This should be interesting!
Meridith at Like Merchant Ships,
has challenged Amy at MomAdvice,
to a "Iron Chef Moms" competition.
The basic premise is this, they both have
their money saving ways of making menus.
One from the sale fliers of big name chain grocery
stores, and one does all of her shopping at Aldi.
They are going to post their shopping list, cost,
menu plan, etc.
This is what Amy has to say about how it will all go down:
I will purchase everything from Aldi Supermarket.
Meredith will be doing a freestyle menu with no coupons
and only using the grocery sales current from that week.
She will not be using any items from her stockpile,
only items purchased that week.
A daily breakdown will be given each day.
The breakdown will include the menu, recipe,
and cost breakdown.
The menu will serve four people. In larger recipes,
we will be adjusting the cost to estimate a four person meal,
or split the cost if one meal actually will be
used in two different ways.
The menu will include a main dish and sides.
Desserts and drinks will not be included in this challenge.
Staple ingredients under a ½ cup are “negligible,”
for example in the case of flour, sugar, salt or pepper.
Otherwise, these will be figured in as price per ounce
and multiplied by the number of ounces used.
There will be a wrap-up at the end of the week and
you, as readers, can feel free to critique our strategies,
or offer up some of your own strategies.
Just for the record, I do want to say that this is just a fun
and friendly competition. The idea behind it is not to
see who will do better than the other, but more to share
techniques for two different ways to shop.
Both of these options do not require any coupon cutting
and will show you ways that you can plan affordable
meals for your family using two other types of techniques.
We are both very excited to be doing this contest and
our families are excited to be eating so well this week.
I don't know about you, but I find this kind of thing VERY
interesting. I have recently changed the way I am grocery
shopping. I used to go twice a month (payday), I would plan
out the meals, with the meat specials from local chain stores,
get all that I could at Aldi and fill in the gaps with a Walmart
trip. Late this fall Rachel encouraged me to give up Walmart,
cut coupons and shop the Dillons mangers specials, then Aldi to
fill the gaps. Since implementing this "new way" at the beginning
of the year. I have noticed a savings of nearly 50%. I wasn't`
wild about the idea of weekly shopping, but now that it has worked
itself into a time of fellowship with my friend Jessie, I look forward
to it! SO, all that to say, I will be reading these two blogs all week!
Who do you think will be named the
"IRON CHEF MOM?"
Meridith at Like Merchant Ships,
has challenged Amy at MomAdvice,
to a "Iron Chef Moms" competition.
The basic premise is this, they both have
their money saving ways of making menus.
One from the sale fliers of big name chain grocery
stores, and one does all of her shopping at Aldi.
They are going to post their shopping list, cost,
menu plan, etc.
This is what Amy has to say about how it will all go down:
I will purchase everything from Aldi Supermarket.
Meredith will be doing a freestyle menu with no coupons
and only using the grocery sales current from that week.
She will not be using any items from her stockpile,
only items purchased that week.
A daily breakdown will be given each day.
The breakdown will include the menu, recipe,
and cost breakdown.
The menu will serve four people. In larger recipes,
we will be adjusting the cost to estimate a four person meal,
or split the cost if one meal actually will be
used in two different ways.
The menu will include a main dish and sides.
Desserts and drinks will not be included in this challenge.
Staple ingredients under a ½ cup are “negligible,”
for example in the case of flour, sugar, salt or pepper.
Otherwise, these will be figured in as price per ounce
and multiplied by the number of ounces used.
There will be a wrap-up at the end of the week and
you, as readers, can feel free to critique our strategies,
or offer up some of your own strategies.
Just for the record, I do want to say that this is just a fun
and friendly competition. The idea behind it is not to
see who will do better than the other, but more to share
techniques for two different ways to shop.
Both of these options do not require any coupon cutting
and will show you ways that you can plan affordable
meals for your family using two other types of techniques.
We are both very excited to be doing this contest and
our families are excited to be eating so well this week.
I don't know about you, but I find this kind of thing VERY
interesting. I have recently changed the way I am grocery
shopping. I used to go twice a month (payday), I would plan
out the meals, with the meat specials from local chain stores,
get all that I could at Aldi and fill in the gaps with a Walmart
trip. Late this fall Rachel encouraged me to give up Walmart,
cut coupons and shop the Dillons mangers specials, then Aldi to
fill the gaps. Since implementing this "new way" at the beginning
of the year. I have noticed a savings of nearly 50%. I wasn't`
wild about the idea of weekly shopping, but now that it has worked
itself into a time of fellowship with my friend Jessie, I look forward
to it! SO, all that to say, I will be reading these two blogs all week!
Who do you think will be named the
"IRON CHEF MOM?"
13 comments:
very interesting... i'm sorry i will not have internet access next week - you'll have to fill me in... my big thing is TIME!!! something would have to save me enough money to be worth the time to run to several stores - as it is, it's hard enough to find the time just to go to Aldi!!!
Way to go! I'm excited that someone else is having success with this way of shopping too. It takes a little more time, but not much more, for me, anyway. You'll have to tell me what you think about that.
I definitely couldn't do it without Aldi though, you know? But I also can't get everything we need at Aldi. So I like their idea of comparing the two methods (even though I use both!) I wonder why the sale shopper can't use coupons??? Maybe just the time factor.
Thanks for the tip...I'll be watching these blogs!
I do not think I could do it with out aldi, but since I have been "stockpile" shopping, I hardly even need more than a few things.
I wonder about the time thing, but honestly I think I am just redeeming it at different times. I cut coupons at gymnastics, when I would normally be just sitting there. The shopping to me is WAY more relaxed, so even though I go every week, I enjoy it. Where before the paycheck shopping was a HUGE job. I think it has helped that now I have a system. A day I go, a method to how I do it. Not to mention I am not paying a sitter to grocery shop. (not that I am not still paying her, but it has freed me up to do other things)
I am curious to see how it all works for these two ladies. We really do have the best of both worlds, since we have good chain stores, and a nice aldi.
I am not sure why no coupons. Maybe because that would make it no contest? :) j/k I think I will post a question on their blog and ask!
Well now that I have written a book....I will stop now!
I'm with you on the time thing Lynn. I can see if you enjoy it(I don't enjoy grocery shopping) and you can do it without the kids...
If they're trying to make super cheap meals is there any health criterias? =)
Maybe I should go over and read it for myself...
i know, for me at least, most coupons are for name brands and you have to buy 2 (most of the time) to get money off. so coupons arent really a money saver for me as i shop off brands which are usually way cheaper and most of the time , i dont need two or more of them. i do use them if i know i like that brand or am going to be picking it up anyway.
my mom was an aldi shopper growing up and so i think i learned to hate going there. i love my big chain store and it is only a minute away but they always have specials and deals. i love grocery shopping!
this should be fun
Jenica-
I am not sure on the health criteria. I did read one of them say that they aren't going to be as "carb" conscience as before. Or something to that affect.
I don't think that I really love grocery shopping. But doing it with friends has helped a ton! Also, trying to save as much as possible has made it a game (in my head) as well. Rex is busy several nights a week (at home) either with work or church responsibilities, so going with out the kids is an added perk! It seems more like a girls night, than grocery shopping. I think we are usually out about an hour and half.
Hi, I just wanted to thank you for the link :)
I was just reading through the comments and wanted to say that Meredith had actually suggested not using coupons for this competition. We wanted to show people two easy ways of shopping that would not require coupon-cutting. She will just be picking loss leaders and I will just be shopping at Aldi. We wanted to show people that there are ways to save money when shopping without the use of coupons. I would love to challenge a coupon queen though. :) That would also be a lot of fun!
Oh, and the healthy meals thing...I just make meals that do not contain a lot of processed food choices. We eat well and in moderation and I have a very healthy family. We eat things that we enjoy, and just eat them in moderation. Hopefully it will just give people more dinner ideas!
Thanks again for the post and I hope you'll be over my way next wee :)
Amy (the Aldi Queen)
Lynn-
Right now I am only going to 2 stores for groceries, Aldi and Dillons. I only go to Aldi evey other week. Dillons once a week.
Eryn-
I know of your dislike for Aldi! And now that I have been going to the "nice" grocery store so much, I completely understand. It is such a different shopping experience. But if I have a list of things I can't get at Dillons, I do go.
Coupons vary widely. We have noticed here in town differences in what we get in our papers. I think the best deals with coupons can be had when you pair them with a managers special, a loss leader, or a special promotion.
A while back there was a deal where salad dressing was 1.77 a bottle. Buy 8 and get $7 off your total. I bought 16. Now of course I do not NEED 16 bottles of dressing. But it is something that is almost always on my list. So I bought enough, (hopefully) to last until the next sale. When I need dressing I shop my pantry instead of putting it on the list.
I realize it is a totally different way to shop, and not all of us coupon in the same way. I have the space, and we go through the food fast enough, that it makes sense for us. As long as I am buying stuff I do use.
Amy-
You are welcome for the link! I am very excited to see how your challenge goes!
I understand about the coupon thing, although I wonder how it will work? Our loss leaders seem somewhat random. While you can get AWESOME deals, just buying for one week, I am curious how to make that into meals.
I have really enjoyed your Aldi Menu plan and have passed it along to many moms. I think it is helpful to actually SEE how much this area can be trimmed back. It doesn't have to be one of the biggest expenses in the budget.
Thanks again, for commenting. We look forward to reading this coming week!
what do you mean when you say "loss leaders"? something the store has to take a loss on to even get rid of it?
Ok - I love Aldi, it's close but yes there are things that I can't get there so I go across the street to Albertsons. They have some great sales at times although they are almost always too expensive on their every day prices.
I will be watching this closely and hopefully learn much.
Thanks for doing this ladies!
I echo Eryn's question about "loss leaders." Can you explain to us what those are?
Hey Eryn and Laurel-
Sorry so late getting back to you!
Here is a definition for ya.
The basic idea is that they are sales that get you into the store so that you will buy their other (higher) priced stuff. If you just run in and get their sales with coupons, you can get things for pennies on the dollar.
Let me know if you have any other questions. :)
Post a Comment