Hey Friend, it’s finally FriYAY!

Fridays for me bring lots of excitement for many reasons. If you can believe it, even my weekly Friday grocery trip is fun. I don’t attribute my enjoyment to walking up and down florescent lit aisles with strangers and people either in a rush, (or let’s get real… it’s the South), someone stopped to talk to their granny’s neighbor in the DEAD center of the aisle where you can’t even try to slide your cart by. I forgive them. I think it’s pretty darn sweet.

The reason I enjoy my grocery trip is because I have strategies that:

1. Save me money
2. Save me time
3. Save me frustration throughout the week

So, if you don’t already have a weekly grocery plan, I want to share my strategies with you! I realize many of you do not have a specific day that you shop. Some of you go multiple times a week. If that works for you, that is great. I have just personally found that the more times a week I go, the more money I tend to spend on little things I didn’t really need. I challenge you to shop once a week and see if it doesn’t reduce your grocery bill a bit!

Ok friends, first thing’s first. The very first thing I do is take inventory of my fridge and pantry on Thursday night. This may seem obvious, but I can’t tell you how many trips I have bought eggs or pancake mix etc to find out there was a whole box in the fridge or  pantry. Let me just tell you, my materials management husband LOVES this rule. 4 boxes of oatmeal in the pantry probably stresses him out more than a crooked picture on the wall. In addition to making sure you don’t double buy, you can use the extra stuff in your panty to guide your meal plan.

This brings me to my second step-Make the meal plan. I make a meal plan from Friday until Thursday and depending upon our budget, there is a night set aside for eating out. I tell ya friends, this saves so much frustration. There is never a question of what are we having tonight? What do you want? I don’t care, what do you want? <—- NONE of that nonsense allowed in the Sherer home. Also, I usually make double of every weeknight meal, so my husband and I have lunch for work the next day.  It’s so easy to put leftovers in Tupperware the night before, and you can grab it and go in the mornings. No fast food runs means healthier options and no extra money spent.

Next, based off of your meal plan, make your list. Now, my favorite strategy of making my list is try to make your list based off of the order you walk around the grocery store. Make mental notes-I walk through the produce and deli first SO first thing that goes on my grocery list will always be fruits, veggies, and then turkey and bread. This little step saves me so much time when I am buying a weeks worth of groceries.

After making the list, I look over my meal plan again to make sure I didn’t miss anything. There is nothing more stinky to me than having to walk in the grocery store for a bell pepper!! There’s no substitution for that ingredient, y’all

Finally, the last thing I do is look at my Kroger, Publix etc app on my phone, (don’t have it? GET IT) and I look at the coupons option to see if any of them match up with anything on my grocery list. Let just be real, I’m definitely not a crazy coupon lady. Remember my sweet husband? Yeah, he would DIE if we had a stock pile in our garage. If that’s your thing, you GO girl. All jokes aside, that 2 minutes of scanning an app is something I can handle, and I usually can save a little. Every little bit helps, right?

Now, for one last FUN strategy. Get a really cute notebook or tablet that makes you really happy to write that grocery list on. It makes the whole experience cheerful, and by doing this you will feel so organized. Some like to keep their lists on their phones. That option works great too. I just get way more into a task if I write it down. Either way, having the list and the strategies is what matters most!

What are some helpful tips you use for grocery shopping?

Happy Shopping! 🙂