Cutting the Food Budget in Half!

About 4 months ago I was shopping at Costco. I put the normal items in the cart that I would use to PREPARE meals for my family of 6. I also added the items that my 3 teenage kids could HEAT UP and PREPARE all by them self. When the woman gave me my total it was just over 500.00...GASP! I pretended like that was what I intended to spend and with an expressionless face I handed her my debit card. My heart began to beat faster when all the other bills left to pay on my desk at home were flashing in my mind. Then I got serious, seriously stressed out. It had only been 2 weeks since I had been to Costco and spent 400.00! Wait...Oh Yes, it gets better...I had also made random stops to Trader Joes, Henry's, Jimbo's and Albertson's. When I got home I got online to my online banking account and realized I had already spent 1200.00! So, being the Positive person that I focus on being, I quickly tried to find the positive in this situation.....And I smiled as I said to myself " Well, at least there's only one week left in the month and we wont need to go back to the store next week!" So, the month ended with 1200.00 towards FOOD! I promised myself I would make grocery lists, make fewer trips to the store, buy on sale, eat the leftovers, etc...etc...etc...So, I'm sure you can guess what happens next. Right! Nothing happened. I did look for items on sale more often and when I went to the grocery store I spent less but, I just ended up going more often so the $$ added up and the next few months were the same...grocery's for the month averaging over 1,000.00!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010! My Goals for the New Year...lose 10 to 15 lbs AND get in great Shape AND....Yup, You Guessed it....Cut Our Monthly Grocery Bill in 1/2!!!!
In my attempt to revamp the grocery list I needed to see what was wrong and this is where I go back the the capitalized "PREPARE"! I needed to STOP preparing food and Start COOKING Meals! So, I went to the grocery store for the 1st time in January and spent a 54.00! I made my 1st meal for under 5.oo!!! I posted it on facebook and this is where things started to unfold. It seems that a lot of people are interested in finding out HOW to not only SAVE money on food but, HOW to cook EASY, DELICIOUS meals that appeal to many people AND serve A Lot of People AND are good as Leftovers. My Husband first mentioned I should start a blog. I said "No Way". Then My running friend suggested it and I think I actually thought about it for a moment but, quickly thought to myself, "No Way" THEN, I watched the movie Julie & Julia....and here I am. Hope you come back to see read the First Recipe that I made for under $5.00:)