Why?....

Someone once asked my why I fed us for fifty dollars a week. ( this was some years ago) .   My husband and I had both been laid off of work and  while we were fortunate to get jobs, we took a cut in pay to get them.    My answer was , " because the mortgage company doesn't have a sense of humor.   ".   LOL.  They really don't care what your situation is, they just want you to live up to your promises.  

Honestly, no matter how much we have earned, I have always economize on food.   It was how I was raised.   We never wanted for food, we always had good quality food, but my mother never wasted food or allowed us to have junk in the house.  Cold cereal was only in the summer time, and not very much of that.  Drink mixes or fresh fruit, or pop just never happened.   We grew up in the fifties when fresh wasn't quite as easy to get as it is now.    

I have read economizing tricks and articles for years -- like over fifty years.   I've tried a lot of things: some worked, some didn't.   I never got soy beans or lentils to come out any better  than rocks.   LOL.   I am still reading a lot.  Only,now, we have the internet that makes things  easier.   

I have been watching  a lot of grocery hauls.   Some mothers that virtually make everything from scratch.   Some mothers that buy everything in a box or bag, and some that are in between.  Some mothers that buy everything organic and spend two hundred dollars a week.   Some that still spend two hundred dollars a week and buy organic milk, but boxed Mac and cheese.   Some that buy everything from the dollar store or .99 store regardless of how big the box or where it came from.

All of them buy their food one week or two weeks at a time.  

What I have developed is a different way of grocery shopping,  it is easier, and a lot more economical.   It's neither all organic, or all junk food.   It's some planned, controlled, scratch cooking And a little ready made when it makes sense.  It developed over a lot of years trying things, twekting things, and sticking to what worked to keep our budget in tact.   

It works.   It takes a few weeks to get up and running.  It takes some time  to get planning and organizing.  Once you get yourself set up, shopping is a piece of cake.  Some weeks I don't have to shop if I don't feel like it-- and it doesn't mean that we are eating out three days a week.  I can cook a variety of meals any day .    I have dinners on the shelf that can make dinner on a hurry.  Tonight we were going to have tacos.    By dinner time, my body wasn't cooperating.    My granddaughter and I made scratch cheese bread and we had chilli.    

No body died!   

Life goes on......