Grocery Lessons

Groceries are freaking expensive. I am trying to find ways to cut back our grocery bill... but cutting back on food is not something I was born knowing how to do. It is also not something I was ever taught or something i ever witnessed growing up. I told my dad the other day i was trying to figure out how to trim our food budget and he just laughed and said-- I ruined you.
Sooo... cutting down on groceries... especially the more expensive items: shop the sales.
Every time I go to the grocery store I buy whatever meat is on the best sale that day. As soon as I get home, I wrap the meats in appropriate sized portions, and then put them in the freezer to use for meals later that week. But I don't use all of it every week... So tonight when I came home from the grocery store, I packaged up the turkey (that was on an AWESOME sale!) and went to put it in the freezer. But... the freezer was a little full. The freezer is, in fact VERY full. And... about 80% of that is meat.
(I am certain my husband is rejoicing)
We have ground beef, chicken breasts, pork loin, ground turkey, sausage, beef roast, chicken tenders, pork chops, brats, strip steaks, and bacon. And lots of it.
(Husband is doing the happy dance)
And yet I wonder why I can't control the grocery bill. Turns out-- I am buying much more food than we need, specifically more meat than we need, and not remembering what I put in the freezer every week. I have been carefully planning meals to try to cut down our grocery bill... but have a ton of food at home that I am not considering when putting together my menu.
So! Grocery lesson #562: Take inventory before shopping.
On the other hand... my grocery bill next month is going to make me feel like a rock star--not buying any meat for a while... so that's awesome.