Tips Tuesday - Grocery Store Tips

I wish I could say that I have a grand plan for grocery shopping that would make everyone's life so much easier! I don't, but what I (and when I say "I", I mean "we") do works for us - most of the time.

I am a mom to 4 kids, so dinner is probably the biggest and most expensive part of our grocery budget each week. My husband and I start by looking through the different store ads in town. From there, we see what's on sale and then try to plan our meals around what is on sale. I make a list from the meal plans, then add the typical staples that our family wants, needs, etc, and then go from there. I also bring my lunch to school everyday, so I make sure to add my typical lunch food to the grocery list.

I wish that we had a grocery store that doubles coupons, but there aren't any here, but we will use a coupon if there is one for something we need or want. My husband used to be really bad about buying things we didn't need just because he had a coupon for it, and my pantry started looking ridiculous! Thankfully, he doesn't do that anymore!

I'll be honest with you, I really don't like grocery shopping. Because we have 4 kids, I will often send my husband to the store and I will stay at home with the kids. It usually costs us too much extra money to go with all 4 kids, and it helps us stay within our budget to "divide and conquer!"
So those are my "tips." I'm hoping to provide some insight to how a somewhat larger family makes things work, as well as learning some great tips from others!