Menu Planning and Money Saving with Flipp App

Hello Everyone!  Today I’m partnering with Flipp, a free shopping app to tell you about how we menu plan, organize for the week and save money!  One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be more organized when it comes to our kitchen.  So I now have a Saturday morning ritual and it involves a cup of tea, a stack of cookbooks, my planner and my phone.  I look at my calendar for the week, figure out how many evenings we’ll be home and plan out our menu for the days to come.  I go through my cookbooks for recipes, or inspiration, and write down a shopping list.  I break it up into categories – we get all of our meat from the farmer’s market, our dairy from the Co-op, and most of our pantry items, produce and miscellaneous household items from Whole Foods.  All of this planning ensures that we won’t get caught in the pickle of nothing to eat and order takeout that isn’t really the best for us (I’m looking at you, pizza)!  Since quality is my top priority when it comes to food and I’m religious about my sourcing, food is our biggest expenditure each month outside of our mortgage.  We make sacrifices in other areas to accommodate the expense, but I am always looking for ways to save.  SERIOUSLY WHOLE FOODS, WHY ARE YOU EATING ALL OF OUR PAYCHECKS?!

Which brings me to the Flipp App, my new partner in shopping & saving money! My routine now involves checking out the sales on Flipp before I start menu planning to see if I can incorporate any of the sale items into my plan.  For instance, this week Whole Foods is having a sale on vine ripened tomatoes. Which means it’s a good time for me to make a batch of the tomato confit from the Gjelina cookbook that I like to have on hand as often as possible (please please make it if you haven’t already)!!  After I’ve incorporated the sales items into my meal plan, I photograph my hand-written shopping list and upload to Flipp where it is then transcribed so I can easily check the items off as I shop. This is a lifesaver because I find few things more irritating than having to go back to the market after I’ve spent a whole day running around shopping (and trust me that has happened more than I’d care to admit with my chicken scratch handwritten grocery lists).

Did you ever watch the shows or read about the coupon clipping fanatics who were basically saving billions of dollars, almost as a sport?  I’ve always admired those people so much!  BUT.  Before Flipp, I’ve never, not once, remembered to use a coupon I’ve clipped.  And there was a point where I was all I’m totally gonna be one of those people who spends pennies on their groceries because I use the bejeesus out of coupons!  But.  Again.  I failed before I started.  And, truth be told, there is only a limited amount of saving I can do while still buying the best quality food. I’m not willing to compromise there for as long as I can afford not to.  Lucky for me, there are coupons for all sorts of household items to be found on Flipp! Think: batteries, toilet paper, lint rollers, paper towels, laundry detergent!  OMG I know I’m a super nerd for getting so excited about it but I can’t help myself!  I can finally be one of those people who uses coupons!!!!  *Patting myself on the back*

Ok, another feature I think you should know about and then I’ll let you get on with your (even more clever) life!  Family Sync.  Yup, that’s right.  I can make the shopping list, upload to Flipp and then Lou and I can divide and conquer! Nothing quite like splitting up the task list to make life a bit easier!  They really have thought of everything.  I can’t wait for you to try it, I know you’ll love it as much as I do.

Flipp app is free and available for iOS and Android. Download Flipp in the app store or Google Play Store and let me know how much you saved!  XX- Sarah