I recently did a post on a no shop challenge which was about not doing any grocery shopping or any other shopping for my family for 30 days other than necessities (fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and eggs). Recap: I had a bad habit on stocking up my pantry from great bargains until it was busting out of the seams. Too often these great deals would get shoved to the back of the pantry and long forgotten of which would result in them expiring and then I have to toss them out! I decided I was done with that – no more wasting money!!!!!
There were plenty of times where I did have to purchase several fresh fruits and vegetables as well as egg. So how did my family do? Drum roll…………………. Our family saved $700.00 during this no shop challenge! What exactly did we do?
One we did not eat out. This includes take out, fast food or eating at a restaurant. I know it is nice to eat out at times taking a break from cooking and clean up. Eating out can be costly even if it’s just driving through the drive thru. A nice solution to that is to pack a picnic and eat at a park for a nice change of scenery.
Two we purchase certain food items at particular places:.
~ The kids snacks and cereals I purchase at Big Lots. They have a huge clearance shelf that I take advantage of. Sign up for the Buzz Club Rewards and get high value coupons sent to you via e-mail.
~ We purchase our meat in bulk at Restaurant Dept or Penn Dutch. Most of our other shopping is done at Costco which happens to be my favorite store but word of caution their meat is expensive! The best place to purchase chicken is Zaycon Fresh – the chicken is the best deal at only $1.69 lb. The amazing thing is the it’s 100 % natural chicken with no added hormones, additives or artificial ingredients!
~ I scour my weekly sale flyer for Publix for any buy one get one deals and match them with coupons.
More homemade! I got to experience making homemade bread which is so much better than eating store bought bread with preservatives and ingredients you cannot pronounce. Even though I do purchase the kids snacks at Big Lots I have been making them more homemade goodies which is not just super easy to make but they have less ingredients in them plus I know what is going in my kids bodies.
Lastly we used what we had! It mean’t coming up clever ways to use what we had. Thankfully my family was fine with these creative recipes. Now that our family did this challenge our goal is to make it a lifestyle change. There is nothing wrong with stocking up on deals but don’t forget about them! It is not a good deal if you wind up throwing it away!
I know all of this takes time and creativity but after all it’s hard earned money, why throw it out the window? Looking to save even more, be sure to see the article I wrote on how to stretch you grocery bill. Follow Mama to 5 Blessings on Facebook where I share other ways to save, free promotions and deals!
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