Grocery Shopping Stinks!

I used to love grocery shopping! Now, I could most definitely live without it; I certainly don't look forward to it like I used to. Who thinks dragging 3 kids around a grocery store is appealing? Not I, and if you do please let me know what you are taking or smoking prior to walking up and down all those aisles with screaming kids and a smile on your face ;) I would like to partake in some of that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I now have it down to a science. Quite a few people have suggested I share my tips about grocery shopping, so here I type, some of my grocery goodies for you to read! For a family our size, I usually spend about 60 dollars per week on groceries, totaling 240 dollars a month. Not bad!

Buying in Bulk
I ALMOST ALWAYS buy in bulk. It saves so much money and makes my life easier. Thank you to the creators of Sams Club and Costco, you are my heroes. Diapers, cleaning products, ziploc bags, food, toilet paper, paper towels are just a few of the things I buy in bulk.

I buy large amounts of meat and veggies at a time, and cut and separate them into the portions that are needed for a meal, and store them in freezer bags in the deep freezer (I use a sharpie to label them). This makes life so much easier when it comes time to cook!

Meal Planning / Shopping List
Before I go grocery shopping, I make a list of meals that I want to cook for the month, right down to side dishes. I go through the ingredients I will need for each meal, check the cabinets to see what I already have for those particular meals and add the missing ingredients onto my shopping list. I also keep a list on my fridge and as I run out of things or see I am low on something I scribble it down so that I remember to add it to my shopping list. I usually shop at the same locations each month (Sams Club and Super Walmart) and I know those stores like the back of my hand. I organize my shopping list by store and by set up. In other words, I group all of the similar items together (fruit, veggies, meats, sides, seasonings) so that way I don't miss something on the list and have to constantly double back.

After shopping, I hang the meal plan on the fridge and pretty much abide by it. I don't always stick to it, but it is helpful not having to run to the store for missing ingredients every other day, or trying to figure out what to cook. Sometimes I find it really difficult to find 30 meals I want to cook for the month, but www.allrecipes.com is my best friend, especially since you can save the ones you love and toss the ones you hate. In the colder months my crock pot is my best friend, and the same can be said for the grill as soon as I wont freeze my tush off using it!

Generic Brands
There are some things that I would NEVER buy the generic brand of, but some items simply don't differ too much from the generally more expensive national brands. I do warn you, I have noticed that some generic brands can be more expensive than the popular ones, but for the most part they are much less expensive. Switching some of my grocery items to the generic brands has saved a bunch of money!

I hope some of these tips are helpful to others, as getting into this routine has been great for me- I can do MAJOR grocery shopping in a snap as long as I plan correctly....and my kids behave!