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The Benefits of Buying Only Necessary Groceries Each Week

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Benefits of Buying ONly the Groceries You Need

For the last few years, I have had a higher grocery budget, so I’ve stocked up on food. I do this for two reasons. First, we have food intolerances—specifically, we can’t eat gluten or dairy—so we need specific foods in the house. Second, I find having a stocked pantry makes mealtime easier. I never need to go out to eat because I have everything to make several meals, depending on what we’re hungry for. However, I recently watched a YouTube video that intrigued me. Based on this video, I’ve experimented with buying only necessary groceries each week for the last few weeks.

Steps I Took to Implement This Change

During the last few weeks, I’ve set a grocery budget of $140 per week for my family of four, which is much less than the $215 a week I typically spend.

I make a menu plan and grocery list the night before I go to the grocery store, so I know what meals I’ll cook during the week. I also try to choose recipes that will utilize ALL of an ingredient. For instance, I needed to buy green cabbage for a stir fry. But I only needed to use half the head of cabbage, so I picked another recipe that would use the other half of the cabbage later in the week, so I used ALL of the cabbage up that week.

Benefits of Buying Only Necessary Groceries Each Week

While I never thought I would enjoy shopping this way, I did realize several benefits of buying only necessary groceries each week.

I Saved Money

We saved a lot of money shopping this way. Over two weeks, we saved $150! This was in part because we were not stocking up on food. However, we also saved because I had limited food in the house, and we HAD to utilize the food we bought.

We Had Less Food Waste

Benefits of Buying Only the Groceries You Need

We typically have very little food waste, but shopping this way eliminated food waste. As I mentioned, I was mindful of finding recipes that would use up ALL of an ingredient. Previously, that other half of the green cabbage might have lingered in the refrigerator for a while. We would use it. . .eventually, but when we did, we might have to cut out some bad spots because we let it sit too long before using it.

Final Thoughts

This way of shopping enhanced how I shop and menu plan. Even better, the benefits of only buying necessary groceries each week were that we saved money and reduced food waste.

However, even though this strategy worked for me, I like to have a stock of food at home in case we can’t shop due to bad weather or limited supplies. From now on, I plan to stock up occasionally to resupply my pantry. Still, for the foreseeable future, I plan to buy only what I need and continue with this experiment to see what other benefits I realize.

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Our Favorite Ways to Combat High Meat Prices

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Ways to Save on the High Cost of Meat

The prices in the grocery store keep rising, especially for protein. Like most people in the country, we try to keep our grocery budget within budget despite inflation. However, we still want to eat healthy meals and rely on something other than carbs to fill us up. So instead, we use these ways to combat high meat prices.

But First, a Clarification

We are not vegetarians and have no desire to be. We like carbs, but we don’t eat a carb-heavy diet. Instead, we try to eat a well-rounded diet, including plenty of vegetables and fruit.

Our Favorite Ways to Combat High Meat Prices

Here are the strategies we use to save when buying protein.

Buy Direct from the Farmer

For years, my husband and I bought a ¼ side of beef direct from the farmer. We’d get a lot of ground beef and cuts like chuck roast, T-bone steak, and stew meat. We didn’t buy the latter items at the grocery store because they were too pricey for our budget. However, buying directly from the farmer saved us money so that we could enjoy the more expensive cuts of meat.

Buy Clearance Meat at the Grocery Store

I love to buy meat from the clearance rack for other types of meat. For instance, a week after Easter this year, our local grocery store had eight-ounce packages of diced ham on sale for .49 cents! I bought five of them and used them in soups and omelets over the next few months. We also frequently find sausage on clearance. My husband cooks those up on the weekend, slices them, and packs a few for his lunch. Typically, he’ll eat about ¾ of a sausage with his lunch.

Use Meat as a Condiment or Meal Component

Ways to Combat High Meat Prices

We almost always use meat as a condiment or meal component. For instance, we’ll add about three ounces of meat to our spaghetti, which makes four servings. Or, we’ll make soup with one-half pound of meat in it. Likewise, stir-fries are a great way to eat a lot of vegetables with a small amount of meat.

If we make steak, we’ll serve the four of us a portion of the steak so that a 10-ounce steak will feed all four of us. We’ll have ample vegetables on the side.

Add in Some Starch to Stretch the Meal

One other idea is to add some starch to stretch the meal. For instance, I like beef stew as is, but my husband and kids always add a bit of rice to it. They enjoy the flavor, and it helps to stretch the meal further.

Final Thoughts

While we are all struggling to maintain our grocery budgets now, know that this time of high inflation will recede. However, we always combat high meat prices with these strategies. We prefer to eat this way, regardless of what the economy and grocery store prices are doing.

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Why We Have a Costco Card Even Though There Isn’t a Costco Nearby

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Have a Costco Card Even Though There's No Costco Nearby

Our family has had a Costco membership for over ten years. We love Costco! Thanks to food intolerances, we have a special diet and cannot eat gluten or dairy; we also try to eat organic for most of our produce. Thankfully, Costco has organics at an excellent price, and they also have some gluten-free and dairy-free food that is reasonably priced. However, when we recently moved, we discovered the nearest Costco was 90 minutes away. Even so, we decided to renew our membership, and now we have a Costco card even though there isn’t a Costco nearby.

Why We Renewed Our Membership

You may wonder why we renewed our membership because we’re not going to drive 90 minutes every week or two to stock up on Costco groceries. While that’s true, a Costco membership offers excellent benefits beyond the store.

Car Rentals

We travel a lot for work and pleasure. If we’re traveling far, we like to use a rental car since our vehicles are 18 and 9 years old. The only way we rent cars is through Costco’s travel page because it saves us so much money! For instance, last year, we were able to rent a minivan for 15 days for $1,000, and we had unlimited mileage. Without our Costco card, the minivan would have cost us at least $600 more. So that one car rental alone made our Costco membership card worthwhile.

Electronics

We’re a family of five, so we need a lot of electronics! My husband and I each have laptops for work, and the kids have their own for school. We now buy our laptops exclusively at Costco.

Why? There are several reasons.

Warranty

Have a Costco Card Even Though There Isn’t a Costco Nearby

Costco has a two-year warranty on laptops, and if you use a Costco credit card for the purchase, you’ll get an even longer warranty. The first year the warranty is covered by the manufacturer, but Costco concierge service is an intermediary between you and the manufacturer, ensuring the repair goes smoothly. In the second year, Costco covers the repairs. For example, my son’s Chromebook had a problem, and when we called the concierge service and they couldn’t fix it, they told us to bring it back to a local Costco, and then they replaced it with a new one for free!

Customer Service

We’ve had to use the concierge service with several of our laptops; they are always so helpful and kind. They go out of their way to ensure you’re satisfied and that your device is repaired in a timely manner.

Final Thoughts

The travel discounts and electronics warranties are the primary reasons we have a Costco card, even though there isn’t a Costco nearby. However, I have heard rumors that Costco is building a location 30 minutes from us, which would make having a Costco membership even more advantageous.

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P.S. if you want a list of which Costco Laptop are the best, consider going over to cleverdude.com, they recommend the Lenovo Legion 5i (for gamers) and the HP 15.6 Touchscreen (for everyone else).