First of the Month Tips

If you are a reader at Feeding the Family for Less, I’m sure you want to provide your family the best possible food all the while saving time and money.  Saving time and money requires a little effort on your part.  Following are some tips that you should look into now.

1.  Get the coupons under control.  By this time in the month, I usually have gone through my coupon binder and removed all coupons that expired in the last month.  While I’m doing it, if there are any expiring in the next week and I know I won’t use them, I pull and toss those as well!

2.  Take a minute and consider your family’s grocery needs for the month.  A great way to start is to take an inventory of everything you have on hand.  There is a simple Pantry Inventory Form here.  If you have never used one before this is a good time to start.  If you do not know how much ground beef your family uses in a month’s time, then you won’t know how much to buy when it’s at it’s lowest price!

3. If you have a good idea of the food you have on hand, then start looking at this week’s grocery store ads.  Your coupons are up to date, you know what you already have, now you can plan a menu that incorporates this week’s sales.  With the money you save, you can take advantage of some of the low, low prices on meats and produce to stock up for future use.  Don’t make the mistake that many of us have made when starting out in couponing.  Do not go rushing into the store to grab the good deals and come home wondering what in the world you’re going to cook for supper.  Canned soup for $.10 per can is a very good deal, but not if you spent your entire grocery budget on it!

Plan now.  Put in 15 minutes as you can.  Before you know it, you’ll have a system that is manageable and works for your family!