Plotting and scheming ... and wondering ... will it work?

I've just been at a friend's house. And she shared with me what works for her. And I must say I am intrigued.

You see, now that I am working a little bit more, I am trying to work out any way I can to save time, so I can be doing the things at home and with my family that I love.

Now that I am eating so well, I am trying to work out ways to make it fun and easy so we can stick to the plan and do great things for our health!

Now that I am trying to get our finances back on track and save a little bit more, I am looking at all those ways money seems to filter out of our lives and out our door, and reign it back in.

Which leads me to this idea.

I KNOW that when I plan our food for the week it saves us a bucket load of cash and we eat so well. It is when we try to go by the moment that things get out of hand.

I KNOW that when I go to the shops, whether it is for one thing or many I ALWAYS end up with something extra, something that we don't need. (and often a coffee and a magazine since I am downtown anyway!)

And I KNOW that any trip to the shops is a massive time waster. If I go to the shops I would much rather it was an occasional trip for fun than a routine trip for those "few things" we have forgotten.

So here is what I am thinking.

Menu planning ... and grocery home delivery.

Yes it costs to get the groceries home delivered. But it is $5. That's it. I'd spend that on those "extras" that end up in the trolley easily!

But what the online shopping let's me do is make and save lists to order. So I can plan four weekly menus and save each week's grocery list under a separate name. When it is time for week 1's menu I can select it, add or delete any items we may need and make sure we are home for delivery time.

I must say, I would not trust someone else to choose my fruit and vegetables. And we eat a LOT of fresh produce. But this can be solved by my weekly trip to the fruit and vege farmer's markets. One trip, and I can choose what is fresh and seasonal.

I'm still not convinced. I love the convenience factor. I love being able to see exactly how much we have spent before we get to the "checkout".

It's just the inital preparation and planning for the menus and setting up the shopping cart.

I do think I may give it a try tho.