Shopping!

Have you noticed lately that when you go to the Grocery store, the prices are through the roof!

I sure have!

Did you know, for a family of four the average grocery bill is $863.00 a month, I’m shocked! That was found on www.ramseysolutions.com

They also gave some really good ideas for stretching the grocery bill for example “ If you have leftovers take them for lunch”

Take-out food isn’t getting any better, with new restaurants popping up here and there around Owen Sound, for example, look at Heritage grove plaza with the new Burger King and Firehouse Subs right across the road.

I’ve lately been trying to stretch meals some nights or even if the fridge is full from dinners from the other nights, we will have leftovers night and that cleans out the fridge most of the time.

I was having dinner with my family and this topic came to me, with a few questions in mind;

•  How do other family members try to cut their shopping bills in half or even how do you stretch your grocery bill?

• Are we the only family that has this problem?

As well, I was thinking about single parents and people that are low income or have large families.

So I started looking at some ideas to help everyone.

I thought of a few such as:

• Don’t go shopping hungry 

• Have a shopping list

I thought that I would expand this list so I went looking a little further, here is a site that I found that also may work.

• See what’s on sale/check the flyers 

• Use coupons wisely

• Get to know the prices-write down the regular prices of food that you buy

• Buy in season

These are some ideas that I have found from www.unlockfood.ca

So with all of the technology that we have today, there are so many apps that can be used, when going grocery shopping, such as “ Flipp” and “Save.ca” which I have on my phone.

For the people that choose not to use technology, you can use an accordion envelope and sort the coupons into the right spot for later use.

There are so many ways we can cut our grocery bill in different ways.

There is also a video that caught my eye, from global news about “ 12 ways to save money on the next grocery bill” www.globalnews.ca

There were some points that I didn’t even think of, such as if you have an optimum card or even a PC financial card and use the points from them to get free groceries,

I have also expanded my search to “ How to save money on groceries 2021”

The first thing that came up was ;

25% by generic brands instead of name brand

23% Make a grocery list and stick to it!

And that’s only a few.

I know what I want to do, cut my bill in half and save money and follow some of the tips that I have shared with you.

As I conclude this issue, I just have one question for you.

Do you have ways to cut your grocery bill in half?

 

 To Mask or not to Mask 

 So it’s been a couple of weeks since the mask mandate has been dropped, but really hasn’t!

I’m not just going to jump off the deep end or get negative about it.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but some people are still wearing them.

I’m still wearing my mask at work, as well as my husband, while he is at work and my children often wear masks at school when necessary.

When I leave my home, I bring my mask with me just in case I need it, the common question I have now is “ Do I need a mask?”

I have been thinking about this for quite some time!

The other thing that I have been thinking of as well is, “ What is life going to be like after Covid is gone?” 

As the weather changes, “ How do you see your family dealing with the new changes?

Are you looking forward to going back to that favorite spot that you frequent before covid came to be?

What about those playdates, or social gatherings that you had.

There are so many questions within the next step of Covid, as well as having a normal life again after.

If you look at it, we’re slowly moving in the right direction but, still being cautious while we are out with the public.

This brings me to this thought, when my kids are out in public they have the automatic sense of wearing a mask, but realizing that it is not necessarily needed, it’s become second nature for them.

I thought I could find some more information about this topic, so I went to Google about the topic, but I came across a news article from CTV News about the mask mandate and how we still have to wear masks in hospitals, long term care settings and in conjugating areas, which I think is a great idea.

I have come to the conclusion, that my family and I will wear our masks when we are out with the public to stay on the cautious side of this pandemic, as the numbers are slowly coming up.

I would like to leave you with this old saying that has stuck with me “ It’s better to be prepared, than not to be prepared at all!”

In other words, it is better to have that mask than not to have one at all.

Stay safe my friends!