Frugal shopping

I used to not be necessarily "frugal" in my shopping habits.  More specifically grocery shopping.  My thought process was, if I need a certain item, why should I care how much it costs?  

Yes, I'm an idiot. 

Finally, I wised up and decided to actually start paying attention to grocery prices since we are trying to cut back and budget ourselves better these days, and really who isn't?  

I was shocked at how different stores price their items and the difference in prices between so called generic items and name brand.  I usually purchase the generic equivalent anyway.

Also I have started trying to only go to the grocery store once a week or once every two weeks for the primary grocery shopping including meal planning and such.  Of course we run out of milk or wine some other staple and have to make a trip during the week.  That's okay.  

So this week was a bit of a challenge getting started.  By the end of the week the cupboards were really bare and I found Luke one day eating stale marshmallows for a snack.  He didn't seem to care.  I am trying to deplete our inventory before having to purchase more.  It makes sense to me.  And there have been a few creative meals this week due to this new thought process.

It's a lesson we are all slowly learning and in the end it makes me feel good about the decisions and choices I am making for our family.  We are using our money wisely.

Yesterday was grocery shopping day and when I got out of Aldi, I literally measured my receipt because I had never seen one so long in all my shopping days.  It was 22 inches - that's almost two feet long and included nearly 100 items.  All for under $200!  

Now Luke can eat some fresh marshmallows and mommy can buy that extra bottle of wine.