Dh and I have been feeling lately like money is running through our hands like water. Money comes and money goes and we seem no further ahead. We are really wanting to make debt-reduction a major focus for the next while but to do that, we really need to cut costs. After some reflection, we have decided that two areas need to be our focus for now - groceries and utilities costs. We know that the utilities should be fairly easy to fix - we just need to be more aware of what we are using and be conscious of what we are using - turn off lights, turn down the heat a degree or two, turn up the a/c, etc. That's not so hard. It's the groceries that are going to be the bigger challenge.
I love to cook and I really enjoy trying new recipes. The down side of that is that we have a pantry full of condiments and seasonings but when it comes time to get cooking, it always seems like I am having to run to the store. I do weekly menu plans but even so, we seem to keep running to the grocery store to buy one thing and come out with $30 worth of stuff (and yet still have nothing to eat). I also really like to try to eat organically/naturally, which means that what we can choose from the grocery store is limited and while I love our little "Clean Food Connection", they don't exactly specialize in sale prices.
Finally, I get to the point of my post. I am going to try and be better about taking advantage of sales to stock up and cut our grocery costs down. Our local paper has a huge wad of flyers every Thursday (I think it is the only reason that people read the paper, there is nothing else in it). I LOVE browsing through the flyers. They probably don't save me much money since I see things on sale that I forgot that I needed but they do help a bit. The area that I really need help on is meat. I just buy it. We would love to buy organic or at least free range meat but we have found that the costs is just too much for us. I have no idea what a good price per pound of anything is - we usually just go to Costco and get what we need. That has got to stop, I have to learn to be more aware. I am feeling very proud of myself because I discovered that our favourite grocery chain has beef on sale this week by reading the flyers this morning (and just when my naturopath told me that I need to eat more red meat!) and I went and got a fantastic deal - all of their beef was 50% off! I now have a freezer with steak and stewing beef and several ideas for interesting meals. I may go back tomorrow and get some more. I love finding the really great sales - a major one for me these days are glass bowls with lids since I am trying to eliminate all plastic food storage containers from our home. I get a big pot of tea, sit in the big chair in the living room and try to scan through for the deals (with the cat wandering all over the paper and the dog trying to get into my lap). It's a weekly ritual that I love.
Off to read my flyers. If anyone has any money saving tips for someone trying to shop organic, I would love to hear them!
I have tried and tried to cut our grocery costs down. I read several blogs that claim to grocery shop for $40 a week, but I can't seem to get out of the store for less than $150. For me, I live in an area that just doesn't have the stores these other people shop at.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that does work for me is to shop for 2 weeks at a time. I can usually do this for about $200 ($100 a week isn't so bad in my opinion!!)
As for shopping organic...it's just going to cost more. There is no way around it! I would look for coupons..I actually find most of mine on line and print them off right at home.