More on the BIG Grocery

From Elizabeth, a.k.a. busymomof10,

I'm sitting over here, struggling to make a 1 month menu!!! Laurel suggested planning by the month as a way to save money on my grocery budget, so I have a big mess out of cookbooks and notebooks and I'm working on it!!! I think I'm being too perfectionistic about it! I have lots of questions!

Like, where did you get those adorable calendars that your menus are written on??? I love those!

Do you buy everything on one day at Super Walmart?

Do you shop at Sams or Costco too?

So, you don't pay attention to the weekly sales ads? I've been trying to plan around the weekly sales.

Do you go back to a local grocery store once a week for milk
and eggs and produce?

Where do you store food for two months?? I don't have much pantry space and store food in my laundry room or under my bed
the way it is!

Thanks for the questions!

I try to work from one cookbook for every two-month cycle. I love the Taste of Home Quick Cooking Annual Recipes books. They have hundrends of quick recipes to choose from, so I only have one book sitting out on my counter. I only try new recipes once or twice per week. The rest of the time I rely on family favorites (like Sausage Braid) or quick & easy (like jarred Spaghetti & frozen Meatballs).

The calendars are just a template in MS Word 2007. Kind of a pain to fill in, but I love the results!

We shop on one day (about three hours spent away from home due to the 25 minute drive one-way). We shop at Aldi and Super Wal-mart. Aldi first, and the Wal-mart to get what Aldi doesn't have.


We only do a little bit at Sam's Club. Most of those purchases would fall under "impulse buys." We only have a membership because their eye exams and glasses are cheap. We sometimes buy their "Take & Bake" pizzas for our Bible Study nights. Those are a great deal!


I don't take the time to plan around the sale ads or clip coupons. I do keep an eye out for good meat sales and will stock up then (Wal-mart meat is pretty lousy and not that cheap). I'll also check out the produce sales, but only go in to get something if I need something else.


Which brings me to the milk & egg questions. Our eggs come from our beautiful flock of backyard chickens. Bryan picks up milk once or twice per week on his way home from work. There are often an item or two that I missed from the big trip, or that I underestimated the quantity, so he'll grab those for me too.

As my buddy, Jamers, said, I am blessed with a walk-in pantry. We designed our own home, and that was one thing of many things we made Stumpf-size. It has our upright freezer and a lot of shelves (but I'm hoping to add more!). B.P. (before pantry) I had a small, free-standing linen cupboard in my dining room for boxed items and stored cans in the garage. Not as handy, but it worked!