Flexibility
One of the frugal tips that I see often, but don't hold to much myself is the second half of this two part advice:
Always make a list to go shopping, and stick to your list.
A shopping list is good. Rigidly sticking to that list is a hobgoblin of improvidence.
It all depends, you see. Are you deterring from your list because of impulse spending, a desire for instant gratification, or succumbing to sales tactics?
Or are you deterring from the list because you found something better?
Case in point: yesterday I went through my sales papers and made a list of the best buys on groceries. Then I made my menu and shopping list accordingly.
I found the following meats were the best buys:
Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, 1.99 #
Boneless Chuck Roast, 2.39#
Pork burgers 1.99 pound
But when I got to my first grocery store, I found ground pork marked down to .99 a pound and ground beef at 1.49 a pound. I scratched the other three things off my list and revised my menu on the spot.
I also found 5 ounce cans of tun for .50 a can. Tuna in my area has been .59 a can- .55 has been the best I could do on sale. So I bought ten cans of tuna at .50 a can (and later wished I'd gotten more).
I found more peppers on my pepper plants that needed to be used quickly, and green beans were marked down, so I'll make a primary pasta salad instead of the basil pesto pasta salad I had planned.
Instead of a planned stew, we'll have tuna casserole. Instead of roasted vegetables with pork burgers we'll have meatballs.
What this requires is enough experience cooking with a wide variety of foods that I can change gears at the last minute, and a willingness to see the shopping list as a guideline rather than firm and hard plan which I am locked into and cannot deviate from.
My rule?
Always make a list before you go shopping, but be flexible enough to make substitutions and additions when you find good deals- and you should be looking for good deals.
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4 Responses to “Flexibility”
August 13th, 2010 at 7:50 am
I used to get so frustrated when that would happen to me at the grocery store because my memory is shot and I never could remember why I was buying what I was buying from just looking at my grocery list, I needed my menu plan too. DUH! (Slapped forehead 20 years ago!) So I started bringing the menu plan to the grocery store too. It’s the page behind the grocery list in my notebook. Now I can switch gears on the fly!
August 13th, 2010 at 11:26 am
I just attended a class by an “expert” in meal planning/grocery shopping/budgeting/etc and one of her rigid rules was to always stink to the list, and once you were in the store, you couldn’t get anything you forgot to write on it, even if you remembered the instant you walked into the store. I asked what she’d do if she came across a markdown that was such a great deal she shouldn’t pass it up. She floundered a bit and then gave an answer “you have a little flexibility with your food storage budget so if it were a storage item you could buy it” but I wasn’t really satisfied with her plan. I think your “change on the fly” system is so much more frugal and better in every way.
August 13th, 2010 at 11:35 am
I actually have a card in the back of my coupon box that lists meals by meat with a note about any special ingredients, so if I come across a deal I can take advantage of it.
I do make a list but I also deviate. If I get to the store and see cabbage is a quarter a pound, or recently I arrived at the butcher just before closing and he offered me ground beef at half price, provided I took everything left in the case – these deals help me stay in budget, too.
I write my menu plan on my grocery list, too!
August 18th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
I find myself checking the meat markdown section early in my shopping trip, and then deciding the menu. But since it’s only Hubby & me at home now, there is no problem in completely rearranging whatever I had in mind for the week’s meals and making immediate changes.
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