Entering the "large family" category has me constantly searching/studying for ways to increase frugality and wise spending in the food department.
I have definitely become a convert to weekly meal planning. I used to find it confining- and wanted to have the freedom to allow creativity to strike at meal times. We would stock our pantry and fridge with a basic list of items...and go from there. That was wonderful for a stage of my life when I had the ability to spend mental energy creating in the kitchen that way.
Times have changed!
For this season of life, busy with homeschooling and child rearing, I am finding great freedom in a structured meal plan. I spend one session sitting down, planning it all out...and then for the rest of the week, I do not have to think twice about what is for dinner. Added benefit: I've found that my grocery spending is significantly less when I do this. (I read in "Miserly Moms" that this can save up to 30% on one's grocery bill- and after observing my own spending, I believe this is quite accurate!)
The latest strategy I am attempting to implement is shopping every two weeks instead of weekly. It seems that this would be a great time saver to our week- as well as saving gas money and allowing for more family time. This is week four of my attempt. The first two week shopping trip seemed to go well- but then the kiddos got a stomach bug. We suddenly needed extra things for sensitive tummies like more bananas and apple juice. So, sending hubby on a mid-week trip to the store was deemed necessary.
This next two week stint has not gone so well, either. I have my main courses covered- but have discovered that some of my main pantry staples like sugar, onions and eggs are suddenly depleted! There is no way I can make it another week without those items! Looks like I'll be back at the store this weekend...
I'm not giving up. I'd truly like to give this strategy a bit more of a trial period... and see if I can make it work for the benefit of our family. But it is just going to take some practice!
4 comments:
Interesting...this has been one of my struggles as of late, too! I've been good about weekly meal plans, but decided that in the morning, I'm going to plan for the next two weeks and see how that goes. I'm guessing that I'll still have to make an extra trip in there somewhere....but fortunately we live about 3 minutes from Wal-mart!
way to go, tesa. i am so inspired by this, and want to thank you for the testimony and helpful ideas! it's an encouragement to me.
ps. it's also helping me see the good side of living in a small town, 40 minutes away from a supermarket. unless i want to pay the big bucks at the tiny grocery store in town, i have to plan ahead or make-do. now i can see that this seemingly inconvenient situation will help me in the long run!
Grandma is here this week, and grandpa said I should/could use the credit card, so....Sam's, watch out, here we come!
You can do it Tesa!!! I pretty much do one big, major shopping trip once a month (with a month of meals planned...not necessarily assigned to a day, but just knowing I have those meals available to make), then I allow a certain amount to be spent each week on "fresh" items like produce, etc when we are in town for church or whatever. It does take some getting used to....I find it is quite an ordeal to plan for a whole month, but you are right in that planning ahead IS freeing!
Post a Comment