How I do shopping and keep our family schedule easy!

I am not hugely into pinterest.... yet :-).... but I have seen some really great tips on a lot of different things. Friends have asked me in the past to share how I do my grocery shopping and so I thought id share it with whoever wanted to know.... its super simple and makes me stay on budget and have a less hectic week.

I get a piece of paper and since I go to 3 different stores I write them each down and then I write out each day of the week. Where I live we have a bunch of different stores I could go to, but the 3 I like best due to prices, ease of shopping and location, are Walmart, Sam's Club and Aldi's.

Then the first thing I do is plan a meal for each day of the week. Sometimes we do "on our own" if it's going to be a busy night or we won't be home at the same time. Then once I have planned a meal for each day of the week I write down all the things that I need for those meals under one of the stores. After that is done I add our "staples" to each store. For example milk, bread, crackers etc....

I also look at my budget ahead of time so I know how much money I can spend. I take my list shopping with me and next to each item I put in the cart, I write down next to it how much it is. I keep a tally going as I shop and if I reach my spending limit then something gets put back on the shelf until next time.

Now as far as keeping my family organized with things such as appointments and activities, a few years ago I found the best thing ever!! It's called a "Mom's Plan It Calendar"



It's great because I can put every family member in our house on the calendar and can see at a quick glance if we have conflicting activities on the same day. I then can plan ahead on how to get each person where they need to go or if I need to call and re-schedule something. I also keep this calendar right next to the phone with pens in a jar nearby so that as I am on the phone making appointments I can see quickly what days are open.

Well I hope these ideas have helped some of you, I know they save me a ton of time and money!