I posted this over on my other blog Around The Homestead and thought I'd share it here to. 

How many times does it happen to us, in the middle of making supper we find we are missing an important ingredient.  We rush to the store for just ONE thing and before we know it other “extras” have found there way into our cart.  Soon the one item has cost you 30.00 plus and a lot of wasted time.

So how do we avoid falling into this trap?

1. Make a Menu List

Write down all of your family’s favorite meals, and include the ingredients.

2. Make a Master Shopping List

You can set this up how it best suites your family.  For ours we made a 3 column chart.  One each for freezer, fridge, and pantry.  We then listed each item we used on a regular bases in the proper column.

We decided how many of each item we wanted to keep on hand.  Beside each item put the desired number of check boxes. 

Now this is the important part.  EVERY time you open something that is on your list check it off right a way.  No you might not NEED it this week but now that you’ve opened that jar of mayo you should buy another one to replace it.  Then when you are getting low you don’t need to make a trip out to buy another. 

Preparing our list this way has saved us a lot of money and time.  It’s stopped the quick trip to the corner store for 1 item.  And since our local store has a minimum purchase amount to use debit that 1 item would always cost us 10.00.  Our other alternative was to drive to the next town for one thing and spend the difference in gas and time. 

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Posted by gabbie427

This is how I used to do our monthly shopping as well, but now we only do shopping twice a month. We find it works out better for us.

God's Blessings,
Amy Jo

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Posted by haflinger

This is a great way..But I find myself week at times..lol
Sister Brenda

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