Meal Planning

The easiest and the best way to save yourself from rushed, impulsed buying is to make a weekly menu planner. My mother used to pull out the weekly County Market sale ads and wander along the meat aisle every week to feed her family of 6 on a 100 a week grocery budget. Every week she pretty much hit the mark unless she needed something that wasn't on sale. So for me its a must do before I go grocery shopping. I like to coupon but honestly food coupons don't excite me too much. I know what I like and I am a hard person to try to convince to switch. I also think great value things can be cheaper than the regular item plus the coupon. I cook pretty close to home made so all the box foods, and canned items don't excite me. Also take in consideration other than the trusty Campbell's tomato soup which CANNOT be replicated or substituted to me, cost way less to make homemade rather than buying the cans at 1.40-2.50 per can of soup. So a quick way to menu plan is to sit with your family the night before shopping or put a list on the refrigerator at the start of week and as people say they need something or want something, write it down then when it comes time to go shopping it will be tremendously easier than second guessing. I usually make my list Wednesday and ask my family or remember what they said they were craving and  go from there, then Thursday I scout the Internet  for any coupons and shop on Friday. Same routine week after week after week. My budget is 100-150 dollars a week and I am usually real close unless my kids went through a growth spurt. I also plan my lunches and breakfasts roughly too. I will not and do not go to the store for missing items. I hate shopping to begin with. Below is a list I made that is cheaper to do yourself rather than buying out of convenience.

10 Cheap Things You Can Make At Home Cheaper Than Buying!!!

1. Salad Mixes.... I buy at Sams Club 6 pack of Organic Romaine Lettuce heads for 3.99 if I were to buy that at Walmart premade it would cost me 4 bags of premade salad at 2.99 a bag.... so clean and cut your own lettuce is money in your pocket
2. Frozen Veggies...depending on what blend you buy it can be more expensive to buy frozen over fresh...take for instance fresh broccoli at a pound for 1.49 cents is cheaper than a 10 ounce bag of Birdseye at 1.85.... plus you can cook it, cut it up fresh or do as you please because you saved money and you have options other than just cooked.
3.Shredded Cheese...HUGE waste of money and a poor quality of cheese not to mention...a bag of cheese has preservatives and anti caking chemicals on it to keep it fresh...where you could buy a 2.5 pound block of Tillamook cheese at Sams Club for around 7.50 and make more cheese than you can buy for 7.50... and its fresh and will melt soo much better than that grated stuff!!!
4.Canned Soup...for 1.50 for Campbells small soups to 5 dollars a can for fancy soup you could make a huge for the same price and feed your family for hardly anything. My pot of Split pea costs me around 3 dollars for an entire pot, Chicken Noodle around 5 dollars, Potato Soup same and Vegetable Soup maybe 4 dollars. I would go broke trying to buy enough canned soup to feed 4 people everyday for lunch.
5.Frozen Meatballs... for 30 meatballs in bag at 5.99 each you could make roughly 70 1 ounce meatballs at home for same price if not less!! Plus they taste better and the quality is better and much much healthier for you!!
6.Chicken breast Products- okay this goes many ways....chicken nuggets/ grilled chicken strip pieces/ etc.... It is soo much healthier and cheaper to make your own at home....if you only knew what was in one and all the chemicals and fillers it takes to make some items you would be appalled. Buy bulk chicken breasts...cut them down as needed and make the items at home... you will cut 3/4 of the fat and calories and the convenience of having it prepared will save you in the long run.
7.Chopped Prepare Veggies- It cost at walmart almost 2 dollars for chopped onions/celery etc...an onion costs 60 cents and up depending on size but not more than a dollar per item...you can save money and get a better product cutting your produce yourself...
8. Frozen Hashbrowns... a bag costs from 1.99 to 3.99 a bag..you can peel and grate your own the same amount for a 1.00 or less... 10 pound bags of potatoes depending on variety are 2.99 roughly so you can easily make them for less than a buck homemade
9.Instant Mashed Potatoes- for 1.00 and up a pack for 4 servings ...you can make 10 servings for the same cost...potatoes are cheap and great for you.
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