A Money Saving Idea

So along with all my other bright ideas, I have decided that I want to start finding new ways (for our family) to save some money.  I've done the coupon thing, and at one point I was managing to save about $25.00-$50.00 per week but it just didn't seem to be enough to keep my interest.  I was clipping religiously from multiple papers and even had friends save their inserts for me.  I just couldn't seem to break that magical barrier that those television shows spoke about and save 80-90% or more on my grocery bill.

Part of the problem is that my family likes to consume.  If I purchase two cases of their favorite soda, then by the end of the week it is gone and they move on to whatever else is available.  If I buy buffalo chicken strips for quick snacks then they eat the entire bag in one day.  No amount of stuff seems to be "enough" and it gets expensive to try to keep everyone satisfied.  In the past I have given in to eating mostly fast food but it too is expensive for a family of four, not to mention unhealthy.  So, I have decided to make them go cold turkey on all of the stuff and live a little more sanely.  

I have decided that I will (try to) prepare a weeks worth of meals in advance, freeze them and then just pop them in the crock pot in the morning before I leave for work. OK, I know that this is probably not going to be the end all answer to my savings dilemma but perhaps it will make enough of a difference so that I can start saving more than the chump change that I have managed to salvage before.      

I seem to remember meals as a child when my mother would chop, fry, boil and otherwise prepare hearty meals from scratch.  These were things that I took for granted until the birth of my own children and suddenly I realized the effort it took to prepare a complete meal after working all day.  Now that my kids are older, I want them to look back fondly on the time spent around the table but if the truth is told, I don't want to spend all of that time in the kitchen.  So what's a mother to do?

Recently I came across a blog by Cris Goode that described planning a weeks worth of meals and then preparing all of them and putting their contents into baggies or plastic storage containers to freeze.  Now, how is this supposed to save me money?  First, I am less tempted to eat out when I don't want to cook.  Second, I have to make a meal plan that will use the fresh vegetables that I have on hand.  Third, if the ready to cook meals are frozen, I will not have the waste of meat going bad before I get to cook it.  Now, add the coupon clipping idea to the frozen meal planning and I will be making a real dent in my outrageous food bill.

Who knows, if I manage to save enough on the grocery bill I might move on to other areas of my life like all of those nasty chemicals that I use to keep my house clean.  Hmmm.  Do I detect another project in the wings? Possibly.  

http://goodenessgracious.com