Fun Cheap or Free // Grocery Shopping

I recently learned about a gal named Jordyn Page who calls the fun, cheap or free queen.  I don't really remember how I learned about her, but I was instantly hooked!  She's bubbly, fun, normal and relatable.  She also isn't afraid to show the crazy insane side of rising a family.  She's a breath of fresh air in the Instagram, blogging and YouTube world.

After watching several of her videos and read her blog posts I decided to buy her Budget Bootcamp.  It was great and I've gone back to watch the videos again and again.  She offers a wealth of information!  One of her principals that I've applied and loved so so much is her approach to grocery shopping.

I've always been a grocery list maker and generally am a good menu maker, but in the last few months I found myself in a cooking slump.  Instead of making a solid weekly menu, I would get a few ideas together in my head and fly by the seat of my pants.  There were weeks where I ended up at the grocery store 4-5 times!  Which obviously came with a hefty price tag.

Jordyn's approach is to spend $100 per person per month, so $600 for my family.  She also says to make a solid menu for the week and most importantly shop once a week and do not return at all!

I started trying this at the end of February and fell in love with the idea!  I think I've shaved at least $300 off of my monthly grocery bill!  I love that this pushes me to make a menu, I no longer buy a $50 gallon of milk (walk into the store and try to leave with just a gallon of milk; it rarely happens!), and it gets my kids involved in the shopping (they do the calculating).

I've also adapted a menu making system that works just great for us.  I print a blank weekly calendar, fill it in day by day, shop accordingly and then I save every single menu- which gives me ideas for upcoming weeks.

For March, I stuck to a $600 dollar grocery budget but for April I upped it to $175.  That $25 makes a huge difference!  I'm not trying to crawl out of mounds of debt and I can afford it so I feel justified.

This morning Lucy and I made our weekly trip to the store and spent $174.  We were able to pick up some king size candy bars I owed the girls, a present for Lacey and some other items I wouldn't typically buy but that will make our week a little more fun.  I also stocked up on a few things like butter, canned tomatoes, lunch snacks for the girls, etc.

So far, I'm smitten with this way of shopping and don't see myself going back to shopping the way I did before.  This is a huge time, money and overall life saver!