A Must Read for Families in the Grip of Inflation

I recently walked into my local Aldi store.  I had a short list of produce and dairy products. I THOUGHT I would spend around $20 on these items, but the cashier rang up $34.76.  I walked out with my ONE bag of groceries and shook my head wondering how a family can continue to afford to purchase nutritious whole foods?

What was worse?  Coming home to find that 4 of the items I bought were on sale at my local grocers and 2 more at a store that I drive past at least once a week.  I had forgotten to check the sale ads.  And Coupons?  I seldom find coupons for food I actually use.  And if I remember to cut them out and save them, I forget where I put them.

Then along came Kate Megill and her new book Cut It Out! How I Feed My Family of 10 For $500 a Month Without Coupons











May I take a moment to point out 2 key words?  WITHOUT COUPONS.  She gives very practical and sensible advice on how to feed a family.  It's all about the prep work.

In her book Kate walks us through the process of organizing your family's favorite meals.  Planning your menu and creating a Price Book  is the backbone of her secrets.  When the weekly sale ads come out, you know if that price is actually a good sale or if you can beat that price at another store.  Don't let the word Price Book scare you either, Kate cuts that "elephant into bite sized pieces" for us so we are not overwhelmed.  She graciously includes an Excel spread sheet she's created so you don't have to start from scratch.  It can be downloaded with the book or from her Blog http://teachingwhatisgood.com/.  She then helps you plan your menu with her terrific menu planner which can be downloaded from that link.

I've read other books about organization, meal planning and frugal living.  They weren't practical for me, but Kate's plan works for an "empty-nester" like me, a young couple starting out, or feeding large families on a budget.  It's a relatively short read for the amount of information packed into this book.  You don't have to be a geek to understand the process, but my geeky side was delighted with the simplicity of this plan.  I expect the information in this book will not only provide for my meals, but save me money and extra steps as well.  I highly recommend Cut It Out! to families of all ages and sizes!  Happy Planning.