My Tips & Tricks For Shopping Once A Month

I have picked up quite a few tips and tricks about how to execute such a large shopping trip from personal experience. I have been doing my grocery shopping this way for a few months now, and here are some things that worked well for me, and a few that didn't work so well. 

 

Pre-Planning ; 

This is a huge importance to any successful shopping trip. If you do not plan how will you know what to buy?  Here is a step by step guide to planning a successful shopping trip:

1. Create a meal plan 
2. Write down everything you will need for every meal separating by dates 
3. Go through pantry, fridge and freezer and cross things off your list that you already have in your home
4. Review your sales flyers 
5. Match coupons with your planned purchases to maximize savings
6. Map out a shopping plan ;
1. If you plan on going to more than one store ask yourself things like 'where is the best price for chicken this week?' and make a note of it.  
2.  Plan which stores you will go to and what order
3. Keep in mind that if you are going to multiple stores that purchasing things like ice cream at the first store might not be such a good idea
7.  Make a master shopping list breaking it into the following categories is helpful for me: 
1. Withing Food: Diary, Bakery, Deli, Pantry, Freezer, Meat, Stock Items
2.  Other Things Such as: Pet, Paper Products, Cleaners, Health/Beauty and Other
3. I also break my shopping list up by store
8.  Pick a day and get up early and go!
9. Commit! 

Once you have your plan than shopping is much easier. If you follow your plan and give yourself a little flexibility when shopping than it will make the whole time much more enjoyable. 

Ad Matching ;

Have you ever heard of this? Its where you take a flyer from one store into a store that offers ad matching and show them the lower price and they honor it. There are some grocery stores that I get the flyers for but can not go to because of the inconvenience of their location. I find ad matching very beneficial! Check out this great score I got this past shop on ground beef! A local grocery store had beef on sale for $2.00/lb and I could not get there, so I took their flyer to my local Real Canadian Superstore and the honored the sale price for me. 

 Look at that price difference!! From $15.52 down to $7.40 just for showing them another stores ad! That's $8.12 savings right there! And there was no effort put into it! By keeping an eye out for stores that offer ad matching you can optimize your savings very easily!

After Shopping;

Now don't think that just because you've gone out and bought the groceries doesn't mean that the journey ends there. If you have purchased food for all of your meals, then what are you planning on doing with those green beans that you don't have on the menu plan until the 20th? Are you just going to leave them in the fridge and hope they last? No. You need to wash, chop and freeze and vegetables or fruits (some) that you are not planning on using within the first week of your menu plan. 

Here is a list of the vegetables that I have froze in the past with no problems:

• Broccoli 
• Asparagus 
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Carrots 
• Green Onions 
• Mushrooms (Sauteed First)
• Green Beans 

Basically anything except your soft fruits or vegetables can be cleaned, chopped, portioned and frozen. I find it so easy and convenient to do my vegetables like this. If I just need a cup of carrots for a recipe I can grab just a cup and I don't have to clean or chop or anything when I am in the middle of making dinner. It definitely cuts back on meal time preparation.


I also purchase my meat products for the whole month. That also requires portioning and freezing as well.

I find that instead of freezing the meat that i purchase in the containers that I purchase it in, that it is easier to portion the meat into dinner sized portions and place them in freezer bags. I label them with the date and pop them in the freezer. Than when I pull something out to be defrosted I don't have to worry about having too much or too little of that meat product.

For chicken I take one large freezer bag and label it with the date then I take ziploc portions and place them into the portion bag. After I place them into the large ziploc bag and press out all the air and pop it in the freezer. This way I can just grab one piece of chicken or more when I need it.

For ground beef, I usually purchased the family or club pack and then I break it into the appropriate dinner size and place them into individual freezer bags with the date.

I find that if I do all of my shopping, cleaning, chopping, portioning, and freezing in one day that I feel much better about the whole process. It is a great feeling of accomplisment when I know there is a month worth of meals in our kitchen. It is less to worry about. If I have to cram everything into one busy day to have satisfaction for the rest of the month than why not? It's worth it to me, and I hope that with time this process will become worth it to you as well.

My Freezer at the Beginning of a Month. I think I need a Chest Freezer!

 

Chicken 'Pot Pie'

This recipe is perfect for a cold wintery night. Note that this is not a traditional pot pie recipe, and there are two different way to do it that I will tell you about. 

* Note I made a portion for two people *

INGREDIENTS:
- Chicken Breast Cooked and Chopped 
- 1 cup of peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup of finely chopped carrots 
- 1 can cream of chicken soup 
- 1/4 cup water 
- 1/4 cup milk 
- Biscuits

First thing I did was make the biscuits using a simple 15 minute Bisquick mix. This is the one way to do it. The other way is to use Pilsbury biscuits. I will tell you how to do that later.

After your chicken is cooked and chopped you can add it to the vegetables.
In a large bowl, place the soup directly from the can and add the water and the milk. Whisk well.
Add seasonings, and stir. Add vegetables and chicken and stir well. Pour into casserole dish.

Place in preheated 400 degree oven covered in foil for 15 minutes.
Uncover and bake for another 5 minutes.
Place biscuits on top and bake for another 5 minutes.

Option 2 for the biscuits :
After baking for 15 minutes covered, place uncooked Pilsbury biscuits on top and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown. 

Enjoy!

Grocery Shopping Once A Month

 That's right.
Besides milk, bread, eggs & soft fruits, I grocery shop once a month.
It is a cram packed day that requires a lot of pre-planning. I spend around $250.00 and get everything we need for our meal plan for the entire month.

The Planning :

~ 1 Week Before Shop ~ 
- Plan menu for the upcoming month
- Write down everything needed for each meal
- Write down items we have run out of over the past month

~ 3 Days Before Shop ~ 
- Go through sales ads and write down the items that our on sale and correspond with what we need
- Match any coupons I am able to use with sales and items we need
- Place coupons into envelopes (*one envelope for coupons that match with sales, and one envelope for other coupons I plan to use with items that are not necessarily on sale)

~ Day Before Shop ~
- Go through the pantry, fridge and freezer and cross anything off the shopping list that I already have in the house
- Clean out any bad or expired food from fridge, freezer and pantry to make room for new food. 

~ Day of Shop ~ 
- Get up early! Get Shopping!
- Hit as many stores as it takes to get everything we need for the month
- Don't forget all your papers and coupons! 
- Once home, the first thing I do is put away everything that belongs in the fridge or freezer.
- Next the pantry things get put away.
- I then pull any meat that has been purchased and open the packages and portion it in separate bags.
- After I take all the vegetables I bought that get cleaned, and chopped before eating, and I prepare them and put them in their own bags.

shopping, shopping, shopping!