Step # 2 Mastery Over Kitchen Inventory

How much more will you likely spend if you shop hungry rather than on a full stomach?

A. 8% more
B. 10% more
C. 13% more
D. 15% more

Answer B.

Studies show that people spend about 10% more if they shop on an empty stomach compared to a full one.

One of the most important grocery savings confidence builders is knowing what is in the pantry, freezer, spice rack and other places you keep cooking ingredients before we make out our shopping list. You have a couple of questions you begin to ask yourself before beginning our plan. To put your grocery-shopping plan in focus you ask these questions:

1. Why do I grocery shop?
2. How much money do I want to save?
3. What would I like to accomplish at the grocery store?

The inventory gives you direction and defines discipline. Knowing your plan and keeping it prominent is your mind gives you direction to your shopping plan. I define discipline and commitment as putting your shopping plan first. You do what your plan says, you should do rather than what you feel like doing. Committed shoppers are driven by their purpose and not by how they happen to feel on a given day.

We are doing this for one reason, when you clarify your plan, it gives you something to go to when you don't feel like doing what you need to do or some adversity gets in your way. It provides you with a ready-made, honest answer to the question, "Why as I doing this?"

Making decisions is easier when you have a plan because your priorities are set. When a plan is clear the question is, When am I going to shop today? not, "Should I shop today?"  There is a big difference between these attitudes.

To accomplish your goals: Be Present. Beginning with the inventory, you are putting yourself in the present. What you accomplish while grocery shopping is the sum of all your present moments, and why you accomplish is really the sum of all your todays.

The goal of saving 30% to 50% has to be a realistic goal. Number 1, you don't want to make grocery shopping and cooking a full time job. I know, you've seen where you can save over 90%. It is just like an all-star baseball player. His goal could be to hit .900 for the year. That's 9 hits for every 10 at bats. Maybe there are streaks they may be able to go 9 for 10; however, it is unrealistic to think you can do that.

Let's say 30% to 50 % is a good goal. Let's say you've gone back and looked through some old register receipts. Actually, if you have them, do it now. You see you've been spending $150 per week. That is our food purchase range from $105 to $75. Or, it saves us, $45 to $75 a week.

If you only spend between 1 to 2 hours a week on kitchen management, then factoring in your time, it is a realistic goal.

Because what is going to happen, you are going to get discouraged if you are expecting 90% savings and you don't reach the goal. You know you're being deceived and blame yourself. Also, if you go to low, you also know you're lying to yourself.

If it takes too much time and you choose events with your family instead of the big savings, then you must decided which is more important to you and live with that choice. Both are important family things.

Before I begin making my shopping list, I like to see what is in my pantry and freezer. Just like any good business, I need to know what I have before I order. It is the same at home.

What I do is take a spreadsheet and type in the inventory. Then I print out this list and using a binder, keep it in the pantry. When I'm ready to begin my menu planning and shopping list, I bring the book to the table.

With my list, I check what I have in the pantry. When I do this, I make sure that nothing has passed its expiration day. Remember, even cans don't last forever. Always check the expiration dates.

On one of the cooking shows, I saw the host make Sloppy Joes. I thought, we've hadn't had Sloppy Joes for a long time. I thought wouldn't it be great with biscuits on the top. From my recipe, I knew I need the ingredients below:

1 - cup Original Bisquick(R) mix
1-1/2 - cups shredded Cheddar cheese (6 ounces)
1/2 - cup water
1 - egg
1 - pound lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1/2 - cup ketchup
1/2 - teaspoon salt
1 - can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

Checking my inventory, I knew I needed

Bisquick, check

Shredded Cheddar Cheese, check

Egg, no I have a carton in the refrigerator

Yea, need some ground beef.

No, I'm OK on the ketchup.

Sure, I have plenty of salt.

Nope, I have plenty of tomato sauce.

Having a well-stocked kitchen allows you to skip during lean times between grocery trips but more important even than that, it lets you to hold out for the great sales, to add to your pantry. This is an important principle and can save you money.

So what is a well stocked kitchen? A lot of that depends on your eating style. I am going to share a basic kitchen list with you, but for your own list, take the one I provided, cross out the things you don't use, and add in the things you use most, to the list. This list will help assist you in stocking your pantry, and give you some idea of what to look for in the sale papers each week. Once you have it stocked then it is a simple matter of keeping it stocked by catching the sales each week.

This list is by no means complete and may not match your list that is ok; this is just a list to get you started. All of these things can be bought on sale, and picked up a bit at a time. Many of these items on this list are on here, because I can pick them up for super cheap on sale, like cereal and cake mixes. Pay close attention to the sales in your area, and add in your favorite loss leaders. I hope this helps you get a start on your pantry, and shows you how much you can save by shopping this way.

Putting You mission into action on a daily basis

We've clarified our mission by deciding why we grocery shop, what kind of shopper we want to be, and what we'd like to accomplish while shopping, and you realize the present moment is where the action is.

Each day is a mini-shopping day. Saying "I'll get committed tomorrow," or "I,ll do extra work later in the week," won't help you find out how good you can be. The time is now and the place is here.

A clear plan gives you perspective, direction, intensity, and meaning, and opens the door to learning as much as possible. In addition, it helps avoid the "Going-Through-The Motions' mind-set that cripples many shoppers and keeps them from finding out how good they can be. In essence, your plan becomes your attitude. It's a decision you make on a day to day basis.

Accomplishing an inventory you have set build your confidence. It's like making a deposit in a bank account that you can draw on whenever you need it. In time, you build a reputation with yourself that says, 'I'm a person who does what they set out to do.' Confidence and mental toughness are build one day at a time.

Go to Step #3