The other night, as I was lying in bed trying to drift off to sleep, my mind began to wander and I began to think of a different way to organize my monthly meal plan calendar; you know, how to make it pretty and more appealing in my kitchen. Certainly, I can’t be the only one who delights in visions of organization as they’re trying to go to sleep? Oh, it is just me? Well, okay ... As I began to think of different ways I could make my monthly-meal-calendar-board-vision a reality, it dawned on me: as of July 2018, I have been doing this once-a-month grocery shopping gig for an entire YEAR!
What started out as a bet with myself that I probably couldn’t make this happen, and just enough determination to MAKE it happen so as to prove myself wrong (that entire sentence makes me sound like I’m certifiably insane), has turned into something that I have developed into something fun(!) for myself, and I really do enjoy doing it (never thought I’d say that about grocery shopping!).
I asked my friends on Facebook if they had any questions for me concerning how I pull this big monthly production off. I’ll do my best to answer those questions below!
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Q U E S T I O N S
“This sounds incredible for budgeting. I am curious how you handle perishables? Do you do frozen fruit/vegetables?”
Great question! This is probably the most asked question that I get from people when we start talking about my once-a-month grocery shopping excursions. My family and I tend to be pretty simple when it comes to fruit. I always buy two bunches of bananas- one ripe and one more green- and about a dozen apples every single month. Sometimes I’ll pick up an orange or two, or some pears, depending if they are on sale or not. I chose to buy apples because they are extremely hearty, and I can get them to last for a couple of weeks. And if they are turning bad quicker than I had thought they would, it's a perfect excuse to make an apple crumble :) As far as veggies go, I also try to get hearty veggies that I know will last me a couple of weeks, such as: carrots, celery, zucchini, grape tomatoes, green onions, cilantro, potatoes, onions, etc. Storing your foods properly will not only help them last longer, but it will also save you money in the long run (more on that in part two). I also like to have about 4-6 cans of fruit (mostly for my toddler, Seth) for the last week and a half of the month if I’m not able to get to the grocery store before we run out of fresh fruit. I try to make it to the store to refresh our veggies two weeks after my initial grocery store run, but that doesn’t always happen. I like to buy large bags frozen fruits from Costco for smoothies, and then smaller bags of frozen veggies, which I use mostly for stir-fry dishes or soups. That way I can schedule easy meals with frozen vegetables for later on in the month, and don't have to worry about the vegetables being eaten up or going bad. I've watched some YouTube videos from women who grocery shop like this as well and they will spend "X amount" of money on their main bulk of items, but are sure to budget in $20-25 in weekly to replenish their fresh items, like fruits, vegetables, and dairy. I try to be at the grocery store as little as possible, so this way doesn't exactly work for me.
“I like the idea except for fresh fruits and vegetables and bread and milk.”
As far as bread and milk go, we, as a family of three, go through about a loaf of bread a week. Aside from the two sandwiches that I pack Adam for lunch every day, Seth and I don’t eat a lot of bread during the week. Sometimes he and I will have a piece of toast for breakfast, or an occasional PB&J for lunch, but we usually eat a lot of hot breakfasts (oatmeal, pancakes, eggs, etc). If I have meals planned that require extra bread (French Toast, grilled cheese), I make sure to buy an extra loaf of bread. * Free Tip: I buy the Country Oven bread at Fred Meyer that is always on sale for 3/$5, making it $1.66 a loaf! The total amount that I spend on bread for a month is almost always around $8-10. When I get home, I just pop them in the freezer, and pull them out to defrost in the refrigerator when needed. And don’t forget to look in the day-old bakery section of your grocery store if you're lucky enough to have one! I’ve gotten a lot of great deals on loaves of bread and bagels by looking here first. As far as milk goes, we drink non-dairy milk in our home. I get both Almond and Rice milk from Costco, and they come in 32 oz containers that don’t need to be refrigerated until opened. I will occasionally buy some Whole milk to use in my coffee, and I will try to buy the milk with the farthest expiration date from the date I’m purchasing it. I’ve had my milk last 1.5 - 2 weeks beyond the “expiration” date and it be completely fine to consume (more tips on dairy milk coming in part two).
“I want to know everything! I’d love to see a detailed shopping list and monthly meal plan, how you plan out meals to make the most of ingredients, do you plan meals around grocery sales or do couponing? I’m always trying to cut back on my grocery budget but I really struggle with it!”
I was actually just thinking about coupons the other day, and how much I don’t use them. I really do wonder if I’m missing out on weekly killer deals by going only once a month. This is how I shop sales: I go to two stores, Fred Meyer (Kroger) and Costco. Every once in a blue moon I’ll pop into Trader Joe’s as a special treat, just to see what new things they have. Of course, I almost always end up buying something (I can't help it!). While I am planning my monthly menu, I’ll look through Costco’s mail flyer to see if there’s anything that I may be needing to get or stock up on. Costco is wonderful in that they have their sales run for an entire month, so I really don’t have to worry about missing a sale item with them. For Fred Meyer, I order my groceries online using their ClickList service. If you’re unfamiliar with this service (and how much I LOVE IT), you select and order your groceries online. You can add specific instructions on any item you want, such as, "2 bunches of bananas, one yellow and one green." Then you’re able to select which date and time you’d like to pick it up. Your first three ClickList orders are free of any extra charge, but after that you're charged a service fee of $4.95. To me, $4.95 is ABSOLUTELY worth saving my sanity and two hours of wandering up and down the grocery aisles. And since I only use this service once a month, I'm totally down with paying $5 for someone else to pick out my entire month's worth of groceries for me. Another way to save money is to preload Fred Meyer's digital coupons onto your Rewards Card via their website. Meaning that when you do this and you go to pay and use your Rewards Card, the discounts will automatically be taken off! I have used this feature in the past, but I personally feel that some of their coupons lately have really not been that great of a deal. The ONLY bummer about ClickList is that it isn't available at all Fred Meyer locations yet. I don’t plan a meal out for every single night; in fact, I’ve actually scheduled “Top Ramen” in to the calendar before just because I know I’m going to be extra busy that day or simply because I don’t want to cook a meal that night. And, of course, leftover nights are a wife and mom's BFF. That’s one of the things I love most about doing meals this way is that it's so flexible! Because you have all of your ingredients on hand, and there’s so much wiggle room when it comes to what you want to cook! I'll be attaching a picture of my shopping list and meal plan in part two so you can see what my monthly setup looks like.
“We meal prep every week and follow The Keto Diet pretty closely and don’t buy anything but fresh fruits/vegetables/meat. We go every week and spend way too much. Is there a better way to still buy fresh everything and get on a monthly plan like this?”
My first suggestion is to make a weekly or bi-monthly budget of how much you want to pay for food and stick to it. Maybe take out cash and pay that way if you find you spend too much money when you pay with a card. I've definitely had to do this! My second suggestion is to try making a 2-week meal plan (if a monthly meal plan is overwhelming), and then do that same list of meals twice a month. Are you able to buy meat in bulk and freeze it? If so, Costco will be your best friend. For the fruits and veggies, you may want to think about buying fresh items in bulk as well, and cutting things up and putting them in Mason jars (I've found this preserves things a lot longer than plastic containers), or freezing them, too. Then they are all ready at your disposal and all you have to do is remember to defrost them before you need to cook with them (I’m so bad at this, lol!). You’ll be surprised how long you can get a lot fruits and vegetables to last when stored properly. I’ve gotten a tub of baby spinach from Costco to last me upwards of 3 weeks!
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If you're feeling bold and wanting to attempt this once-a-month grocery shopping business with me, I'm sure all of this will be an adjustment at first - getting everything organized and figuring out what meals you want to eat, what items you usually buy monthly, what things you can save on by buying later, and what things you're willing to splurge on. I'm here to help anyone reading this as best as I can with any more questions or concerns that you may have!
To Be Continued In Part 2 ...