Lessons I Have Learned - Saving Money at the Grocery Store

It is so hard to believe that we just celebrated my son's second birthday. (Pictures and a post about that will be coming soon!) As the anniversary of his birth approached, it was a natural time to begin reflecting on the past two years of our lives. Along with that reflecting, I have realized that J and I have learned so much and experienced so much with E over the past 2 years. It is truly amazing! I want to share some of those lessons with you over the coming weeks. One of the most frequent questions I get when when people ask me about being a stay at home mom is how we survive on one income. So that's why I am starting this series with a post about saving money at the grocery store.

When J and I made the decision that I would quit work and stay home with our son full time, we knew that meant that some things would have to change. We knew that any sacrifices we would have to make would certainly be worth it in the end because no one could care for our child the way that I could. But we also knew that there would not be as much disposable income as we had in the past, so we had to tighten our budget. One of the first places I started to look at was the food and grocery budget. We have never been a family to eat out very often, so there wasn't much change to be made in that area. The grocery portion of that line was a completely different story, however! Early in our marriage, I would go to the store without a list or a plan and would just buy whatever looked good at the time. That is a VERY dangerous way to shop! I could easily drop $100 or more on one trip to the store...and that was for 2 people! And I would also find myself stopping back by the grocery store every few days to pick up one or two ingredients because without a plan, I would inevitably need something else for whatever dish I planned to make.

I know folks who are really in to couponing and was referred to some blogs that show you where to get the best deals based on coupons and sales ads. I spent several days looking over those sights, but I never really got the hang of the lingo. And since we don't get the newspaper, unless a coupon is online, I don't have access to it. So I decided to take another approach...

I started planning our meals for the week and shopping the weekly sales ad for my local grocery stores! I found that creating a menu around items that were on sale (particularly the meat items on sale) really saved money. And going to the grocery store with a plan - list in hand to cover all of the ingredients needed to make each dish on the menu - really cut down on impulse buying and saved even more! And it eliminated all of those time consuming trips for one or two items several times a week (which incidentally provided more opportunities for impulse buying!).

We have quite a few favorites that I try to keep in the rotation on a regular basis, but I also try to introduce new dishes for us to try from time to time. Some of these are keepers and others are a one time affair. I also like to cook a lot of casseroles and things that yield leftovers for later in the week. This also cuts down on expense. In recent weeks, I have also started cooking one or two kinds of meat at the beginning of the week, and then turning that meat into different types of dishes as the week goes on. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I made a pork roast. We ate pork roast and vegetables one night. The next night we had bbq pork sandwiches. Then we had pork burritos. That one pork roast fed our family for the entire week, but it didn't feel like we were eating the same thing every night, and we all really enjoyed it! This will work with virtually any meat.

Here is what a typical menu might look like at our house:

Monday: Chicken pockets, mac and cheese, green beans
Tuesday: Baked spaghetti
Wednesday: Chicken pockets, green beans, carrots
Thursday: Baked spaghetti
Friday: Teriyaki chicken, teriyaki rice, broccoli
Saturday: Burritos
Sunday: Stir fry and rice

There would be leftovers from the stir fry, and that would carry over into the next week. We generally have sandwiches for lunch. And sometimes we find that leftovers carry over for more meals than expected, so I don't always make everything I had planned for the week. When that happens, I just push the meals back, and that means I buy less the next week.

Chicken pockets are great because the filling can be used for several meals. In a week where I use it only twice, there will typically be some left to freeze, which is always wonderful! They are very kid-friendly. It is one of the few mean dishes my 2-year-old will eat. I will share the recipe below.

Baked spaghetti is another easy dish because you can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it. Then all you have to do is place it in the fridge the night before you plan to use it. It will be thawed by dinner time. You simply have to boil a few noodles, mix them together, add some cheese, add more cheese on top and throw it in the oven. I love meals like that for busy weeks! Of course crock pot meals are also great for that as well, but I will have to save that for another post.

By coming up with 10-12 recipes that your family really enjoys and rotating them, working with a menu can be super easy. And you can always feel free to add in a new recipe now and again. Variety is a good thing! So if you haven't ever tried this approach, I encourage you to take it for a test drive. Try it on for a couple of weeks and see how it fits your family. I believe you will see that it not only saves you money, but it also simplifies meal prep and reduces stress because you don't have to spend half an hour figuring out what you are going to fix before you can even begin cooking dinner. Happy meal planning and bon appetite!


Chicken Pockets

4 chicken breasts

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 t. sage

1 t. thyme

1 t. garlic

8 oz. cream cheese

Refrigerated crescent rolls

Prehat oven to 350*. Mix together salt, pepper, sage, thyme, and garlic. Sprinkle over chicken. Bake until no longer pink, about 30 – 40 min. Place cream cheese in mixer and soften. Shred or chop chicken and add to cream cheese until combined completely. Open crescent rolls, keeping two triangles together (each can will make 4 rectangles). Place desired amount of chicken mixture onto each rectangle , then fold the rectangles over to make a pocket. Place pockets on a baking sheet and bake at 350* for 10 –15 min. (until golden brown). Serve hot. These can also be served with chicken gravy if desired.

The recipe makes a lot of chicken mixture. It can be kept in the refrigerator for several days or frozen to be used later.