I have done two giveaways now with Rafflecoptor. The second one actually ends tonight at midnight. If you have not entered, please do. It’s such a nice gift that I think anyone would love to receive. To enter, click here and follow the instructions! I love that Rafflecoptor allows the blogger to choose their own rules for entering. I chose to have you, my subscribers, leave a comment at the bottom of the post indicating what you would like to see me do a future blog post on that is relevant to getting more organized. Having my subscribers do this is a great resource for me because it provides me feedback on what you ladies truly want to hear. I absolutely love the suggestions I have received. It brings me great pleasure to share content that I – myself love to hear and talk about. I have kept a journal of all the wonderful suggestions you’ve made. Some women are looking more for beauty tips and advice and others organization, healthy eating, and so on. But clear across the board, pretty much everyone is on the same page and wants to be inspired in the same areas. Over the next couple blog posts, I would like to do a ‘Q & A’ tackling a few of these questions that were left in the comment section of my Giveaway Post. Some of the answers would be much better to share in video form. Although I snapchat a lot of organization and beauty tips, along with meals & cooking … my true goal is to be able to offer YouTube videos that my subscribers can resource back to. That is in my future plans, and I will definitely keep you posted. On the other hand, many suggestions would make for a great blog post. That leaves us with those extras; the questions that may at this time not require a video or blog post, but are just as important. For today’s and Wednesday’s wine down post, I am going to do a little Q & A, covering a couple of those topics. I look forward to sharing my thoughts, and what works for my family and I.

Today’s Q & A is on a topic that was shared by several ladies. Many of you asked:  How do you plan meals for your family? Do you budget for groceries, and if so, how do you stick to that budget. Also, how often do you grocery shop?

• My answer: Yes, we ABSOLUTELY have a budget. We also have a lot of people to feed, so that budget is bigger than the average family. But for the most part, we stick to it! If we are hosting an upcoming party or get-together, that budget gets adjusted and we plan for it in advance. Although both my husband and I have our own personal business income, when it comes to grocery shopping, we only use my husband’s main paycheck. He gets paid bi-monthly, therefore, we grocery shop two times a month. Every family has their basic food items they purchase on every grocery trip, and we are no different. That is the starting point. These are the necessities, they are always on the grocery lists, and never get deleted. This also includes ‘my’ food. As you may have noticed on my ‘What I Eat Wednesday’ Snapstories, I eat slightly healthier than the rest of my family. The majority of what I eat is the same. I’ve ate like this for so long, I know what I require to cover a two week period. That same principle applies for the rest of the family. To get all the grocery and toiletree items we need, at the price we’re willing to pay, we shop at three different stores. I keep the grocery list for each store on a phone app called Cozi. The whole family uses this app. We have three children that drive, so it’s not uncommon for one of them to have to do the shopping. They use their debit card and then we transfer the money over. Our banking app is family-synced, as well. Our girls all get their own debit card at the age of 13.  As for meal planning: for myself, I look ahead at my schedule and try to organize my meal prep. My goal is to make two days worth of meals, so I get a day off in between. I always keep healthy convenience items on hand, so if I’m in a pinch and cannot get to preparing something, I have healthy alternatives to tie me over. For family meal planning: My kids know how to fix things for themselves. As they run out of necessities or particular items they personally like, they update the grocery lists on the Cozi app by adding in those items. This includes their personal toiletries. We are fortunate in our home that my oldest and third daughter love to cook. And by cook, I mean homemade, from scratch-meals. These two love experimenting, and as much as I love to cook and bake, I embrace this. With my current schedule, it’s nice to have someone else taking care of this responsibility. I need the break! At least 4-5 days a week, Kirstyn and McKenna are making full-blown, amazing meals. If they need specific ingredients to make a meal, they type it on that store’s list in the Cozi app. If a last minute item is needed, they run to the store to get it and my husband or I will transfer the money back into their account. My oldest daughter, Kirstyn, occasionally picks up grocery items and does not bill us. It’s nice to have responsible adult children that pitch in on occasion, without being asked. In a big family, every dollar helps. I do not clip coupons. The majority of what we buy is not a ‘coupon-item’. If it is, we generally purchase generic. We do the majority of our shopping at a store called, Aldi. This store saves us more money than any coupon clipping can accomplish. Several years ago, I did some comparison shopping on the items we purchase from store to store and by far, Aldi was the winner. Next came Wal-mart, Kroger, and most expensive was Meijer. Sam’s Club is hit and miss … it depends on the item. If you have small children, the dynamics of your meal planning and grocery shopping will be much different. I was a stay-at-home mom when my girls were little. We implemented the same system, except I was doing it all myself. At the time, that was what I did. It was my responsibility. Now the responsibility is shared. We have a bunch of young adults in our home, so my husband and I don’t really do a lot of the stuff we had to do when our children were little.

These were great questions. I thank you ladies for sharing. I think it’s great when we can reach out to other wives and moms for inspiration and encouragement by hearing their experiences, what works, and what does not work. It is important to recognize that not everything you hear from me, or anyone else will ALL work for you and your family. Take from this blog post what you can implement, and disregard the rest. I cannot stress that enough. Every family will be different. There is not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way. There is only the most suitable way that will work for your family. As your family grows and the dynamics change, so will your system. Be adaptable.

Floral Dress: clearanced here . This one here is on my wish list or possibly in my shopping cart (shhhh!)  | Orange Handbag: sold out, similar here, this one by Target, here, and LOVE this one here  |  Over The Knee Boots: super affordable similar ones, here and here