I love doing groceries. After having Kayden, I feel as though my time is restricted. Kayden is in speach therapy, he just started junior kindergarten, and he does activities on the weekend during the fall and winter months. I feel as though, lots of parents can relate to me, we just don't have enough time on our hands. As you all know I currently use Walmart grocery pickup service, and it has been a lifesaver. I'm always looking for new ways to save money, but I will be honest, whether I looked on Pinterest or on the Internet I had done all the money saving tips they suggested.
I was constantly coming across blog post where moms talked about doing groceries two times a month, or once a month. This idea intrigued me, Curtis hates going to the grocery store every week, and I would love to go once and be done with it. My family currently shops at Walmart and Costco, we use Costco for the big bulk items, so items we go through quickly and use a lot of, and we use Walmart for the smaller miscellaneous items. The more research I did about doing groceries once a month the more inclined I was to try it.
Doing groceries monthly means that you will need to meal plan for the whole month in advance, luckily for me I already do this. What I would do is plan a meal for 3 weeks and then the last week I usually buy items in bulk so I will have double of some items or I will make big batch meals and freeze it. I usually plan 21 meals a month and have six to seven extra meals. I will also make two grocery list one for Costco and one for Walmart and as I meal plan I will write dow the items that I need, and as I finish items in the house I will add them to the list as well.
A week before doing groceries I will go on the Walmart website and get an idea of how much an item will cost. I have a set budget for $200 a month since the items I do purchase there are not items that I go through quickly / or they're cleaning supplies. I approximately spend $300 a month on Costco where I purchase meat, vegetables, snacks and other items I go through quickly. Believe it or not the $300 goes fast.
Once you have done your groceries for the month the rule is you can only go to the store weekly for fresh fruits and vegetables dairy products and bread. The reason they have said this is because these items you go through quickly and they spoil fast.
Doing groceries once a month has ensured that I have all my meals planned out in advance and I have every single item for a meal. Because my family is on a tight Budget prior to the s some weeks I wouldn't have a big butt into groceries and we would be extremely frugal, and it was hard for us. This allows our family to eat healthy and nutritious meals and it has helped us stay on budget with other things.
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