Ways to Save- Part 3

Earlier this week, I started telling you about some ways that we are trying to cut down our grocery bill this month. The verdict's still out on how effective this all was, but my current predictions are that we saved about 15 - 20% of our last month's bill. Pretty good if you ask me.

Today, I'll wrap up the series. If you missed part 1 or part 2, be sure to check those out, too.

5. Go to the store once a week, and then be a food nazi.
In the last installment, I told you that I've been planning meals and snacks a week at a time. From there, I make my shopping list and I go to the store on Monday. (This is my errand day, which is a gas-saving tactic, but that's a different post, right?)

If we stick to the plan, things are fine. If Billy drinks a glass of milk that I didn't strategically plan (gasp!), things don't go so fine. (trust me... I wasn't pretty) But I am not going back to the store. So, come Saturday, we may be having one egg each and dry toast for breakfast. But it's all good, cause on Monday, we all appreciate a real meal a little bit more.

Obviously, I have to work a bit to perfect it, but my theory is that if I'm in the habit of not returning to the store, then we'll save money on those nickel/dime trips that can quickly add up.

6. Check out the food pyramid and change our portions.
Eve and I learned about the food pyramid for science and if you look at what an actual serving size is, you'll realize that you're probably eating way too much. So, one of the things that I am definitely still learning to do is eat less. I'm not one to indulge and stuff myself anyway, but if my government says I only need 5.5 oz of meat a day, then who am I to argue?

Okay... that was just a little bit sarcastic, but really. Most of us could stand to eat smaller portions. This was hard at first, but I have a couple of suggestions that I've used to help the transition happen more smoothly.

First of all, we are, in fact, making it a transition. I have intentionally cut back on portions but not to the extent that we're done in two bites and a gulp. We're eating smaller portions now, but we still have a little ways to go before we're down to the recommendations.

Next, we drink more water. You hear this all the time, but I think a lot of people forget about it. I know I do. But between spacing out our meals and cutting back on portions, we've come to rely on the truth that we're often thirsty. We tend to drink water at each meal, and also have a few glasses in other parts of the day. I haven't measured to see if we're at the 64 oz. recommendation, but I'm sure we're close.