It's my responsibility to be very precise on how I like to pick stuff out. 

I feel that if I'm not this precise with my special instructions, I wind up with half green oranges, like what happened last week when I was in too much of a hurry to specify that I like my oranges to be all orange all over.

I also opt to not substitute some of the items. I do not want low fat or fat free cottage cheese or sour cream. That's just my personal preference. Everyone has their own.

Anyhow, my grocery total this week, before they weight the chicken thighs, celery, chicken breast, etc. is approximately $85. It will, most likely, be a lower amount, but when I'm estimating, I'd rather estimate and budget for too much than have to scramble to take the money from another part of our monthly budget. That $85 amount is also before I figure in digital coupons I have added or the free dozen of eggs that Fred Meyer has.

So, in a nutshell, I budget $100 per week for the 2 of us. I make it a game/challenge to come in as low as I possibly can and spend as little as I can each week. I shop the sales. I comparison shop. I always find at least 2 or 3 items to stockpile a bit of. This week, it's rennet (for making cheese), pectin (for making jam) and cabbage to put in the freezer for meals another time.
Most of all, I make shopping fun because I can do this in my PJ's and I don't ever have to leave home. I can have Bob pick up the grocery order(s) whenever he's got something scheduled out in that area of town. We do not make special trips. We bunch errands, etc. up to maximize our gas. Washington state gas is close to $5 per gallon.

If you're interested in how someone else likes to save money, be sure to check out my friend, Patrick's blog, Southern Dreams Homestead. He's got great tips and tricks. Make sure to give Southern Dreams Homestead a follow, too.

Let me know if you found any of this information useful in the comments below or if you even like these types of blog posts.
Peace!