So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Ruth 2:17
Kevin and I had been in the habit of going to the grocery store almost daily. If we needed something we went to get it, often bringing home more than we intended to buy. This actually costs more money in the long run, especially when you add in the cost of gas for the car. We've become a society that reveres convenience. There are two grocery stores within a mile of our house, not to mention drug stores, gas stations, and fast food restaurants. We bought into this idea that we can get anything we need (or want) just down the street. The truth is, we don't need to go to the store every day. With some careful planning we can save money, gas, and time.
Three weeks ago I made out a schedule of what we'd make for dinner each day for a month. The schedule also included which one of us would cook dinner each day. Kevin and I like to rotate this duty. I'm trying to finish my undergraduate degree, so it's helpful to have Kevin deal with dinner when my schedule gets crazy and I have school work to complete following a long day at work. So, I had to schedule foods I like to cook and foods that he likes to cook. I also made a point not to duplicate meals. It wasn't unusual for us to have spaghetti once a week or another tried and true meal. It's harder to be creative with dinner when you don't plan ahead.
One other variable affecting our meal planning is that I chose to take gluten out of my diet about 5 or 6 years ago. I was having some stomach problems, and found that without gluten, I felt much better. I know there are some who will criticize this decision, but I believe we all have the right to choose what we put into our bodies. This choice has worked well for me these past years. While there are a lot more gluten free options out there, a lot of them can be expensive. You can be gluten-free and not feel like you have to buy into prepackaged options. There are a lot of foods out there that are naturally gluten free.
With all that said, I set out to buy a month's worth of food in one day. To get the best prices, I chose to go to three different stores.
First, I went to Big Lots. Big Lots is a chain of stores that buys out stock from other stores (stores that are closing, have overstock, etc.), then sells those items at reduced prices. Their stock changes frequently, but you can get great deals on foods and housewares. I got a number of items off my list there and only spent $38.98.
Then, I headed to Bi-Lo. It's in the same shopping complex as Big Lots, so I didn't have to go far. There are two benefits to shopping at Bi-Lo--they double coupons (up to $0.99), and they have Fuel Perks (you earn $0.05 off a gallon of gas for every $50 you spend, in addition to other Fuel Perks deals based on purchases of certain items in the store). Let's take a moment here to talk about coupons. Yes, I use them. No, I do not put them in a binder and buy 50 of the same item and stockpile them in my basement. I use coupons for the items I know I need to buy, assuming that it will get me the best deal. On this particular shopping trip, I had $11 in coupons. I also earned $0.25 per gallon in Fuel Perks. One other trick to shopping at Bi-lo: if you take your own bags, they give you a bag credit of $0.05 per bag. This trip, they took $0.20 off my order. I spent a total of $131.24.
Finally, I went to Walmart for the items I knew I could get a lot cheaper, especially produce and spices. I did not buy our meats here. While Walmart does offer items at a lower price, you can typically get meats cheaper on sale at the grocery store in value pack quantities, which is what I did. I had $1.50 in coupons, and paid $83.55.
In total, I spent $253.77 for a month's worth of food. From April 30 through May 30, I alone spent $184.46 on groceries and eating out. This does not include the 2-3 times we ate dinner out a week or the foods Kevin bought at the grocery store. We have had to purchase a few other things this month--mostly things we forgot or produce we needed to buy fresh. Kevin has bought lunch or breakfast out a few times, as well. By the end of the month, I expect we'll have spent about $300-325 on food. I estimate that we were spending nearly twice that amount before we made this effort to reduce spending.
Perhaps only second to housing and transportation costs, the expense of food is a large chunk of any family's budget. With careful planning, this is one of the easiest areas to cut costs. We've found this to be true in just one month. I have no doubt that over time, this will be the area where we save the largest amount of money.
Kevin and I had been in the habit of going to the grocery store almost daily. If we needed something we went to get it, often bringing home more than we intended to buy. This actually costs more money in the long run, especially when you add in the cost of gas for the car. We've become a society that reveres convenience. There are two grocery stores within a mile of our house, not to mention drug stores, gas stations, and fast food restaurants. We bought into this idea that we can get anything we need (or want) just down the street. The truth is, we don't need to go to the store every day. With some careful planning we can save money, gas, and time.
Three weeks ago I made out a schedule of what we'd make for dinner each day for a month. The schedule also included which one of us would cook dinner each day. Kevin and I like to rotate this duty. I'm trying to finish my undergraduate degree, so it's helpful to have Kevin deal with dinner when my schedule gets crazy and I have school work to complete following a long day at work. So, I had to schedule foods I like to cook and foods that he likes to cook. I also made a point not to duplicate meals. It wasn't unusual for us to have spaghetti once a week or another tried and true meal. It's harder to be creative with dinner when you don't plan ahead.
One other variable affecting our meal planning is that I chose to take gluten out of my diet about 5 or 6 years ago. I was having some stomach problems, and found that without gluten, I felt much better. I know there are some who will criticize this decision, but I believe we all have the right to choose what we put into our bodies. This choice has worked well for me these past years. While there are a lot more gluten free options out there, a lot of them can be expensive. You can be gluten-free and not feel like you have to buy into prepackaged options. There are a lot of foods out there that are naturally gluten free.
With all that said, I set out to buy a month's worth of food in one day. To get the best prices, I chose to go to three different stores.
First, I went to Big Lots. Big Lots is a chain of stores that buys out stock from other stores (stores that are closing, have overstock, etc.), then sells those items at reduced prices. Their stock changes frequently, but you can get great deals on foods and housewares. I got a number of items off my list there and only spent $38.98.
Then, I headed to Bi-Lo. It's in the same shopping complex as Big Lots, so I didn't have to go far. There are two benefits to shopping at Bi-Lo--they double coupons (up to $0.99), and they have Fuel Perks (you earn $0.05 off a gallon of gas for every $50 you spend, in addition to other Fuel Perks deals based on purchases of certain items in the store). Let's take a moment here to talk about coupons. Yes, I use them. No, I do not put them in a binder and buy 50 of the same item and stockpile them in my basement. I use coupons for the items I know I need to buy, assuming that it will get me the best deal. On this particular shopping trip, I had $11 in coupons. I also earned $0.25 per gallon in Fuel Perks. One other trick to shopping at Bi-lo: if you take your own bags, they give you a bag credit of $0.05 per bag. This trip, they took $0.20 off my order. I spent a total of $131.24.
Finally, I went to Walmart for the items I knew I could get a lot cheaper, especially produce and spices. I did not buy our meats here. While Walmart does offer items at a lower price, you can typically get meats cheaper on sale at the grocery store in value pack quantities, which is what I did. I had $1.50 in coupons, and paid $83.55.
In total, I spent $253.77 for a month's worth of food. From April 30 through May 30, I alone spent $184.46 on groceries and eating out. This does not include the 2-3 times we ate dinner out a week or the foods Kevin bought at the grocery store. We have had to purchase a few other things this month--mostly things we forgot or produce we needed to buy fresh. Kevin has bought lunch or breakfast out a few times, as well. By the end of the month, I expect we'll have spent about $300-325 on food. I estimate that we were spending nearly twice that amount before we made this effort to reduce spending.
Perhaps only second to housing and transportation costs, the expense of food is a large chunk of any family's budget. With careful planning, this is one of the easiest areas to cut costs. We've found this to be true in just one month. I have no doubt that over time, this will be the area where we save the largest amount of money.