Tried: e-Mealz

Grocery shopping is like going into a black hole for me.  Sure I showed up with a list that I hastily made and even coupons that I clipped, but always seemed to spend too much money.   Not only did I spend too much but once I got home I realized that the items I bought really didnt have a rhyme or reason to them.  So instead of one big trip for the month, I ended up making a small trip to the store every couple of days.  While I realize that for some folks that works out just fine, for our family it was a money-pit.  First - we live more than thirty minutes from the nearest grocery store.  With the price of gas it added up quickly.  The town we live in does have a small gas station/grocery store/ hang out/ bait store in it, great for milk or bread, but the higher prices make it impractical for regular trips.  Second - I find it nearly impossible to go to the store and only get what is on my list.  Sure that Matchbox car was only a few bucks, and the petunia looks great on my porch but we didnt need them!

I had begun to read some "family financing" books prior to the meteor strike.  To deal with this budgeting situation, they advised that you make a menu for the month and stick to it.  So we did.  We wrote down a months worth of dinners into a blank calendar page, then made a list, and did our shopping off of it.  Simple as it sounds, that took at least 4 hours to do.  And well.. I still spent a ton of money on groceries!  (it seems that my family expects to have dinner every night!)

Finally I read about e-Mealz.  I honestly am not sure if it was on a Dave Ramsey site or just one of those times I was aimlessly purusing the internet.  I wasnt thrilled with paying for it, but I did as a trial.  We chose the Wal-Mart Points Menu for a family of 4.  If you havent looked at e-Mealz, then you should take a minute or two and do that.  They offer several menu varieties:  vegetarian, low fat, low carb, regular, and ones that match to several national food chains.  You can even view sample menus to try out before you buy it!  Now for the magic - they not only give you a menu for the week BUT they give you a shopping list complete with prices and organized by grocery category!!!  The menu is nice, but honestly, the shopping list was what impressed me.  It is so easy, my husband could do the shopping.  Everything was layed out and exact.  As for the prices, our menu usually suggested it would cost around $80 for the week.  I can tell you that I usually spent much less than that.  I know they go by the national average for the grocery chain, but I could plan on it being around $10 to $20 less.

Now the nay-sayers are thinking "but what if my family doesnt want to have chicken fiesta?" or little Timmy cant eat "shimp and broccoli."   Not a problem.  Just go through the shopping list and scratch off the items that are related to that dinner.  It is easy to since they are numbered.

e-Mealz is a great budget friendly way to plan your grocery expenditures.  It is about $5 a month and you will probably make it back in great deals and new ideas.