Let me start by saying I am a novice at this... That is why I needed HELP! So with that said, I am inviting you on my journey of saving time and money by willingly going under the apprenticeship of my friend Lucille, and only grocery shopping once a month. In my blog I will go over all the ups and downs of this learning curve. I call it a learning curve, because believe me IT IS! Now let me clarify something before I move on. It is not because I haven't had people in my life over the last few years giving me ideas about shopping, cooking, saving money, and all of that. Our church is VERY educational in all of these areas. It is because, me, myself, and I was in a big fat rut in my thinking!
Before this last week my husband would go shopping once a week, with stops to the store in between. Now this was way better then before. A couple of years ago I would do the shopping, not exaggerating, almost a day at a time. To say the least, when our grocery bill was well over a $1000.00 every month and it felt like we never had food in the house, I knew there was a problem. Hence the reason why my husband took over!
I have 4 kids of my own and have run a daycare for the past 11 years. On an average day I have 8 kids running around my house, and it never seems to fail that when they get hungry, they want me to feed them. Go figure :) So in this journey I will be shopping for a family of 6 and a full time daycare. My budget is $400.00 a month for food, and $100.00 a month for personal and cleaning items. To you that may seem like a lot, or it may seem like a little, to me it sounds like a challenge.
My 4 hour shopping trip with Lucille occurred on Feb 16., which was one week ago. It lasted 4 hours, not because we were buying a ton of food, but because she was literally teaching me how to shop. For me, one of the biggest tips she gave was to plan your meals ahead. That way I don't get stuck not knowing what I am going to make, and then make a mad dash to Taco Bell or something.
One of my biggest challenges is in the area of creativity. When I was growing up my Mom made pretty much the same meal every night. (Hey, at least we ate) It consisted of a hamburger patty, vegetable, and baked potato. Occasionally she would make a chicken breast and fried potatoes. She said I was a picky eater, and maybe that was so, but none the less I have been "variety" challenged. It seemed way easier just to go out. The problem with this is, besides the fact that it is expensive and unhealthy, is that I don't want my daughters growing up not knowing how to cook a variety of food, and having fun with it.
A lot has been said about me, and not a lot of tips yet...no worries, they will come. I am learning as I go. I will attempt to write a new blog every day for the next 3-4 weeks. My next shopping trip will be around St. Patrick's Day.
Tomorrow I will write about my menu for the first week (last week), how it went, including all the ups and downs. Trust me, there were very high ups, and very low downs. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them. It helps me. If I don't have the answers, I have a very good source I can pull from!
Krista,
ReplyDeleteHow do you work out fresh veggies? I am curious and excited to hear more about your new adventure! If you can do this for $400 a month I am going shopping with you in March! :)
Yvonne
Yvonne, That is one of the same questions I had! From what I understand, winter months are easy simply becasue what keeps fresh veggies fresh is being in a cold place. So I bought oranges, apples, onions, potatoes, carrots, bananas, peppers, etc. and put them on a shelf I made in my garage. Some things, like asparagus, don't last as long. That is where in your menu planning, you would cook those more towards the beginning. The summer months when it is hot out, is trickier. It was suggested to invest in a 2nd refrigerator (on craigslist or something) and keep it outside. That's what I am going to do simply because I don't have the space in my house. If any readers have any more suggestions for Yvonne - please let us know :)
ReplyDeletevery cool Krista, I plan to watch and learn!!!! I love the concept....been trying to do this for years but hubby is all about sales, sales, sales, so he says we can't shop only one time a month in order to take advantage of the sales! Well, you're my guinea pig....thanks for sharing and I look forward to reading your posts :)
ReplyDeleteCyndie
Cyndie Dosser says:
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to hear the menu ideas...I'm always looking for more ideas. You know what gets me is when you go shopping spend over $100 and the kids say "mom there is NOTHING to eat in the house" makes me crazy! Or when they eat a little of everything the first day after shopping and then there is literally nothing to eat by the next day! UGH!
2 hours ago · Lainie Zeigler says:
ReplyDeleteI would love to embrace this! Seriously there is nothing worse in the world to me than trying to figure out what to have for dinner each night and making Jess stop at the store everyday on his way home. Not to mention the weekly trips we make..............then we just eat out because we are too exhausted to get it all together in time. Maybe this will be the answer! We do already have the extra fridge in the garage...............
2 hours ago · Krista Eisma says:
ReplyDeleteCyndie and Lainie - I am there with both of you! It is frustrating to shop and have everything be gone so quickly! That is one challenge with this, because the kids are so used to eating whatever, whenever. As I said in the blog, Lainie, one of the biggest tips is planning your menus ahead. We spent so much money on going out! Start with one week. Plan your dinners for 7 days - get the groceries you'll need, and stick to it. It is so nice waking up in the morning and already knowing what you're going to have for dinner. Especially with 5 kids - you need this!
2 hours ago ·
Ellyn Hamilton says:
ReplyDeleteI read your shopping blog! Loved it. I chop bell peppers and freeze them and they are ready to go in dishes when I need them...omelettes, etc. I just used my food processor and did up a bunch of onions, froze them, and they are ready for soups or whatever. It is such a time saver.
Jessica Doddington says:
ReplyDeleteThat was great! I can't wait until right before thanksgiving so we can go scavange the valley for cheap turkeys together! We stocked up last year and got 12- one for each month. We can get at least 3 meals out of them and it doesn't take any effort- love it!!!!
6 minutes ago ·
Jillian Perez Mohr says:
ReplyDeleteKrista, this is such valuable information for anyone on a budget. For me and my house shopping once a month just isnt feasable. Small aprtments are just not that easy to stock up. However, its nice to see what you get and how you handle it all. By the way going out to eat is overrated. Maybe after a while you might be able to do a list of meals and ingredients for us.
Lucille Pigott Trautman says:
ReplyDelete"Krista,There are always sales in every store there is. So this depends on how much money you have. I do like to stock up on can goods during the can goods month, I check all the prices first to see if it is a real sale. I only buy items I have budgeted for ( such as tomato sauce) I use quite a bit so I will buy a 1/2 case during that time. If you have to run to several stores just to save a buck then I have to ask ARE YOU SAVING?? The object of not running to the store all the time is also what saves you money. So you choose. About the small apartment it depends on if they have a big freezer and or a place to store things. I feel like anyone can do this if they want to. It just takes some planning."
Just as I was reading this my youngest went in the kitchen and grabbed two pop tarts to eat, normally I would just let him, but this time I stopped him and gave him a ham sandwich instead. I seem to just give in, but I really want to teach my kids healthy eating habits, especially while they are young. I am so ready to change the way we eat in our house. I can't wait for more tips.
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