Frugality: Aldi's, Ingredient Re-Runs and the Infamous Eating Out!

Frugality. That is a really hard thing to wrap your mind around. I have researched it for quite a while. I have tried diff ways for us to save money. Some failed and some passed. Here are some ideas that work for us.
Sometimes I try so hard to be frugal and out the window it goes. If I am too frugal with my meals my husband will come home and say "yuck lets go out to dinner!" That is frustrating sometimes, but I must say that I kind of agree with him. If we are not eating what we enjoy then my frugal attempts are worth nothing. 1 meal out, even at Chipotles, will cost us $40.00 for a family of 5. That is way too much. I want to be a good stewardess of our money and home life. That is important to me. I am going to tell you some of the ways that I think are important to be frugal.
Here in Rochester the price of groceries is crazy. I noticed a complete difference when I came back from vacation. We have Wegmans, which is very nice. Topps, so so.. Aldis, awesome but you really can't buy everything there. I just have to be mindful of making a list for my groceries. I try to stay on my list with just a few add-ons. It is hard. Some frugal blogs have a list of prices from diff stores. Wow I commend you. I just don't have the time or patience. I wish I did. Maybe as I get more into this endeavor I will reach that point. My memory just helps me here. One good thing about Aldis is that they are starting to carry more items. I went the other day to Wegmans wanting to buy a can of particular beans. I was going to Aldi's next but did not think they would carry them. I bought them at Wegmans and went to Aldi's and there was the beans for 1/2 the price. I was bummed. So I mentally noted on the rest of my trip what different things they had. It used to be you would go to Aldi's to get your basics. Not anymore friends. If you don't have an Aldi's then just being deligent on making a menu for the week will help. Make a snack, baking, breakfast, lunch and dinner list for you. Then you know what you need to do and what you have to eat.
My next frugal attempt is too make sure I do an ingredient re-run. I like to buy meats that I am going to use at least 3 times a week. Like tonight we are having Beach Shrimp with Coconut Rice and Black Beans. Delicious. I am not going to use a whole big bag of shrimp tonight. So I planned to have Shrimp Pad Thai another night. It is cheaper to buy a big bag of shrimp then a small bag, right. This is a Delicious recipe but alot of the ingredients are in other dishes I am making this week. That saves me money.
In this household we don't like to eat mexican every night. I try and make a diff type of meal each week. I will get bored as the cook and my family will get bored eating it. Then we would run out to eat. Not good for at least $40.00 a pop. Think of that, if we eat out 2x a week that is $80.00 Wow. I could get alot of good food at the grocery store for that amount. We are starting to just eat out 1 dinner a week. Keep me accountable people. This is a hard one for us. We like to eat out, but we would like to pay off some bills too. I wouldn't mind being frugal for a year to be free from debt. Is this why you are trying to be frugal? Is it a necessity? I just think if we work on this endeavor together we can do great things. If you have a good frugal way you save money at home let me know.