Hectic Heaven

Top Five Tips to Successful Grocery Shopping

1. Check your local newspapers for specials and clip coupons.

Now I have always said I can save more money by buyinng generic than clipping coupons.  And in years past, this may have been true.  But today, clipping coupons can save a family big money, depending on where you shop.  I am a little envious of those of you who have large stores near you who offer coupon and saving programs and offer double coupons.  We live in the sticks and most of these coupon games are not available for us.  However, finding coupon sites online and printing out coupons can be so helpful even if you don't have those stores in your area.  Finding soap on sale, great!!!  Finding soap on sale and having a coupon for it in your purchase, priceless!!!  LMSO  If done correctly, buying this way can cost you little or nothing at all for the item!

2.  Do not shop while hungry!!

Need I say more???  LOL  I myself, end up buying cheesecake and anything else with cream cheese in it when I am hungry at the grocery store.  Things I don't normally buy or eat because it goes straight to my hips (and everywhere else I am sure).  When hubby shops hungry he ends up coming home with JUNK FOOD GALORE!!!  Have you noticed when you are hungry at the grocery store, you don't stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables??  Save your waist line and your pock book, and don't shop while hungry.

3.  Avoid impulsive buys and stick to the list.

This is something I don't have much trouble with.  I make a list before going to the store.  It is divided into the areas of the store that make it easy for shopping.  Dairy, meats, canned items, cleaning supplies, frozen foods, produce, breads, etc.  I know exactly what I need, and I buy those things and get outta there.  I don't mind grocery shopping, but I can't stand the rude people, the loud screaming kids from 3 rows over or the children who drive their parents carts like they are race car drivers, so I am usually trying to hustle and get outta there.  LOL  Hubby, on the other hand, sees something, doesn't think about it and tosses it into the cart.  It doesn't register to him that buying those items will put us over budget.  He doesn't think about it not being good for him, or even looking for the generic version.  Nope.  He just tosses it in the cart.  He went to the store one time for milk and bread only.  He came home with $65.00 groceries!!!!!!!!!!  One month, he did this so much we went over our budget not by tens of dollars, but by HUNDREDS!!!!!  So the following month, I put us on a grocery diet and we didn't go to the store except for milk to make up for it!!!!  And don't ever give my hubby a blank check when going to the grocery store.  It makes him even worse! LOL 

4.  Plan week-long menus.  Plan a variety of meals.  Keep nutrition in mind,  and prepare well balanced meals.

As I said in a previous post, this is my main reason for planning dinners.  If I don't keep track of dinners in a menu, I can't tell how often we have had a spaghetti meal in one month, or how often we had ham.  With a menu planner, I can keep better track of what my family is eating and know that we are getting a variety of foods, and the fruits and veggies our family needs.  When our family doesn't plan meals we end up eating quick foods, which most of the time are processed junk and greasy fatty foods.  When planning dinner ahead of time I make sure they are more balanced.

5.  Don't let the packaging fool you.  Compare products.  Let weight, price, and content be your guide to value.

There are a few items in our pantry that I refuse to buy generic (after trying it once or twice first of course).  Everyone has those "luxury items"  I suppose.  LOL  For instance, does anyone use a generic Velvetta?  Not many I would say.  The generic is awful.  And although we use tomato soup in our house mostly in other dishes, we have realized the generic has a weird taste to it, so we wait until Campbell's goes on sale and stock up.  We no longer buy cereal because it has a brand name.  We buy cereal in bags from Malt-O-Meal at a much cheaper price or we make muffins and other breakfast foods instead.

Any other hints you have for grocery shopping you would like to share????

Menu Plans: Why I Have One (even though it changed often! LOL)

I love making out my menu plans for the month.  Don't ask me why!  I know some of you dread it.  It is a chore, but one I like doing.  It is the same as some people enjoying mopping or hanging clothes on the line, while other dread the unruly task I suppose.  LOL

I recently had a comment on my blog and a pm asking me why I plan a weekly menu if it is continuously changing.  Well, I had to think about that for a moment.  Much in the same way that you make your bed every day to jump in it that evening to mess it up again I suppose.  LMSO  (This was my excuse as a teen and even sometimes now as an adult when I get busy and forget to make the bed.  It worked as a teen only because my room was on the second floor and my mom never had to see it. LOL)

I usually plan out a months long menu planner according to what we have in stock (a large standing freezer, 2 refrigerators with top freezers, a large pantry and flats of canned items) and what is on sale.  I used to grocery shop once a month.  We have a family of 3, so it was doable, but I wouldn't suggest it.  LOL  First of all, we walked out with 2 overflowing carts full of food for just the three of us, it was exhausting, and it took most of the day to shop, stand in line to pay, load the car, drive 30 minutes back home, and unload and organize it all.  UGH!  Now I find shopping weekly or bi-weekly is much more managable, and I shop more of the sales doing this too.

I plan a menu mostly so I know what to expect, and so that I can guarantee that our family isn't having the same meal over and over again.  When things aren't planned out ahead of time here, we seem to make it a quick dinner and it isn't always that healthy.  Having the menu planner helps me know the night before what to thaw from the freezer and what to prep the next morning.  I use some time before or after breakfast each day to prep for dinner.  This is when I chop vegetables, brown the hamburger, or put things in the crockpot.  This way if the rest of the day ends up being busy, we end up running late because of a doctor's appointment taking 3 times as long as I would have liked (happens all the time), I have a step up on getting dinner on the table on time

Why does my menu change almost weekly?  Life happens!!  LOL  Matthew will end up working late, and I will change the menu to accomodate sometimes.  If I haven't felt well that day, I will look into the menu for the month, or see what I have on hand to fix a quick easy dinner of BBQ Beef Sandwiches (on buns I almost always have on hand in the freezer and can thaw when needed) instead of fixing lasagna that night.  Or sometimes Matthew requests a specific meal, and if I have the ingredients on hand I will try to accomodate his wants.  After all, he works super hard all week for this family, and if he wants one of his favorite meals that evening instead of what was planned, it isn't that hard to change a few things to make him feel loved!!  (I secretly love when he does this, because it means he likes my cooking and it is a pat on the back for me!)

For my family, having a menu planner helps us in having a variety of ingredients and dinners up our sleeve.  But it isn't anything cut into stone.  We need to be flexible and not let the menu planner be a controlling thing.  If we are invited by the inlaws to eat out (and because we know they always insist on paying, we usually say yes! LOL), then we know we can always have the Parmesan Chicken planned for that evening another time during the month.  If it goes onto the menu planner, we already have all the ingredients, so that is one meal later I don't have to shop for.

So, how about you ladies??? Do any of you love to menu plan?  Do you keep yourself strictly to the menu plan, or is yours forever changing??  Let me know!!!  I would love to see how others are handling this.

Menu Planner Monday

Here is my menu for the week.  Although Monday in the past has been for us a Meatless Monday for us, this week it is not.  I have some sausage that I need to use up quickly, so today is PIZZA NIGHT!  We planned on having this on Friday of last week, but things happened at the last minute. 

Monday:  sausage pizza

Tuesday: hame and cheesey potatoes, peas, crescent rolls

Wednesday: Chilli and cornbread

Thursday: fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans

Friday: sticky chicken, fried rice, vegetables

Saturday: rosemary porkchops, roasted vegetables, steamed broccoli

Sunday: Planned Leftovers

Apologies to Sarah

Can anyone use coupons for baby items?

I’m Back!

I am home from vacation.. have been for a few days now and just getting life up and running again. Hubby and I had a great time! We flew south to get some of the last rays of sunshine and heat before we burrow in for the winter months.  We spent a lot of time pool side and out and about in the sun  . When our time was up we felt ready to come home and enjoy kids and family and look ahead to school time, holidays and a few projects that need to get done.  

In the Home: I am currently working on refining my home organization notebook. I am working on the chores. I wrote a master list of all chores and now plan to put together a page for each day of the week showing what jobs need to be done for that day. Our school days take up a good portion of our day so it is nice to have to put a lot of thought into the house work that needs to be done each day. I won’t be trying to remember the last time the stairway was washed or the laundry room floor was mopped. What time is not spent doing school work and chores it is spent cooking and baking! .. and of course I have my little business to keep making products for. Nice to see and experience the blessings of children that know how to help around the house!  

On Budgets: Is everyone enjoying the drop in gas prices?? I know we are.  Has anyone seen it go below $3.00 a gallon?  A couple days ago I was in town and I saw it at $3.19. Who would have thought I would get so excited about paying  $3.19 a gallon for gas! LOL..  

Don't Pull My Leg !!

Pray Please

My daughter, Jaimie is at the hospital with her little baby.

He will be four weeks old tomorrow.

Well, when she went to change his diaper yesterday, she noticed a bump that resembled a boil on his bottom

It burst open and drained quite a bit of poison.

She rushed over to the hospital, and they kept him over night.

They are keeping him tonight also.

They aren't sure what is going on, but they want to get rid of the infection that is in it.

They even put him on IVs!

The poor little guy.

Not to mention, poor momma.

Please keep Jaimie and Gabriel in your prayers.

I'm sure Jaimie will be updating everyone when they make it home.

Be sure to check out her blog at http://www.homesteadblogger.com/JaimieBesaw/

A lot of work to get moved

Today's To-Do List