September 7th Grocery Price Match

The girls are about to leave to go to a company picnic with their Nana and Poppa, so we are taking advantage and doing our grocery shopping minus two kids!
I am hoping we have time to drive down to Texas so we can hit up the Aldi for a few items, then make our way to Walmart to price match and purchase tax-free groceries. We'll see when my parents get here if that's an option :)

Here are the price matches I'll be using unless I find a better price on some of these items at Aldi.

Valencia Oranges 5/$1
Betty Crocker Cake Mixes $1 ea
Pillsbury Toaster Strudel $2 ea
Green Giant 1lb Baby Carrots $1.19 ea
Peaches, Nectarines, or Plums .99/lb
Hormel Natural Choice Bacon 1 lb  $4.19
Hormel Natural Choice Deli Meat  $2.99 ea
Triscuits (original) $1.49 ea
Nestle Pure Life Water 24 pk  $2.99
Nabisco Oreos 8.5 - 15.25 oz  $1.99

I'm hoping to find some good deals at Aldi on meat, vegetable oil, and fresh vegetables. We'll also get bread, syrup and prepackaged peanut butter crackers there.

Mobilizing My Meal Plan

There are many advantages to meal planning. They are a great way too save money and time, reduce stress and waste, and avoid expensive restaurant and take out meals. Purchasing all the ingredients you'll need for a week's worth of meals means less trips to the store, and more time with your family.

I don't always write down a formal meal plan, but usually have a good idea of what we will eat for the week. Lately, this has been a struggle for me, though. Perhaps it's adjusting to our new school schedule that has thrown me off. Whatever it is, I decided to try out an app to keep track of the groceries in my fridge and pantry, and create meal plans. I downloaded Food Planner to my Android phone today.

So far I have added a few of our favorite recipes and the groceries that I'm currently stocked up on, and made a plan for tonight's dinner.
I love that I can add recipes from the web, making it really easy to keep track of everything in one place instead of trying to jump from page to page for the recipes I need. Adding ingredients was simple, and allowed me to adjust quantities and add notes. I can't wait to use the bar code scanner to add additional groceries with no typing out descriptions.

 

Creating the meal plan was as simple as tapping the recipe I wanted to use!

I'm on a tight budget for the next two weeks, so hopefully this app will make it easier to stick to a meal plan. I'll definitely write an update and report how it goes.

Do you meal plan? What tools have been helpful to you? Please share any tips you have for making meal planning work.