I absolutely hate grocery shopping!

I guess I shouldn't say I hate it, I should say it absolutely stresses my husband out more than anything in the world so he's mean and it's miserable.

Seriously, that's how it goes when the Rotundo clan heads to the grocery store. Michael and I both know it's about to be miserable, so we just expect the worse.

I don't know why it stresses him out so bad? Michael isn't really a planner, so the fact that I'm the Grocery Nazi and have a plan and a list and a calculator and coupons galore kind of stresses him out, I think. I don't know.

Anyways - Grocery shopping is a serious process for us.

Step 1: Meal Plan

This can be overwhelming for somebody who has never made a meal plan before, so if your a first timer, start small. I began meal planning by just simply developing themed nights. This is how it first looked:

Monday - Crockpot Night
Tuesday - Chicken Night
Wednesday - Pasta Night
Thursday - Breakfast for Dinner Night
Friday - Homemade Pizza Night
Saturday - Grill Night
Sunday - Leftovers

Themed nights helped me get an idea of what I was cooking for the month. I knew I needed a few pasta dishes, some things I could throw in the crockpot, things to make pizza, etc. I have stuck true to my themed nights, even though I have advanced from beginner to total professional in the meal planning department.

Once you are comfortable with meal planning, start by making a specific plan for the whole month. Michael and I plan out every meal, but this is what our calendar looks like for the month of August.

We have made a detailed plan for lunch and dinner, and I pre-make breakfast and freeze it so Michael can eat it when he wakes up at the crack of dawn to head to PT. I also pre-make snacks. Goldfish, fruit-roll up's, pizza rolls, etc.

Step 2: Shop in your own kitchen!

Once I know what I'm making for the month, I start inventorying my own kitchen. Why buy marinara sauce if I already have a jar? The goal is to save money, so by inventorying my kitchen, I know what I don't NEED to buy. Once I know what I have, I'm ready to look through my recipes and start constructing my grocery list. I use these templates to create my inventory:

You can download these in my etsy shop here!

Step 3: Make your list!

Michael and I don't do the whole only-going-to-the-commissary-one-time thing. It's too craycray for us. We go once every 2 weeks. This cuts down on time, after all, Mikey isn't all too excited to go to the grocery store and Michael is about to explode by the time we leave so the quicker the better! I reference my meal plan, and recipes for the first two weeks of the month, as well as my kitchen inventory and make a grocery list accordingly. I know this all sounds like a long and drawn-out process, but once you get the hang of it, it takes no time at all! Knowing what I have and what I need is really helpful.
TIP: Never, ever, ever, ever go to the grocery store without a list! You will forget something you need, or you will buy things you don't need. Take the time now to make your list instead of wasting your time later making trip after trip to the store because you forgot something!

Step 4: Shop!

Don't forget your coupons! After you know what you're eating and you've made your list, it's time to collect your items. For us, it's easier to go together, but some people prefer to shop alone. I'm sure as Mikey gets older, I will want him to stay home so he isn't begging for oreo's or fruit roll-up's or something. (Michael totally still begs for those things!)

We are able to stick with our budget easily using this method. Seriously, this has saved us so much money! Meal planning has cut down on our fast food spending by more than 75%. Michael and I used to take the easy way out and head to McDonald's (because it's the only thing here) instead of taking the time to cook dinner. I think we did this because we simply didn't know what to make. I used to roam the aisles of the grocery store clueless as to what I needed to make a "meal". Now we know, and we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at home. We go out once a month, on the 29th. It's our anniversary as well as the date that Mikey was born so we go out as a family to celebrate!


Now that you have the tips and tricks, start planning mi amigos!

Financial Overhaul - budgeting tips and tricks that work for us!

At some point in each day, I find myself thinking about our budget. We've come to learn that budgeting can often times be extremely difficult. In our first year of marriage, I can assure you that we tried every budgeting trick in the book, but we couldn't find anything that worked for us.

We have very different spending habits. Michael is an impulse buyer and I need months to consider even the smallest of purchases. We had a really difficult time finding a budget that worked for both of us, until now.

After searching the internet for tips and ideas, I gathered a list of things I thought would work, tested them, and found what helped us budget, save money, and pay off debt. Here are a few of our ideas ...

BUDGET:

Our budget works a little like this, the last week of each month, we sit down together and write down all of our bills. This is money we know must be spent on things like car payments, insurance, groceries, gas, etc. We look at previous spending on these things and then together we come up with a number that we think is reasonable to budget for these expenses. It's easier to itemize each expense, so you know exactly where your money is going. This is the format we tend to use ...

Click here for a downloadable copy that you can fill out yourself!

We then look at the money we have left over from the months income, and place half of it in savings. With the remaining half of the left over money, together we decide what we would like to do with it. It may be as simple as put it back for a date night that month, or make an extra car payment. We have set up a rule that if we cannot agree collectively on what to do with the extra money, then we will divide it down the middle and I can do whatever I want with my half, and Michael can do the same.

The key here, is coming up with the budget together. This helps to get both people on the same page, and allows you to hold yourselves accountable.

Once we have created our budget, we check back weekly. In our house, Thursday's are the best days to sit down and look it all over, so every Thursday around 4:00pm, Michael and I sit down and look at that weeks spending. We are able to see if we are staying within budget, and shows us how much wiggle room we have for the rest of the month. For example: If we have allotted $300 on groceries for the month, but within our first trip to the commissary we spent $200 of our allotted money, we know that our second trip to the commissary only allows for $100 to be spent. It really helps to sit down WEEKLY!

TIP: During your weekly budget meeting, make sure that there are no interruptions. This helps you and your spouse focus 100% on your finances.

SPENDING:

Once our budget is set, Michael and I head off to the ATM and withdraw our money. You heard me, we withdraw it from the bank. The reason behind this ... you can see the cash leave your hand, making it hurt a little bit more. Swiping your card is easy, too easy. We have found that swiping our card for everything encourages overspending.

Once we withdraw the money, I look at my budget and place the allotted amount into the corresponding envelope. Like this:

I used this template from Paige's Little Blog for my money envelopes.

Click here to download the template

I love these envelopes because it allows me to document my spending in each category, and I can print as many as I want from home! This is a really helpful tool for staying within your budget. Like before, if I have allotted $300 for grocery shopping, I take my envelope with me, and when the $300 runs out, that's it. A post coming soon about how I grocery shop!

SAVING:

Michael and I use coupons quite often. Why the heck not if it helps save money?? Aside from coupon cutting, we also go homemade on everything we possibly can. I make my own homemade cleaners and laundry detergents, as well as my own homemade mixes. Going homemade saves TONS of money!

We also budget in money for savings. We allot a specific amount each month for savings, almost like an expense. This ensures that the money actually makes it to the savings account! We also take any left over money at the end of our budget and deposit half of that into our savings account. Savings is important!!

Another NEW technique we have adopted is creating savings accounts for each member of the family. We have a family checking account as well as a family savings account that Michael and I both have access to. We then have savings accounts for myself, Michael and Mikey. We deposit a certain amount of money each month into Mikey's account, and plan to give that to him when he is older, maybe for the purchase of his first car, or as a graduation gift? We haven't decided yet. The savings accounts for Michael and myself and exactly that, for us as individuals. When we cannot agree on what to do with our leftover money, we can place it in our savings accounts and use it however we wish. Michael likes to buy parts for his car, so this money can go towards that hobby. I am a crafter, so my funds may go to buying a new crafting tool or supplies. It's completely up to us! The money can also sit in the savings account and we can use it for a large purchase, such as a really nice anniversary gift or a super cool birthday present for our baby boy. Having a savings account for each member of the family is something that we love, Love, LOVE! This gives us the freedom to spend money on ourselves without feeling guilty, but also gives us the opportunity to surprise each other without the other one finding out on a bank statement. LOL

These are all things that work for our family. What works for yours?