-WINTER GROCERY HAUL-

Honestly, any time I have to leave my house in the winter it’s a struggle. I would much rather be curled up in a blanket, sitting on my couch and watching the snow fall from inside. But living in Minnesota, that isn’t really an option. Instead, I have to bare the cold more times than not.

I usually head to the grocery store on time a week on either Saturday or Sunday and stock up for the week because I don’t have the time or energy to get there more than once.

I always make sure to go in with a list. This helps me to stay organized and focus, rather than aimlessly walking down every aisle and throwing anything that catches my eye into the cart. Before you know it, I have $200 worth of junk and like 2 things that were actually on my list.

To write my list, I first look at the weekly ads the store is running. Sometimes I will run to a few different stores depending on sales or what I’m looking for. Usually my go-to places are Trader Joes, Hy-Vee, Fresh Thyme, and Sams Club. I hate buying something that isn’t on sale, there’s just something about it being full price that I never like. I’m constantly looking for the deal. As I go through the ad, I look at the different proteins and carbs that are on sale. Whether it’s chicken breast, turkey, deli meat, eggs, etc. or for carbs it might be rice, bread, potatoes, etc. and I base my meals around those things. I also look at fresh produce and pick 1-3 veggies and fruits to get (or even frozen because I’m cheap and lazy lets be real).

Then I write out each meal I’m going to eat for the week and all the ingredients it needs. It does help that I eat the same meals for a few days in a row. So really I usually need to make 2 different breakfasts/lunches/snacks/and dinners for the week. Once I have my meals down and their ingredients, I go through and cross off all the ingredients I already have in my house. I double check that there’s enough left in each of the containers too to make sure I don’t need to restock them. And boom, there’s my list.

When I get to the grocery store it flows pretty easily because I walk through the perimeter of the store, grab things and cross them off my list simultaneously. Sometimes I find a few extra things I want and toss those in too…hence the whip cream for my coffee that’s sitting in my cart.

If I don’t need to restock a lot of my essentials, my bill is right around $50 each week! If you need ideas on what to get at the grocery, here’s a shopping list you can follow!

Do you have a plan for how you grocery shop or do you just go in blindly and hope you come out with some food you can make a meal with? Let me know in my latest Instagram post or down below in the comments!