Great Tip Tuesday: Thrifty & Frugal Grocery Shopping and Meal Planning Tips

There are hundreds of ways to save and keep budgets down, but not every tip works for all families.  I want to share with you the ways that help our family save money and time, some are old tried and true things, some are just my opinion and they fit my family and our lifestyle.  My husband and I have two kids, a dog and two cats.  We are an active family with one kid in two sports, the other in scouts, my husband plays softball two nights a week and we coach my daughters softball team two days a week.  With that busy schedule we have to plan ahead and stick to our plan!  Click below to download the Free Meal Planner!

My Meal Planner 

1.  Plan ahead and stick to the plan!  If something comes up out of the blue roll with the punches, but other than that stay focused on the plan. I use a planner not just for meals, but activities too, that way I know exactly what is going on and how to plan for it.  

2. Plan meals for 2 weeks out, then make your shopping list from that.  It's just as easy to plan for 2 weeks as for 1. 

For example:  You can usually buy 10 pounds of potatoes for less than 5 pounds, they won't go bad in two weeks and you saved a couple of dollars.  This can be applied to meats, cheeses, just about everything you buy.

3. I shop at Costco for things I use daily and weekly.  Kids lunches, snacks for practice and games, water, cheese, butter, spaghetti sauce, meats ect.  Sometimes there are sales at the grocery store, but I usually stick to Costco.  Sports drinks are big in our house, I buy the packets of Gatorade at the grocery store that way I'm not buying a bottle to recycle and they are a fraction of the price. 

4. I do not usually use coupons, lots of people do, but I don't.  I found they take up more time than they are worth, I have to buy 2 or more of something to get the discount and I have to drive around to use them. I go to Costco once a month and Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter or Kroger every two weeks.

If you do use coupons make sure it is for something you need and stay organized! 

5. I go shopping by myself!  This is a biggie!  It's great to have help bringing in groceries from the car, but having everyone in the store just creates a higher grocery bill and can be very distracting!

6.  I make big batches of our favorites and freeze our meals.  On game or practice days I can bring something out of the freezer, warm it up and we have a meal in 10 minutes instead of an hour later!

7.  We live a frugal and thrifty life.  (That will be another Great Tip Tuesday post!)

I hope you enjoyed these little things I do that add up to a lot of savings, both in time and money!

Thanks for stopping by, Jeanne!!