A few shopping tools I like to use for my small family.
1. I love pre-grated cheese! It can be more cost effective if you buy a big bag of grated cheese on sale. (Walmart had a huge bag for around $6 bucks.) It not only can save a little money, it also saves time and more time! I use grated cheese on a lot of the meals I make. Not having to grate all that cheese is completely worth it! And a big bag lasts me more than a few weeks. Love that!

2. Waste not. I hate having to buy a big stalk of celery when I only need a few pieces. Or when I only need 4 hot dog buns, and have to buy them packaged more. I found a great way to only buy what I need so there is less money going down the drain from wasted food. Find a Grocery store with a bakery. You can buy the exact amount of any kind of bakery item you need for your meals. And in the produce section, there are area's where you can buy just 2 carrots. Or only 4 stalks of celery. I love not wasting food.

3. Buying in bulk can be a money saver. If you have access to a big freezer, buy in bulk. Things like cheese, onions, green peppers and many kinds of fruit can be cut, put in freezer Zip Lock Bags and frozen. This is a good way to always have things like onion, on hand. Milk freezes too! If you put it in 1/2 gal. jugs, they fit better in the freezer. I love buying Costco's delicious strawberries in the summer. But we can only eat 1/3 of it before it goes bad. I like to get 2 or 3 freezer bags and use one for sliced strawberries, and the other for whole strawberries. Than we get to enjoy good strawberries all year long.

4. Plan ahead. My Mom taught me to plan meals before going shopping. It is a good way to have a plan, a list in hand, and less things you don't need in your cart. But sometimes it can be hard to come up with things to plan. What I did is, write down everything recipe and thing we have eaten in the past on a piece of paper, (or type it up on the computer, if you are smart like that:). I like to have a quiet place to think when I plan meals. Than I pick out things to eat from my list. For example, Meat loaf, mashed potatoes and cooked carrots for one night. Macaroni Salad and hot dogs for the next, and so on. My Mom likes to assign each meal a day. But I like to be more flexible. Some days things are crazy! I have homework due, Dr. appt's, and who know's what else and I just don't want to make anything big. So I pick from my list something easier. After I have my 1 or 2 weeks worth of meals, I like to write down each thing I need for each meal, down to the salt and pepper. There is nothing worse that forgetting something you need and having to run to the store. Than I begin to make my shopping list. After a review my ingredients list, I figure out what I need (these go on the shopping list) and what I have. Than I am ready to go to the store!

I only plan dinners. When my family is bigger and older I will plan out what I will make for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But as of now this is what works for us. I always keep things I know Colby, McKay and I like to eat for breakfast and lunch on hand. Than I eat and fix whatever sounds good that day.

You have to try different things, and be flexible. Experiment and find what works for you!