If It’s On Sale, It’s For Dinner – Plan Meals Around Deals
I normally sit down and plan my meals for a week or two at a time, make out my grocery list, and then go shopping. But these are not “normal” times. Our family budget has hit the skids. Cutting back on spending has become topic number one in our household, and the grocery store seems to be the best place to start. Now instead of starting with a list of our favorite meals for the week’s menu, I start with the grocery store sales flyers.
Every grocery store has their own specials. You’ve seen the Buy-1-Get-1-Free deals, the Store-Brand specials, and the “Reduced” aisles. What would happen if I walked my cart around the store and chose only those items? Could I break away from my standard recipes long enough to create dinner with just sale items?
This creative cooking may take some getting used to, especially if you are a person who normally sticks to recipes. But, you know what sorts of foods your family will eat, and what they won’t, so you already have a guideline. When you decide to give this a try, be sure to plan on shopping at the grocery store on a weekend. It may be busier, but there’s a reason for that. The biggest sales occur on the weekends. You’ll find that the same item you looked at on Wednesday or Thursday may be half the price on Saturday.
Here’s what I learned about strategy. If you start with the fresh vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, and dairy, you can get some main ingredients in mind. You’ll almost always find some kind of deal on bagged vegetables, poultry, meat and cheese. Choose only those main ingredients that your family will eat and that have a reduced price or special offer. Keep going along the edges of the store and load your cart with only items that are on sale.
Time to take a spin through the other aisles, the ones in the middle. Don’t ponder too much about what exactly to pick out; just let those little “prices cut” signs guide you. If your family likes black beans, and they’re on sale, grab some, and move on. As you fill your cart, you will notice that, with very little thought, your menu is being formed. With the pantry items at home, you will certainly be able to plan dinner.
We need to discuss coupons. Are you a coupon clipper? That’s a great way to take advantage of every sale possible. One warning though; only use coupons on things that you are actually going to use. If you buy a food item and leave it sitting in your cupboard gathering dust, it really isn’t saving you money. Paper and cleaning products, however, are another story. If you are agreeable to trying new products, then by all means, clip and buy. In other words, if your family is not “married” to a certain bath soap, why not save a few cents on the brand that offers a coupon?
This is an opportunity to get your kids involved sorting your groceries using the food pyramid. You’ve got some protein, vegetables, fruit, dairy, and grains spread out in front of you. Once you sort all your grocery items into groups, you can start pulling food from each group and creating meals right then and there! Select some pantry items like pasta and rice and you are well on your way to a full menu plan. Wasn’t that smart of you?
Give this “shop the sales only” tactic a try for the next couple months and see if you don’t see a reduction in your grocery bill. You may even enjoy the challenge of figuring out what to cook from the items in front of you, instead of having every meal planned out. What if you found out you could really cook instead of just following recipes? Are your cooking “habits” stopping you from really saving money? You’re more creative than you think. Give it a try!
Now it’s up to you; here are some great tips on spending less on groceries and some food budget guidelines. By implementing a few of these tips, you can start saving money this week.
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