Under $600 Per Month

I like to save money. I do not like to spend money. So the less I have to get out to the stores and do so, the better I feel and the less time I can spend when I do have to go, the better and the more I can get for the least amount of money - even better. I don't like to cook. It's no secret. I've never enjoyed preparing food but when I got married, I agreed to take on that job and I take my job as a wife seriously and try to uphold my end of the deal. I agreed to make sure that everyone in the household is offered 3 meals a day. My husband goes out to work to make the money to purchase the food and it's my job to make sure we have it in the house to fix up into breakfasts, lunches and dinners at appropriate times. Pretty simple really. 11 years ago ( we had our first baby in the house ) both of us agreed that going to the store often was wasting gas in the car, time in the day and money on stuff we might not really need. So, I started writing out a menu, like this~

Nothing fancy. Every month I grab a sheet of plain paper and a pen and write out the days in that month and then spend a day filling in the menu with stuff we'll have for dinner each day. I take into account any holidays that month and meals we'll need to make for those holidays or our church potluck each Saturday or if we're going out to someone else's house for dinner etc...

Then, after most of the days are filled in, I make out the grocery list on a separate piece of paper - writing down every single item that will be needed to make each meal I've put on the menu. (Including non food items like tin foil or sandwich bags etc. ) Sometimes I have several of the ingredients already in the cupboards and only need to buy a few to complete the meal, other times it's a new dish I've never tried before and have to buy all new ingredients. I separate my grocery list into categories like this~ Meat, Produce, Baking, Dairy, Other and Non Food. Then write each item under the category it fits under. This helps me make my grocery shopping trip faster so I'm not going back and forth throughout the store so much. Then - with coupons clipped from the Sunday newspaper in hand ( and my list ) I go to the store - ONCE A MONTH. Usually at the beginning of each month. I prefer to take all of the kids with me because they really help me save time. I prefer to shop at either Walmart ( because it's close by and super cheap and I can get EVERYTHING there ) or Fred Meyer ( because they have the largest selection of non dairy products, have good quality and I can get everything there.) I read the list and the kids help me gather all the items and put them in the cart. They also do 100 % of the bagging and loading groceries into the cart. They don't quite know what to do with themselves at Fred Meyer when the store's bagger starts bagging our groceries. When we get home, we put it all away and I'm always conscious of the fact that we don't have a large freezer or a super huge pantry so I'm careful to either repackage meats into ziplock bags for freezing if I get a big tray or not overstock on unnecessary items that just won't fit in the house!

Now, we all know that produce goes bad after about a week and a half and we personally run out of a gallon of milk after almost 2 weeks and occasionally I forget an item while at the store (gasp!) so in the very middle of the month, either my husband, on his way home from work or myself will run in to grab the veggies and milk to last the rest of the month. This has made it sooooo much easier for me. I don't have to come up with an answer to the dreaded question " What's for dinner". It's already written down on the menu! I don't have to wonder if I have all the right ingredients or if someone has to run to the store! I know I have what I need for what I need to make and when I need to make it. This has saved us a lot of money. Back then when we only had 2 kids, we would only spend $300 per month on groceries. Plus we were poorer and I'd make one whole chicken into 2 dinners and my husband's work lunch. Now, we have 4 kids and are a bit better off so we spend between $400 and $550 per month depending on special occasions going on that month.

Sure, sometimes for example it's Monday and I've written spaghetti on the menu for that day but we discover that people will be dropping by on Friday for dinner where I'd written down 'grilled cheese sandwiches'. So, then I'll just switch the meals around and do spaghetti for our guests on Friday. The comfort and ease is knowing I have the food to make both meals no matter when I actually cook them. And if we're unexpectedly invited to share dinner at my folks or something - then there's a night I didn't have to make the meal on our menu so that can be moved over to the next month! I've written up these menus every month for 11 years and that's how our family saves time and money. I'd love to hear how everyone else does it - organized or not - we all do things a little different and maybe you have a tip on how you simplify your meal making!?