Master Grocery List

I had heard of this thing called a "Master Grocery List" before, but it never really seemed like something I'd be all that interested in. Mostly, it just sounded like WAY too much work. The basic idea of a MGL (Master Grocery List) is to write down all the basics that you keep around the house, put them in a spreadsheet (or something comparable), and check the list each time before you go the grocery store.

Way too much work? I thought so too.

But after years of grocery shopping and hundreds of times of forgetting at least one time almost every single time, I finally decided to give it a try. So on Sunday afternoon, I sat down and began writing out all the things we buy. I didn't want my list to be basic. I wanted it to be detailed. Why detailed, you ask? Because sometimes my husband offers to go to the store for me (or sometimes I ask him) and he gets confused about what exactly I need him to buy. And because I wanted to include the strange things that I don't buy often just so I would know that they were things we DO keep in the house from time to time. And because, well....because I just wanted it that way.

After making my list, I visited several other MGL of other bloggers to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And of course, I had missed lots of things. Especially for a detailed list. So I added more things and finally came up with what I think is a complete list.

I separated my list by similar food type/isle and here is what I came up with:

(I'm listing it here because I found it so helpful when others did the same.)

BAKING

flour

chocolate chips

honey

molasses

sugar

brown sugar

powdered sugar

salt

shortening

canola oil

vegetable oil

olive oil

yeast

gluten

cornstarch

baking powder

baking soda

evaporated milk

sweet condensed milk

cornmeal

muffin mix

cake mix

brownie mix

frosting

cooking spray

vanilla

SEASONINGS

pepper

paprika

thyme

rosemary

parsley

cinnamon

cloves

seasoned salt

CEREAL/BREAKFAST

oatmeal

granola bars

boxed cereal

SNACKS

Oreos

cookies

pretzels

chips

candy

fruit snacks

Jello

pudding

raisins

graham crackers

saltines

BREAD

bread

hot dog buns

hamburger buns

pita bread

French bread

MEAT

boneless skinless chicken

chicken quarters

whole chicken

turkey breast

whole turkey

summer sausage

bacon

sausage links

ham

hot dogs

deli meat

ground beef

steak

beef roast

DAIRY

milk

yogurt

margarine

butter

eggs

cottage cheese

ricotta cheese

sour cream

Parmesan cheese

Colby-jack cheese

mozzarella cheese

cheddar cheese

pepper jack cheese

American sliced cheese

Velveeta

cream cheese

FROZEN

ice cream

Cool Whip

ice cream sandwiches

waffles

broccoli

carrots

fish sticks

chicken nuggets

garlic toast

pizza

pot pie

PRODUCE

carrots

green peppers

onions

potatoes

lemons

limes

lettuce – head

lettuce – green leaf

bananas

blueberries

grapes

strawberries

apples

kiwi

watermelon

cantaloupe

celery

green onions

garlic

tomatoes

zucchini

corn on the cob

CANNED/JARRED GOODS

green beans

peas

corn

sweet potatoes

pumpkin

pineapples

pears

peaches

tuna

applesauce

beef bouillon

chicken bouillon

pickles

salsa

HOUSEHOLD

Lysol aerosol spray

toilet bowl cleaner

kitchen cleaner

window cleaner

wood cleaner

dish soap

dishwasher detergent

laundry soap

floor cleaner

fabric softener sheets

scouring pads

PAPER GOODS

aluminum foil

plastic wrap

waxed paper

sandwich fold-over bags

sandwich zipper bags

gallon zipper bags – freezer

quart zipper bags – freezer

straws

trash bags (13 gallon)

paper plates

napkins

paper/Styrofoam cups

paper towels

toilet paper

Kleenex

CONDIMENTS

ketchup

mustard

relish

BBQ sauce

ranch dressing

French dressing

Italian dressing

peanut butter

jelly

vinegar

pancake syrup

chocolate syrup

caramel syrup

hot fudge

DRY GOODS

white rice

spaghetti

thin spaghetti

linguine

angel hair pasta

bowtie pasta

penne

macaroni

lasagna noodles

egg noodles

macaroni and cheese

TOMATO/SAUCES

tomato paste

tomato sauce

spaghetti sauce

tomatoes – diced

tomatoes – chopped

taco mix

chili mix

HBA

razor – mens

razor – womens

razor refills – mens

razor refills – womens

shampoo

conditioner

shaving cream – mens

shaving cream – womens

face wash

body wash

bar soap

floss

toothpaste

toothbrush – adult

toothbrush – child

mouthwash

deodorant – womens

deodorant – mens

tampons

pantyliners

maxi pads

lotion

chapstick

mascara

eye shadow

contact solution

OTC medicine

prescription

vitamins

BABY

diapers

pull-ups

wipes

diaper cream

baby powder

baby food

baby cereal

DRINKS

soda

koolaid

lemonade

tea

coffee

hot chocolate

juice

bottled water

MISC.

sunscreen

bug spray

batteries

light bulbs

stamps

My next part of the plan is to write out, by section, these items on notecards, laminate the cards, and place a few rings in them to keep them together. Then I'll use a dry erase marker to mark what we need and erase it with my finger as I shop. Because that sounds a whole lot easier than making a separate list and trying to cross things off as I buy them...which is what I've been doing for years.

I'll keep you posted on how things go and put up pictures when I finish my "flipbook".

Do you use a MGL? If so, do you have a detailed list or a basic list? Do you take the list with you to the store or do you keep it at home and write out a new list based on the MGL each time you shop? I'd love to know what you've found to be the most efficient way of grocery shopping!

Money Monday . . . The Grocery Budget

There are some monthly bills that we cannot change such as our mortgage (short of refinancing anyway). But there are some monthly expenses the we do have control over and one of them is our grocery budget. Heidi has talked a lot about couponing and other things associated with a grocery budget. If you have ever read Crystal's blog over at Money Saving Mom you probably know that her family lives on a $40.00 a week grocery budget (although she just recently updated it to $60.00 a month due to her pregnancy). She does a lot of couponing and shopping at Aldi as well.

My cousin just turned me onto this person's blog called The One Dollar Project. Apparently they challenged themselves to see if they could live on $1.00 a day for their grocery budget. They freely admit that they do not get a lot of fruits and vegetables with this budget, but it is a pretty interesting concept.

Now, do I think that you should live on Tang and bean burritos and only spend $30.00 a month on groceries - NO WAY! I am actually more for eating more whole foods and unprocessed foods myself which can cost more, but if you plan ahead they don't have to cost a lot more.

CHALLENGE:

Look at your grocery budget and see what you can do differently. Or start a grocery budget. If you need to start a little high and pull out a certain amount of cash for the week and spend only that much for the week. Coupon if you want, or go to Aldi. I for one am planning ahead for next year. I am thinking about my garden and what items I can buy from the farmer's market and can. My green beans that I canned this summer are still lasting us! I am excited about that. Anyway, I am going to join the challenge starting in January. We can put it off until since next week is Christmas.

I am going to see if I can spend $60.00 a week on groceries (which is about what I spend anyway give or take $10 or $20, ha), but I am going to try to buy whole foods - no processed foods. I don't think organic milk will fit into that budget but I will see what I can do.

What about you? What does your grocery budget look like? What things do you do to slash that grocery bill?

KMart Doubles Coupons

You may have already seen this, but in case you haven't please check out this link for more information regarding this week's doubling of coupons at K-mart. Below is a shorter list of items on sale with corresponding coupons. You can find the full list at The Deal Lady.

The Best of the Sale Items Week October 26 - November 1:

Colgate Total $2.50
FREE after $1.50/1 (October All You Magazine)

Gillette Shampoo $3.50
FREE after $2/1 (9/28 P&G)

Crest Premium Toothpastes $2.50
.50/1 after ($1/1) 9/28 PG

Mitchum Deodorant $2.00
.50/1 after .75/1 (8/24 S OR 10/26 S)

Best of the Sale Items Monthly Book October 14 - November 10:

Altoids Mints $1.69
FREE after $1/1 (coupon found on package)

Dove Shampoo or Conditioner $3.79
FREE after $2/1 (8/17 RP)

Ice Breakers Gum .99
FREE after $1/2 (9/7 S2)

Life Savers $1.25
FREE after $1/1 (10/19 S)

Oust Surface Disinfectant and Air Sanitizer $2.50
FREE $1.50/1 (10/26 S)

Hershey Extra Dark Chocolate or Cacao Bags $2.50
.50 after $1/1 (9/28 S)

Renuzit Pearl Scents $2.50
.50/1 after $1/1 (9/7 S2)


Viva Big Roll 2 pack $4.00
$2/1 after $1/1 (Tearpad in store)

Deals on Regular Priced Items:

Hershey Extra Dark Bars $1.99
FREE after $1/1 (9/28 S)

Johnson & Johnson First Aid Shelf Prices Vary
FREE for items under $2 after $1/1 (8/10 S1)

Pert Shampoo $2.99
FREE after $2/1 (10/19 S)


Vaseline Lotion for Men $2.99
FREE after $1.50/1 (9/7 RP)

Vaseline Lotion $3.29
.29/1 after $1.50/1 (9/7 RP)

Hunts Tomato Paste $1.00
.33/1 after $1/3 (Publix Yellow Advantage Buys)

Tylenol Rapid Release $4.49
.49/1 after $2/2 (9/14 RP)

Ziploc Bags $2.19
$1.09/1 after .55/1 (9/14 S) OR
$1.19/1 after $1/2 (8/24 S OR 10/12 S)

American Greetings Cards Prices Vary
$1/2 excludes .99 cards (Tearpad found in store)

Money Monday - A Grocery Strike

I occasionally go on strike from grocery shopping. Well, okay...it's not exactly a strike per say. But I sometimes skip a week just to use up what we have in the house already. I may stop at the store and grab some milk, but other than that, we just make do with what is in our pantry and freezer and eat any leftovers that may be in the fridge.

This week is looking to be one of those weeks. I typically grocery shop on the weekend when my husband is home, because - well, let's face it - taking 2 toddlers and an infant on a trip to the grocery store is 1) not very enjoyable, 2) filled with whining, and 3) completely impractical - where do you put the groceries if your cart is full of children? I did not make it this weekend and I'm starting to think that's okay. I stocked up on milk last week at CVS, so we're good there. We have lots of chicken and beef from when it was on sale the past few weeks. And we have plenty of frozen veggies, rice, and potatoes. What more could we need?

Have you ever gone on a "grocery strike"? I encourage you to try it! Not only will it save you some money. It will also help you find and prepare some foods that may otherwise go bad if not eaten soon? We have enjoyed (well, eaten) some meals that were made up of some, shall we say, rather unusual combinations during some of these "grocery strikes" at our house (i.e. oatmeal w/ green beans). Nevertheless, we lived to tell about it and our grocery budget benefited from it too!

Tonight we had grilled Italian chicken, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies (various veggie leftovers).
Tuesday's dinner will be spaghetti w/ meat sauce and garlic toast.
On Wednesday, we will have meatloaf (from the freezer), potatoes, veggies, and homemade biscuits.
Thursday night is breakfast night! Bacon and cheese omelets w/ toast! (I noticed we have a lot of eggs). Yummo!
Friday's dinner is yet to be decided, but as you can see, we will probably not go hungry. I'm thinking chicken sandwiches right now.
Saturday we have a cookout at a friend's home, so no cooking required.

See how easy that was? Now you try it! :)

Money Mondays - Groceries For The Week (March 16th-22nd)

This week's grocery list was a little different for us because we will be going out of town to visit my parents for Easter, so I only had to plan a few meals and then get some snacks for the trip. Kroger is running a GREAT special right now, which is how I stocked up on all the cereal, cereal bars, and fruit snacks!

I took an aerial shot this week because I wanted to do justice to the number of cereal boxes in the back! Lol. So here is what I picked up:

We don't typically buy soda, but we do like to keep it around when we are taking long trips. (It helps keep us awake!) :) The 1/2 gallons of milk were on sale again for $1 each and I found several loaves of bread on manager's special for 50 cents/loaf. I also grabbed a bag of sugar snap peas (on manager's special) for $1.49.

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Other things you see pictured: 2 bags croutons, 2 toothbrushes, american and mozz cheese, 2 cts of canola oil, applesauce, margerin, cream of chicken soup, chicken base (MUCH cheaper than bouillon!), 2 boxes of pasta, 3 boxes of granola bars, 4 boxes of cereal, and 2 boxes of fruit snacks.

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Total before coupons and specials: approx $66

Total after coupons and specials: $39

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I haven't figured out yet what I'm going to send with my hubby for breakfasts this week, but there's a good chance it might be cereal. :) We also have a few pop tarts in the pantry and some frozen pancakes and waffles that he could take. Today he took leftovers for lunch and will probably take a sandwich or leftovers tomorrow and Wednesday.

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Meals for this week:

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Breakfast

Monday - cold cereal, peaches

Tuesday - oatmeal w/ raisens

Wednesday - pancakes w/ peaches

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Lunch

Monday - ravioli

Tuesday - hot dogs, rice, apple

Wednesday - peanut butter sandwiches, peas

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Dinner

Monday - stir fry (rice w/ sugar snap peas and carrots)

Tuesday- homemade pizza

Wednesday - rice tacos (This is an experiment - if you see it on a menu plan in the future, it was a hit....or at least tolerable). :)

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Obviously, we're leaving on Thursday. We are not planning on coming back until Tuesday, so I have not thought through our grocery shopping or meals for next week yet. Of course, the sales circulars aren't out yet anyway, so how could I plan?

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If you have not yet voted in the grocery poll on the top left side of the screen, you only have a few hours left! Please cast your vote and then come back here and leave me a comment telling me how many people you feed on your grocery budget. So far, the votes appear to be very even. It will be interesting to see how the poll ends.

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I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Did you find any great deals worth mentioning?

Money Monday - Groceries For The Week (March 9th-15th)

I've decided to continue posting our groceries for the week for a few reasons.

1. It keeps me accountable to only spend $50 each week.
2. You can *hopefully* reap ideas for frugal meals for your family.
3. It drives my husband crazy that I take pictures of our groceries each week.

Lol. Ok, so that last reason isn't actually legit, but I do think he's starting to think I'm a little crazy. At any rate, I know he is happy that I'm being responsible with the money for which he works so hard. :)

Ok, so this week was a lot of staple foods. I found myself out of almost everything - flour, salt, baking soda, etc. All of those things that you don't think to buy because they last a long time. (Well, flour doesn't exactly last a long time in our home, but I do buy it in bulk so I don't have to get it every week). Anyway, I did my shopping at Walmart and Kroger this week. I actually spent $51 this week, but since I only spent $48 last week, it worked out. Here is what I got:

Walmart $17 (after coupons):

Kroger $34 (after coupons):

At Walmart, I actually made $1 by buying those 4 hair putties (thank you, coupons and clearance isle)! And...it's hard to tell, but there are actually 6 boxes of that cereal in that second picture (which I paid absolutely nothing for!) and 3 bags of flour (1 whole wheat, 2 white). I am learning to always check the organic section at Kroger as I walk past it. I don't typically buy organic (mostly because of the price) but I have found that there is almost always something on manager's special (i.e. half price) that we would buy anyway and the price is then equivalent. It makes me feel a little bit better about the food choices I am making for my family.

As far as meals go this week, here is what we will be having:

Breakfast
Monday - cold cereal, pears
Tuesday -oatmeal w/ raisens
Wednesday - eggs and toast, pears
Thursday - pancakes, peaches
Friday - cold cereal, apples

Lunch (kids)
Monday - fish sticks, peas, apples
Tuesday - PB&J, cheese cubes, pretzel sticks
Wednesday - ravioli
Thursday - pasta, cheese slices, corn
Friday - hot dogs, peas, pretzel sticks

Dinner
Monday - spaghetti w/ meat sauce, garlic bread
Tuesday - chicken rice bake
Wednesday - baked potatoes w/ broccoli and cheese
Thursday - dog food.....JUST KIDDING! chicken parmesan over spaghetti
Friday - homemade pizza

Since my hubby eats breakfast and lunch at work, I made all of his lunches this evening so he has choices each day. (I will be blogging more about that tomorrow). This week for breakfast, I sent him with a box of cold cereal and a half gallon of milk. For lunch, he can mix and match the following:

salads
deli meat sandwiches
baked potatoes w/ sour cream
apples
yogurt
pretzel sticks

I admit that I don't always plan all of his lunches at the beginning of each week, but I do try to make a few at a time. It saves me time and energy and also saves him from asking the inevitable question that follows not having a lunch: "Is it ok if I run to McDonald's today?"

So there is our week at a glance. Don't forget to vote (if you haven't already voted) in the grocery poll on the top left side of the screen. It's been very interesting to see how much money my readers spend on groceries for their families. And as I mentioned last week, feel free to leave a comment after voting to let me know how many people you are feeding on that budget! :)

Money Monday - Groceries For The Week (March 2nd-8th)

I'm starting to notice a trend. Every Monday, I post SEVERAL blogs. Pretty much every other day of the week I post ONE blog. I'm beginning to wonder if it would have been more profitable for me to have a blog solely devoted to "Money Mondays". But I will trek on with my journey to provide with "your daily dose" of various things....at least for now.

Many of you have asked me how we manage to survive on our $200/month grocery and toiletry budget, so I thought I would show you what I bought for the week.

Now, I have to add a disclaimer: There are MANY people who have a similar or even lower grocery budget than we do and they eat very healthy foods. We do not tend to be so health-conscious in our food choices. So if you're reading this and thinking "Oh, sure - you can get that kind of food on your budget, but what about what I eat?", rest assured that you can eat healthy foods for the same amount of money. You just have to be a bit more creative.

This week I shopped at Aldi and Kroger. Here is what I got:

Aldi $36

Kroger $12

This is not a normal week in our home. My husband has training in the evening this week so I am having to send him lunch and dinner. (Typically, I send him breakfast and lunch). So I do not plan on doing many "normal" meals since he will not be home to eat with the family. However, with this food, I could do 5-7 normal meals.

This week, Daniel is taking to work:

Monday - Yogurt, Chicken Sandwich on Panera Bread (FREE, courtesy of our church's connection with Panera), Homemade Cookies, Pot Pie

Tuesday - Yogurt, Salad, Tuna Salad Sandwich on Panera Bread, "From-A-Box" Cheesecake ($1.29 at Aldi, portioned by yours truly into 8 indivudual servings = 16 cents each)

Wednesday - Yogurt, Pot Pie, Salad, Pretzel Sticks, Cheesecake

Thursday - Yogurt, Baked Chicken Sandwich, Salad, Peanuts

Friday - Yogurt, Pot Pie, Salad (no dinner on Friday)

The kids are eating:

Monday - Breakfast: Pop Tarts, Peanuts Lunch: Hot Dogs, Carrot/Celery Sticks (cut into kid-sized sticks by me), Pretzel Sticks

Tuesday - Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ Yogurt Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Blueberries, Cheese Cubes (again....cut by me)

Wednesday - Breakfast: Cold Cereal, Raisens Lunch: Ravioli

Thursday - Breakfast: Toast, Eggs, Pineapple Chunks Lunch: Fish Sticks, Green Beans

Friday - Breakfast: Oatmeal w/ Applesauce and Raisens Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwiches, Blueberries, Green Beans

I will eat leftovers for lunch or make myself a chicken sandwich and have some fruit. I haven't decided on dinner yet, but we have all the ingredients for the following options:

Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce, Chili, Hamburgers, Pancakes, Waffles (yes, we eat breakfast for dinner), Meatloaf, Chicken and Rice Bake, Fried Rice

So there you have it. $48 covers our family for (more than) one week!

I am starting a new poll (on the left of the screen). Tell me how much you spend per month on groceries for your family! Also, feel free to leave a comment here telling how many people are in your family.