The Save At Home Mommy Strategy for Shopping

To start saving some serious money, you are probably going to have to change the way you approach shopping. There are several different methods people use:

#1 Go to the store, pick up what looks good and make meals with it-This can obviously cost a lot of money.

#2 Keep a list of all the ingredients you use one a regular basis to make meals and buy the ones you are missing at shopping time- This can be good in theory but you are paying full price for any of the items on your list that are not on sale.

#3 Make a menu each week or two weeks and buy the ingredients needed to make those meals- This helps a lot, but again you are paying full price for any ingredients you need that are not on sale.

#4 Buy the items that are on sale and then use them to create a menu for the week- While this is the best option so far, many items in your freezer and pantry can go unused or you may end up with a lot of items that can’t be put together into good meals for your family.

That leads us to:

#5, The Save At Home Mommy strategy:

• Build a stockpile. Stockpiling is buying multiples of the nonperishable items that your family uses when they are at a significant savings. When you purchase items in larger quantities, you are often able to get the lowest prices through store promotions. By doing this, you keep yourself from having to purchase something at full price because you need it right then and it is not on sale. You will also have a good selection of options from which to plan your weekly menus right in your pantry. In the beginning, you will probably spend a little more to get your stockpile built, but that savings will stretch out over time. You will need to make sure that you have some storage space set aside just for your stockpile.

For instance: Kraft dressing is included in a promotion at your local store and you have coupons to make them free or almost free after rewards so you buy 6 bottles. Later that month you take dinner to a family who has just had a baby and you can bring them a full bottle of dressing with their salad for free instead of running to the store and spending $3.00 on a bottle because it was not on sale.

• Use what you have on hand to start a menu. Each week, or two weeks, depending on how often you shop, check your pantry, freezer and refrigerator for items that need to be used up or that can go together to create meals for your family. You might want to keep a list of meal ideas to help you come up with your menu.
• Use sale items to finish your menu. Check the grocery deals list to find items that are on sale that could be used to complete or compliment the ideas you have already come up with. For instance, if you have chicken in your freezer and canned or frozen corn, look for some pasta or rice options on sale to complete your meal. Come up with a final menu making sure to factor in a leftover night and any nights you will not be at home for dinner.
• Make your shopping list. Make a separate list for each store of all the menu items you need and figure out how much your bill should be. This way, you can easily tell if something did not ring up right or a coupon was missed. Clip all necessary coupons to the list and put it in your Coupon Binder. Use any remaining money in your budget to replenish your stockpile with the best deals for the week.

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