Our first money saving tip really explains the Flyer Friday posts. I am so guilty of not having a menu plan even though I know it is wonderful idea, keeps you organized and saves you tons of money. But I have far too many days due to lack of planning where I end up hitting the fast food places, ordering pizza or dashing into the grocery store to grab something to make since everything is frozen or I don't have what I need to go with anything at home.
The result of this poor planning and to be brutally honest with myself, laziness is that my family ends up eating junk. Bad for you, no vitamins, full of fat junk. Have you all watched the video of the year old McDonald's Burger and fries that never got moldy and really still looked kind of good? EEEWWWWWW! It was a year old! How good can it be for you to eat things that don't decompose?
Oops I got sidetracked there...the other result of my lack of planning is that it costs ALOT of money to eat out, it also costs ALOT to dash into the grocery store to grab whatever is quick and easy to make.
So after all that the tip for this week is to read the flyers each week and plan your menu accordingly taking advantage of as many deals as possible.
This little bit of extra work and planning will really pay off because not only will you save ALOT of money, your family will eat better and you will not be scrambling around at dinner time. So much less stress and so much more money!
If you are one of the ones that gets paid monthly instead of weekly then you can either divide your food budget into 4 envelopes one for each week or you can menu plan for the month and buy all your groceries at once. This is a little riskier if you have monkeys that eat you out of house and home the minute a bunch of groceries hit the house. ~smile~
Each Friday I will post deals I found in the flyers - please read them yourselves as well in case I miss something you use regularly. Then I will post several main meal ideas using the items found in the flyers to give you some ideas.
When you do your menu planning try and include breakfast, lunch and snacks and then make your grocery list based on your menu plan, that way you can avoid another pitfall of not meal planning. That pitfall is forgetting to buy something and having to go back to the store - I have been known to be in the grocery store every day and sometimes more than once a day. ~sigh~ It is very hard to go into the store and only come out with what you went in for....stores are designed to make sure that happens. Preparing ahead can really save you a bunch!
So the point is...(in case I lost you already *wink*)
1. Menu plan for all three meals and snacks each week using the flyers.
2. Make your list from your menu plan, include all other items house cleaners, soap, pet food, paper goods etc. Everything you will need for the week.
3. Shop only one day of the week, hitting the various stores on your list taking advantage of sales.
4. Stick to your list.
5. Stay out of the stores the rest of the week.
6. Save money and smile while you and your family enjoy your healthy meals and much less stress.
Happy Monday!
Blessings,
Liisa
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