It’s coupon day! Coupon day is one of my favorite days of the week. Every Wednesday morning, I patiently wait for the grocery store ads to enter my inbox. As some of you know, I live in the Midwest, so my primary grocery stores include Jewel (The Jewels as some of you may know it), Mariano’s, Aldi, and occasionally Whole Foods. I am very thankful that I have access to fresh food every day basically within walking distance. I’m spoiled. I’m sorry that it’s not the case for everyone.
Wednesday is the day that I plan my meals for the following week. Every Wednesday I meticulously scan the ads and clip the digital coupons on all the store apps for deals. Who doesn’t love finding a good deal? It makes grocery shopping much more enjoyable. If your local grocery store has an app, I highly recommend downloading it. Some grocery store apps will even offer rewards programs where you can accumulate points that can be redeemed for awards such as money off future grocery purchases and gas. It’s worth the sign-up.
Once I’ve seen what’s on sale, I head to Pinterest and Google for recipe ideas. One of my goals for the year was to incorporate some new recipes into my rotation. This makes grocery shopping a little more difficult sometimes because I don’t always know the ingredients I need by heart. I’ve created a grocery checklist that can be purchased on my Etsy page here.
Included in the grocery checklist are digital recipe cards, which have been perfect for writing down all my new recipes that I want to make again, and a weekly meal planner. The weekly meal planner has been the real MVP. Before I started planning out my meals, I had a bad habit of waiting until last minute to figure out dinner plans. This usually turned into me stopping at a fast-food drive-thru on the way home from work. If my mornings were hectic, and most mornings were, I wasn’t prepared to make my lunch, which again would lead me to order lunch in. It’s an expensive way to live. Planning out my meals really helped me to save money and time, and most importantly, it took stress out of my day. Of course, there are always going to be days where unexpected things pop-up (surprise dinner plans, unexpected visitors, emergencies, etc.), but my ritual works wonders for the average week.
This past week there were sales and coupons on ground turkey, chicken thighs, taco shells, apples, oat milk, honey, cucumbers, and bacon. Additionally, I cashed in rewards points for cash off my final bill at one store and got $.20 off the gallon using rewards points at a different store’s gas station. A huge win for my wallet and stomach.
Want to know something that sneakily jacks up your grocery bill? Disposable products. I’m talking about things like brown paper bags, plastic bags, and disposable utensils and straws. You could make an extra trip to the dollar store and pick these items up at a discounted price, or you could invest in some reusable alternatives. If your lunch is primarily eaten at your office desk or lunchroom, this is for you. My eco-friendly staple accessories that won’t break the bank include:
- My water cup from Amazon. I’m like Abigail Breslin’s character in the movie Signs. I always think my water is contaminated. If I can’t see my water, I probably won’t drink it. Same thing goes for my straw. I must physically see that it’s clean after I wash it.
- My lunch bag is also from Amazon, and I bring it everywhere with me. It’s insulated and has a pocket that perfectly holds tea bags for my afternoon pick me up.
- I have reusable storage bags that also help cut down on my weekly grocery bill.
- This Black Friday I plan to buy some cloth napkins for my lunch bag as well.
Hopefully I have given you some ideas for how to keep your grocery bills low and your weekly meal prep stress free. I’d love to hear if any of my tips worked for you or if you have some tips of your own that you’d like to share! Also, this past week’s recipe wasn’t fancy but it sure was delicious. When I was reading the Percy Jackson series, I often associated the Nectar of the Gods with this vinaigrette. Chef Nick Digiovanni released the Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette recipe a few years back on TikTok. I knew I had to make it.
Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette Recipe
- ¼ cup of red wine vinegar
- 2 ½ tablespoons of honey
- 3 tablespoons of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- ½ tablespoons of salt
- 4 tablespoons of water
- ½ cup of a neutral oil (canola or vegetable will work)
- ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon of dried oregano
Directions: Combine red wine vinegar, honey, chipotle peppers, salt, and water and blend for 20 seconds on high speed. Slowly add the oil in while blending until emulsified. Next, add the black pepper and oregano. Now it’s taste test time. Store in an old salad dressing bottle or any airtight container and place in the refrigerator. It should last up to 5 days if you don’t finish it all before then. Let me know if you make it!
**Heads up: The links for the products highlighted in this article are not affiliate links however, should you decide to to purchase my meal planner templates from my Etsy shop I will receive compensation for that.**