Sorry about not posting for a while. Our computer monitor died and the charger for the laptop quit working too!
Anyways, here are some ideas that I loved! I got the idea from my very crafty mom.
I LOVE to make lists! I make to-do lists, menus, shopping lists, inventory lists, packing lists, and all sorts of lists! I needed a way to keep them organized. I took composition notebooks and covered them with scrapbook paper and then covered that by clear contact paper. They look cute and they work great!! I have a main book that I carry with me that had sections for calendar, to-do lists, scribbles, and budget. The other books are for specific things like, menus/shopping lists, business endeavors, family home evening (to record ideas for and/or write down things we've done), and my scripture study journal. I went a little nutty with the books but it's fun for me!
Here is a page I took from my "menu/shopping list" book. It helps me so much! I make two columns on the page. On the left side I write 7 ideas for Breakfasts, lunches, and Dinners. Then I assign each meal a day. On the right side I write my shopping list according to those meals. I can either tear out the shopping list and take it with me or take the whole book shopping with me.
To keep within my food budget I try to make meals according to what I have in the house or buy only what I need for that week. I try to estimate a cost per item on the list. If the total comes out more than my budget I rearrange meals or try to cut back that way I know what I'm doing BEFORE I go to the store. It really helps.
love the books!
ReplyDeleteMy grandma used to do menu / grocery lists like this but she did it weekly. On Wed night after the sales ads came in the newspaper so she could base her menu on what was on sale that week. Then she always fed us (my grandpa & me) cereal on Friday (instead of cooking breakfast like she did the rest of the week) and that was her shopping day. She knew what was on sale at what store and made a circle around town an back home. Sometimes I could skip school to go with her and we would also stop a few garage sales that were on our route but never criss cross or back track. She was a very frugal lady. She taught me how to sew and we made my first dress out of the dining room curtains.
Tandra M