by Renee from New York
How my family and I plan for grocery shopping is awesome. We involve the children.
We Plan
We first take stock of what we have, then make a list of what we want. We sometimes write down meals we want to try and ingredients they may need. We look at children’s needs and plan also around that. We create our grocery list then head to the different grocery shops, depending on what we are going for and the prices and deals they have, so as to maximize on getting more for our money.
We do a major shopping once every month. However, we shop for perishable items each week. This allows us to always have fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products.
We Budget
We use coupons if available and whatever weekly deals exist. We also use WIC for the baby and we join some rewards programs, so we also maximize on these, especially those we join with cards. We collect shopping deals and we check emails for those sent via that medium. We do this prior to shopping most times, if time permits. We capitalize on these because we want to get the most economical items so as to get more for less.
We Store
We store items in different places. We clean and season meat items and package them in cooking portions. This eliminates wasting time to get this done when ready to cook. We pack cold items such as milk, eggs, yogurt, cheese and others in the lower compartment of the refrigerator to keep cold. Some fruits stay at room temperature and others are refrigerated. Dry goods are stored at room temperature in the cupboard or pantry. We use old items first so as to ensure that we don't waste food. Our children love to eat with the family, so we encourage this by getting them involved in the shopping.
About Renee and family. . .
We are a nuclear family of parents and 3 boys aged 18 years, 6 years and 1 year. Dad is a food related guy who loves the kitchen, so cooking, meals and shopping for groceries are a plus for us.
Want more grocery shopping ideas? wichealth.org has a free online lesson called Maximizing Food Dollars. Find it in Planning Simple Meals And Snacks category!
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