One of the things I told myself to do is to make a food list and use it when I go food shopping. It works when I do it but when I don’t, there’s nothing but chaos. You see we shop as a family and I know this sounds like the beginning of a disaster with kids tagging along but this is one of the things we enjoy doing together. Plus the kids get out of the house which they like to do!
When you do shop with a food list you tend to stick to the food on the list and it makes it a lot easier for your budget too because you do not rack up a big bill by buying things you don’t need.
Then you have the kids putting stuff in the cart, and there’s the stuff that is at the front of the market at the cashier’s counter. Why do they do that? I know why, to get the kids to make last minute grabs and put in the basket, that’s what! Sometimes I give in and other times I’m adamant about it. It depends on my mood and whether I can afford the additional expense too because our bill can sometimes be high.
At any rate, this has been one of the things I’ve tried to stick to and I find that it works. Doing this also helps me to remember to use my coupons. I don’t care what anyone says, shopping with coupons is one of the best things you can do and I’m not ashamed to do it! I’ve even overheard someone say that they which they had remembered to do that (talking about me with my coupons!) while thumbing through some in the supermarket aisle. So, almost everybody do it.
So now I sit and make my list and I look through the coupons beforehand so that I know what I will save on when I go to shop.
Is it always perfect? No it isn’t. There’s no writing in stone where this is concerned, plus like I said, the kids are along. But I find when I tell them ahead of time what we’re getting and whether or not they’re allowed one item, this works!