Cooking healthy foods for your families does not have to strap you for cash, but it often does require a bit more planning. First, in order to shop on a budget, one must set a budget. Once you've established what your allowance is for groceries, the key is to know what you're shopping for and when you need to buy it. With plans in place to answer these two questions, you can regularly keep your grocery budget under control.
There are two basic thoughts of creating a shopping list. There are those who shop to fill the fridge and cupboard with no regard for what they plan on cooking and those who shop for what they plan on cooking in the coming week(s). It is the second shopper who will spend less. If you create your shopping list based on a general menu, then you will have all that you need to create a set schema of meals. Flexibility is also important, especially for the proteins that fill your meals. Often meats hog up the largest portion of the grocery bill. If you get to the store planning on purchasing beef but find that chicken is on sale for half the price, purchase the chicken and adjust the protein in your menu. So make your list and stick to it – unless you can save some money substituting for on items that are already on your list.
The second way to save money on your groceries is to shop less often. What? That’s right, if you usually shop every week, try shopping for the majority of your items once every two weeks and on the off week only buy the perishables you need to restock. The key to this is that you are limiting your exposure to impulse items that tend to sneak into the basket. (Yes, back to making the list and sticking to it.)
If the end of the budget period is approaching and your allowance is running low, look in the pantry, fridge and freezer and get creative with what you have on hand. Often, with a little creativity there are dozens of meals just sitting in the kitchen, that don’t require minimal, if any, additional ingredients. Those meals taste so much better because you know you’re upholding the integrity of your budget.
Lastly, never never never go to the grocery store hungry! If you must go into the store to do a lot of shopping and you are hungry, it’s often worth purchasing a piece of fruit as a snack before you start shopping. You end up with a healthy snack and your brain can better make the decisions as to what goes into the shopping cart, not your stomach.
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Shopping every couple of days for fresh ingredients will also help you control your weight, says Mireille Giuliano, author of "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" - they WALK to the market every 2-3 days to get fresh ingredients. I just got a new cook book called "Dining On A Dime" By Tawra Jean Kellam who says being flexible to whatever is on sale is key to living on a budget. That's why she doesn't plan meals too far in advance - it wouldn't allow for deals she may find. Good stuff. Me, I'm one of those coupon-clippers who never actually uses the coupon before it expires...
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