Inaugural Post

My first post here. I guess a little about me...

I just turned 40 and am fortunate enough to get to stay home and take care of the home front while my awesome husband works. We have 3 beautiful daughters. I'm always looking for a deal and a way to save money so that we can put the money saved towards home improvements, family vacations, or just playing. And the best way I've found to cut costs is with my grocery budget. I follow sales and cut coupons to build onto my stockpile. I'm not one of the so-called "extreme couponers," but I do well enough that we always have a stocked pantry and we will not want for shampoo for the next year.

The best way I have found to stick within my self-imposed budget and save money is to meal plan. And I don't just plan out 5-6 meals a week and leave it at that. No, I'm a bit obsessive. I plan out an entire month of meals at a time, trying to take into account upcoming plans that will either have us away from home for a meal or cut into our normal mealtime so we need to have something quick and easy. I also plan out breakfast, lunch, and snacks for 5 people for a 4 week period.

I was doing my grocery trips every 2 weeks. This was working well for us. We were staying right within our budget. Little to no food waste. This last trip I did a large, one-shop haul for the entire month. I managed to stay within my budget, but we just don't have the space to store all that fresh food! With school starting back up and with my husband now taking his lunch 4 days a week, we will be getting more fresh produce and groceries each month, so I have decided to drop back down to shopping weekly. I am going to stay within the same budget, and will still plan everything out a month at a time. Just my shopping trips are increasing.

Now that I have laid out who I am and what I am looking to accomplish, onto the fun stuff!