I've been reading a lot about extreme ways to shave an even closer grocery bill a little more.
There's quite few, some more extreme than others-- but one we tries is my experience with 2 weeks of NOT STEPPING INTO A GROCERY STORE.
(Now in interest of self-disclosure, I did go in a Wal-mart, but not for anything found in the grocery store/no food/ no drugstore stuff.
The theory here is pretty simple-- each time you go into a grocery store, you're likely to pick up
" a few extra things" which add up. So for two weeks, you do not go to the store. Before going, you menu plan and shop for the two weeks. Then if you run out of something (bread? milk?) too bad! Make do with something else. Before you start whining, I too have kids in school. During these two weeks things happen-- snack mom for soccer, for example-- which were unexpected and unplanned. Still, with a little scrambling you can cover. And all without being granola mom.
" a few extra things" which add up. So for two weeks, you do not go to the store. Before going, you menu plan and shop for the two weeks. Then if you run out of something (bread? milk?) too bad! Make do with something else. Before you start whining, I too have kids in school. During these two weeks things happen-- snack mom for soccer, for example-- which were unexpected and unplanned. Still, with a little scrambling you can cover. And all without being granola mom.
Did it work? Yep. It did. I'm totally on the band wagon. One downside might be coupon deals that require multiple trips. However our monthly grocery bill (already low by many standards at about $80/wk for a family of 4) did drop. After the second two weeks, I'm pretty sure we could do three except for milk. (I do not have a freezer big enough to freeze milk.) Maybe we'll try to be milkless every third week, or at least go 2 1/2. Anyone doing this without a freezer??? Let me know your plan!
Thing
