SHOPPING FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR

Guys, let’s talk about shopping with kids.  Unless you have the time of a retiree and the patience of a saint, shopping with kids can bring a mama dangerously close to a mental breakdown.  I remember the good old days of running errands by myself, taking leisurely walks through Target, trying on clothes in a dressing room, waiting for an oil change in the waiting room while reading magazines.  Ah, those were the days.  But since having my two cuties, shopping has changed… a lot!  All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for Amazon Prime and grocery delivery.  My kids do pretty well while shopping but if I have a long list of items I need or if the store seems to be very busy, going while the littles are at home with my husband or having them delivered is my best bet.

When it comes to grocery shopping, I live and breathe for Costco delivery and grocery pickup at our local grocery stores.  Seriously, what did our parents do without grocery pickup?  All I have to do is make a grocery list of items I need, place an order online, and myself or my husband can run to the store and pick them up without even going inside.  We have saved many toy-tantrums and hangry meltdowns this way.  And major bonus, with flu season coming up I don’t have to worry about my kids catching the cold or flu germs that seem to love to hang out on shopping carts.

For clothing and other household items like toys, online shopping is my go-to.

I love shopping for the kid’s clothes and shoes online because they typically have a full range of sizes available, great sales, and the kids don’t have to sit through grueling hours of sorting through clothing racks.  As they grow so quickly, I’m constantly restocking their wardrobes and I rely on fashionable but fairly priced sites like H&M, Old Navy, babyGap, and Target.  Do I even need to talk about why we worship Amazon Prime for all other household goods?  It’s the absolute best!  I mean, receiving my fave candles or countertop cleaning supplies the very next day?  You can’t beat it.

If I’m shopping for clothing for myself or Sid, we mix things up between online shopping and in store shopping.  Sometimes you’ve just got to see it in store, but we SO appreciate the stores with free shipping and returns (hey Nordstrom.com).  This kind of shopping is typically works best for us solo or on a date night.

Now that we’ve pretty much covered how we get our shopping done for a family of four, let’s talk about what we shop for and how we save money while doing it!  Hint:  Save money and time by timing your shopping trips correctly.  Keep reading.

OUR GROCERY LIST

Disclaimer: I’ll be the first to admit that I am no professional at grocery planning, meal prepping, or even cooking some nights. Sometimes we eat cereal for dinner and I’m totally okay with that.  With that being said, when I’m on my grocery game, I stick to a few key basics that never fail.

1. Stock up on our favorites in bulk.
2. Stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store (more on this down below).
3. Plan what we can.
4. Order online (Had to repeat it because it’s so key!)

Like I said, we absolutely love Costco delivery.  All my warehouse-shopping parents know, Costco is pretty much at or over capacity 100% of the time.  And good luck finding a parking spot that doesn’t require a 5k walk back from.  BUT, we still shop there because they have some of the best deals on some of our favorite healthy foods.

Here are a few of our Costco must haves:

• Cleaning Supplies

  • Glass cleaner, disinfectant wipes, laundry detergent, etc.

• Household goods

        (Paper towels and toilet paper)

• Dave’s Killer Bread

  (Pop extra loaves in the freezer and defrost in the refrigerator when you’re ready to eat them)

• Lean meats that go in everything

  (Another great item to have frozen and ready to thaw whenever you need them)

  • Ground turkey
  • Chicken breasts
  • Pork chops

• Less-perishable Fruits and Vegetables

  • We shop for whatever is in season and we know we can eat before it goes bad (for example: strawberries and watermelon in the summer, squash and apples in the fall, oranges in the winter, and carrots in the spring)

• Single serve deli items for easy lunches

  • Babybel cheeses
  • Single serve guacamole cups
  • Nitrate free sliced turkey or ham

• Frozen (the best bang for your buck and a lifesaver when you have no time!)

  • Fruit (ALWAYS! Must have for tasty green smoothies)  Blueberries and mangos are always great.
  • Kid-friendly premade meal options, like veggie nuggets and dinosaur nuggets.

• Dairy

  • Milk
  • Cage free eggs
  • Butter

• Drinks

  • La Croix
  • Juice

• Dry Goods

  • Granola and cereal
  • Applesauce pouches for kids
  • Peanut Butter
  • Black beans
  • Quinoa and Brown Rice
  • Baking staples (flour, sugar, olive oil, etc.)
  • Popcorn
  • Annie’s Mac and Cheese
  • Gum

• Baby

  • Diapers and Wipes
  • Formula (Tatum is no longer on formula but you can save a lot of money by purchasing formula in bulk if you need it)
  • Honest Sun Screen and Bath Soap

• Health

  • Plant based protein powder
  • Premier Protein Shakes
  • Greens for green smoothies
  • PB2

We try to place an order at Costco about every 2 weeks and I keep a running list of item’s we need in the next trip if we run out of anything.

I like to make a trip to the grocery store once weekly to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables for the week’s meal plan.  If you trust your grocery store’s employees to choose your produce and meat, then grocery pickup is a great option to save time!  As I mentioned above, I stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store for my weekly shop (produce, meat, baked goods, and dairy) to save money and to keep things fairly healthy.  When I start to drift into the center aisles, it typically means more processed foods and a higher grocery bill.

My meal planning and preparation process:

1. Take a look at the week’s calendar at count how many nights we will be eating dinner at home.
2. Find healthy and easy recipes for those nights at home.
3. Add all ingredients to a shopping list for the week.
4. Go shopping or shop online using the list.

A few of my favorite places to find quick and simple healthy recipes that the whole family will love are skinnytaste.com and Clean Simple Eats.  We typically will have servings leftover after dinner and those make great healthy lunches for the next day.

Let’s move on to CLOTHES!

 SHOP THE SALES

I know that there are probably one million ways to find great deals for yourself and your children while shopping, but I’m telling you guys that timing your shopping when you KNOW there will be a sale is a pretty fool proof way of getting a better deal of the cute clothing you would’ve bought anyway.

Honestly, I like to get the majority of shopping done for each season in one fell swoop, during a SALE!  I make a list of what each family member needs for the upcoming season and check my favorite sites during their sale period. Most of the time I can find exactly what I need at a discounted price which is awesome!

Here’s my cheat sheet:

• Spring Wardrobe (I think of Spring as March through May): President’s Day Sales. President’s Day is the third weekend in February.
• Summer Wardrobe (I think of Summer as June through August): Memorial Day Sales. Memorial Day is in the last week of May.
• Fall Wardrobe (I think of Fall as September through November): Nordstrom Anniversary Sale (my favorite) is typically the middle of July until the beginning of August. Also, Labor Day sales occur during the first week of September.
• Winter Wardrobe (I think of Winter as December through February): Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Starting on Thanksgiving Day all through the next week, great sales are happening!

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR PURCHASES

I think that whether you’re grocery shopping or wardrobe shopping for a family of four, a major key to saving money and time is purchasing high quality versatile products that will be able to be used for multiple purposes.

For grocery shopping and planning, I think it is a great idea to try to group meals together each week that use a lot of the same ingredients.  I also love to make a whole bunch of shredded chicken at the beginning of the week and utilize it in different ways throughout the week in salads for lunch, tacos for one dinner, and maybe chicken noodle soup for another meal.

When it comes to wardrobe versatility, I love a good transition piece that will serve myself, my husband, or our kids during multiple seasons.  Classic pieces like denim jackets, white sneakers skinny denim, and v-neck tees in classic colors will last throughout the year and therefore be worth their weight to purchase in high quality brands and fabrics.  PS – I wrote a blog about summer to fall transition pieces here.

I know, lots of information but I wanted to fill you in on all of my shopping tips and tricks for a family of four!  What are your favorite family shopping tips?  I would LOVE to hear them!  Let me know on my latest IG post so that we can discuss and share.

xo