January RS Night: Helpful Couponing and Meal Planning Tips

We started off the night by eating yummy food which recipes will be provided in a separate blog post!

 Always a good time at Relief Society Night!

Kristina's Helpful Tips:

• The Food Nanny Website (http://www.byutv.org/foodnanny/) allows you to plan your nightly themes, weekly meal plans, recipes and grocery lists all with just a click of your mouse, and its all free!

 

Kayleen's Helpful Tips:

• Collect the Coupons that come in the Sunday paper and if you don't get the Sunday paper, ask someone who does to have their coupons
• If you like to shop at Target always check Target online for extra coupons.  Target will let you use one manufacture coupon and one Target coupon per item, so savings can add up quickly.  Target also has an app for those with smart phones who don't want to cut coupons and can just take them on your phone instead.
• Go through each Grocery add and write down which stores have the best prices so you know where to get the best deal
• Sometimes buying in bulk is still cheaper than buying single items with coupons.  Do you homework and know what a good price for an item is.  You might think getting a can of vegetables for $1.00 with a coupon is a good price, but then at Costco without a Coupons you can get 10 for $7.00, so it would still be cheaper to buy in bulk rather than use a coupon.
• Keep a folder in your car of store coupons such as Bed Bath and Beyond and any Fast Food or Restaurants coupons you have, since you never know when you are going to be in a hurry have to ran and get take out.
• Bed Bath and Beyond coupons never expire and they will let you use more than one in a transaction.
• Sign up for Birthday Clubs online to get a free meal on your birthday at your favorite places.
• Always check the clearance aisle, even in the grocery store.  Sometimes you can find a good deal.
• "If Honey Boo Boo's Mom can coupon, then so can you!"

Sharlene's Helpful Tips:

• Deals to Meals (http://www.dealstomeals.com/) is a website which reviews all the adds and will tell you which stores have the best prices.  You do have to pay $5 a month for it's services but you can try it for a 2 week free trial period to see if you like it or not.
• Know your prices, do your research so you know what actually is a good deal and what isn't
• Know how many times a week you are actually going to have a home cooked meal, freezer meals and also eat out and then plan accordingly
• Write in your cookbooks so if you liked something or didn't something you can remind yourself the next time you open to that recipe. 
• Plan you meals ahead of time.  When you organize your dinners you will have a smoother day.  Organization and planning are essential!
• Plan your meals around what's on sale.
• Make sure you have a shopping list and stick to it
• Buy a lot/Stock up when items are on sale
• Double your recipes when you can and then zip-lock/freeze them for later use (like waffles)
• Wednesday is double add day at Sprouts which is where she prefers to buy her produce and meats
• Grow a Garden!  Then eat what you harvest and if you don't like something you harvest then barter with your family, friends or neighbors who also have a garden.  For example, she has an avocado tree and her whole family hates avocados

The Ward's Helpful Tips:

• When you go shopping leave your husband at home
• If you know ahead of time you won't have time to chop/peal vegetables or shred cheese then buy vegetables already ready to be cooked and shredded cheese to help save you time.
• Know what the "staples" are for your cooking/meals that way you can options when you look into your pantry trying to decide whats for dinner.
• Don't buy things you won't eat
• Buy cookbooks you will use more than just a few recipes out of
• Freeze a lot of things so you can buy in bulk and then save for later
• You can freeze anything, such as: marshmallows, chips, meat, shredded cheese, Costco cake, Quaker oats, chocolate chips, cream cheese (but it won't spread well afterwards), etc.
• Teach your kids how to grocery shop and cook
• Rotate your freezer so you don't find things that have been in there for over 40 years like one Relief Society Sister
• Save money and put it aside every time you get money so you can save up for something big.
• When you buy things like buttermilk for a recipe that you know you won't use the rest of before it goes bad, then freeze it in measurements needed for your recipe so you can just take it out of the freezer and pop in your recipes in the future
• Buy meat in bulk and then portion size it in smaller bags/containers for single meals
• Stir away from brand names, you can usually get the same food for a lot less just by not spending the money on the brand name