Any tips on ways to reduce grocery bill?

[mombrontrent]

It is downright depressing anymore looking at these threads. I don't know why I look.

Early in the thread, someone listed 2 lb. ground chuck for $4.58. I can't buy 1 lb. of ground chuck for $4.58. Just bought some, $4.79/lb. The "good" stuff in the case was $5.29/lb.

My wife does the bulk of the grocery shopping. I just stop for meat on Friday. Porkchops, a roast, about 1.25 pound of hamburger, 2 jars of spaghetti sauce, and hot sausage, each the meat for a single meal plus lunch the next day, $56. That's 4 meals and only includes the meat portion. Still have to add all the rest for those meals, plus lunch items for the kids for 5 days, 3 more days of dinner, toiletries....

We spend about $250/week.

I am always utterally amazed when I read these threads too! I can't believe a family that includes two adults, two teens and two pets can eat on $75/week

We are a family of 5 that includes me (vegan), two vegetarian daughters and my DS and DH who occasionally eat meat (like maybe once a week). We spend a good $1000/month on groceries and we have no pets

Yesterday we went to Costco and spend $285 and besides paper towels and toilet paper the rest was food (and no meat, the only dairy was a yogurt for $5.99). We usually go there every two weeks and sometimes every week. I also make about 2 trips to the grocery store every week to pick up fresh produce. The thing is I cook every night from scratch, I use dried beans, fresh produce, grains ect. We rarely buy prepackaged food and we are not big eaters. Living in Canada food does cost more and couponing is usless so I don't bother with it but I do try to shop sales. I do buy ALOT of organic foods so I know that cost more and we eat a TON of produce. I can eaily spend $100/wk or more on fruits and veggies. For example yesterday at Costco on produce:

mushrooms-$3.99
6 pack bell peppers-$6.99
2 bunches bananas-$3.40
Baby spinach-$3.79
Baby romaine-$3.79
Box of clemintines-$3.99
2 Pineapples-$3.99
6 lb bag of apples-$6.99
10 lbs potatos-$6.99
3 pack cucumber-$4.69
5 lb baby carrots-$4.99
3 lb zuchini-$3.49
10 lb bag frozen strawberries-$9.99
5 lb frozen raspeberries-$6.99
huge bag frozen peas-$7.99
huge bag frozen corn-$7.99
2 cases of the dole fresh grapfruit cups-$13.98 (sale, for school and work lunches)
2 cases dole mango and peach fruit cups- $13.98 (same as above)

That's $120 plus I already have some things like onions, celery, cabbage ect at home. I'll be back at the grocery store in 4-5 days to restock on some fruits and veggies, we do ALOT of smoothies and veggie based meals so it doesn't last long in this house. My kids plow threw fruit! That stuff doesn't come cheap in the winter and doesn't usually go on sale but I have to buy it anyways so I don't really see how to cut cost and lower my food bill.

 

[reelmom]

I like to make a menu each week before going shopping and try to stick to my list.

We have breakfast for dinner once a week, very cheap.

We eat sandwiches and pasta salad or soup and sandwiches for dinner a lot.

We also will do meatless meals. A few veggies with cornbread or spaghetti with just sauce.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I am always utterally amazed when I read these threads too! I can't believe a family that includes two adults, two teens and two pets can eat on $75/week

We are a family of 5 that includes me (vegan), two vegetarian daughters and my DS and DH who occasionally eat meat (like maybe once a week). We spend a good $1000/month on groceries and we have no pets

Yesterday we went to Costco and spend $285 and besides paper towels and toilet paper the rest was food (and no meat, the only dairy was a yogurt for $5.99). We usually go there every two weeks and sometimes every week. I also make about 2 trips to the grocery store every week to pick up fresh produce. The thing is I cook every night from scratch, I use dried beans, fresh produce, grains ect. We rarely buy prepackaged food and we are not big eaters. Living in Canada food does cost more and couponing is usless so I don't bother with it but I do try to shop sales. I do buy ALOT of organic foods so I know that cost more and we eat a TON of produce. I can eaily spend $100/wk or more on fruits and veggies. For example yesterday at Costco on produce:

mushrooms-$3.99
6 pack bell peppers-$6.99
2 bunches bananas-$3.40
Baby spinach-$3.79
Baby romaine-$3.79
Box of clemintines-$3.99
2 Pineapples-$3.99
6 lb bag of apples-$6.99
10 lbs potatos-$6.99
3 pack cucumber-$4.69
5 lb baby carrots-$4.99
3 lb zuchini-$3.49
10 lb bag frozen strawberries-$9.99
5 lb frozen raspeberries-$6.99
huge bag frozen peas-$7.99
huge bag frozen corn-$7.99
2 cases of the dole fresh grapfruit cups-$13.98 (sale, for school and work lunches)
2 cases dole mango and peach fruit cups- $13.98 (same as above)

That's $120 plus I already have some things like onions, celery, cabbage ect at home. I'll be back at the grocery store in 4-5 days to restock on some fruits and veggies, we do ALOT of smoothies and veggie based meals so it doesn't last long in this house. My kids plow threw fruit! That stuff doesn't come cheap in the winter and doesn't usually go on sale but I have to buy it anyways so I don't really see how to cut cost and lower my food bill.

We too spend @$1000 per month for family of 5 (2 of which are teens), which shocked me, but we eat a lot of veggies and fruit too and we live in Bozeman where groceries are expensive compared to other places and there aren't many coupons SO I've tried to have one night be an "egg" night since they are inexpensive and one night a bean/rice night. We eat ground turkey which isn't cheap so I'm working on that, but trying to cut fat intake for my waist line. Our biggest cost I think is wasting food. I just had to throw some things away yesterday out of the frig because they didn't get eaten. And found some stale pretzels and cereal in pantry. Organization is so important.

 

[edk35]

When you guys grocery shop...are you going to multiple stores? Do you include paper products/toiletries? I shop at the commissary at our local military base.....and I get everything there except for dog food that we get a Pet Smart. I spend wayyyyyy more than I see people posting on here. I guess if I only included FOOD I might come in close to some people's amounts. What are you including??

 

[Planogirl]

This thread is interesting. I have the most trouble saving money on meat and fruit. I can't remember the last time I saw a good sale on ground beef.

I will only add to watch the more expensive stores when it comes to sales. The better stores often have excellent sales whereas the discount stores seem to usually charge the same price day after day. I find that Target is actually quite expensive when it comes to certain things so just being labeled a budget store doesn't always help.

 

[Salrx95]

When you guys grocery shop...are you going to multiple stores? Do you include paper products/toiletries? I shop at the commissary at our local military base.....and I get everything there except for dog food that we get a Pet Smart. I spend wayyyyyy more than I see people posting on here. I guess if I only included FOOD I might come in close to some people's amounts. What are you including??

I go to multiple stores each week. Part of that is because I am a pharmacist in a grocery store (Stop & Shop). So I shop there once a week on one of the nights I close. They are priced slightly higher so I buy only whats on sale usually, unless there is a need. Of course, I may grab a milk or a couple of items before leaving on other days but generally shop there once a week. I then go to usually either shop rite or big Y as they are the 2 closest stores to my home. Big Y is pricey but sometimes I shop there (about once a month) because they sometimes have really good deals that make it worth a trip. Otherwise I do shop rite, which is priced best (until an Aldi just moved in a few months ago but I've yet to go there). The shop rite is also right near the Costco so I'll usually do shop rite whenever I got to costco. Plus Shop Rite had a baby bucks program that for every $100 of baby products you'd buy, you got $10 of a grocery bill, which really made it worth it to shop there when our boys were in diapers.

The bill I referenced on the previous page did include some toiletries like a pack of toilet paper for 8.99.

I'll also add we generally do not waste much food as others have said. I work at least one or 2 nights a week each week so I'll take leftovers to work or the family will eat leftovers on a night I work late. I eat any leftovers. I do not like to waste money....on most things. We eat out like once or twice a month on average and do takeout maybe once or twice a month, usually chinese or pizza on the Saturday when I work the weekend. We live in an expensive part of the country and try to save and make the most of our money. Luckily, my wife does need designer clothes, jewelry, etc. One of the many things I love about here.

 

[nugov2]

Didn't read all responses, but I would recommend Walmart price match. Our Walmarts are really nice(I know some are sketchy) and carry a large selection of organic. I write down every sale price from all the ads I get in the mail. They honor ever single sale price and you don't need to bring the ads with you. Just when they scan the item you say on sale for x and they override the price. I write what the item is EX. Tropicana oj 32 oz. 2.99 on my list. Then I check Walmart prices and see if I can do better. If their price is better(which sometimes happens) I cross it off my list so I don't get confused at checkout. Often the stores around here have 5 or 6 really good buys ex. cheese its 99 cents...I stock up at walmart on them.

I also do Trader Joes...always super reasonable and Costco for all my bulk meats once a month and put stuff in our extra freezer. I do lunch meat from a local deli b/c I only will buy Boars Head.

Our biggest thing is one still in diapers and we eat a ton of produce. Our bill for a family of 5 is about $150-$170 a week from all stores including all household things..food, cleaning supplies, diapers etc. We probably eat out once a week on a day where kids activities are nuts.

I will also add I have very picky kids so we eat a lot of the same meals. I do give them nuggets(Costco all white meat breaded is a great alternative to an all filler brand) on days where I want a change. I'd say our typical week looks like this:
Meatloaf
Baked Chicken breast with side(rice or veggie)
Tacos or chili
Spaghetti
Chicken breasts in another way...over a salad
I work one night and my hubby does a healthy choice or frozen pizza and nuggets for kids
fish...salmon or tilapia

 

[Salrx95]

This thread is interesting. I have the most trouble saving money on meat and fruit. I can't remember the last time I saw a good sale on ground beef.

I will only add to watch the more expensive stores when it comes to sales. The better stores often have excellent sales whereas the discount stores seem to usually charge the same price day after day. I find that Target is actually quite expensive when it comes to certain things so just being labeled a budget store doesn't always help.

I agree. I don't see ground beef on sale often either, other than the not so lean and we only buy the 90+%. I also usually only buy the ground beef at costco due to the whole pink slime controversy. We also use ground turkey more often, anyways, to be healthier. My wife usually makes turkey meatballs when she makes red sauce (don't tell grandma)

Also, I forgot to mention Target as one of the places I frequent often. Our target converted recently to carry more groceries/fruit/etc. I shop there often, especially if I need to go there for something else (toy, dvd, clothing, etc). We have a target visa so we save 5% there.

 

[Salrx95]

Didn't read all responses, but I would recommend Walmart price match. Our Walmarts are really nice(I know some are sketchy) and carry a large selection of organic. I write down every sale price from all the ads I get in the mail. They honor ever single sale price and you don't need to bring the ads with you. Just when they scan the item you say on sale for x and they override the price. I write what the item is EX. Tropicana oj 32 oz. 2.99 on my list. Then I check Walmart prices and see if I can do better. If their price is better(which sometimes happens) I cross it off my list so I don't get confused at checkout. Often the stores around here have 5 or 6 really good buys ex. cheese its 99 cents...I stock up at walmart on them.

I also do Trader Joes...always super reasonable and Costco for all my bulk meats once a month and put stuff in our extra freezer. I do lunch meat from a local deli b/c I only will buy Boars Head.

Our biggest thing is one still in diapers and we eat a ton of produce. Our bill for a family of 5 is about $150-$170 a week from all stores including all household things..food, cleaning supplies, diapers etc. We probably eat out once a week on a day where kids activities are nuts.

I will also add I have very picky kids so we eat a lot of the same meals. I do give them nuggets(Costco all white meat breaded is a great alternative to an all filler brand) on days where I want a change. I'd say our typical week looks like this:
Meatloaf
Baked Chicken breast with side(rice or veggie)
Tacos or chili
Spaghetti
Chicken breasts in another way...over a salad
I work one night and my hubby does a healthy choice or frozen pizza and nuggets for kids
fish...salmon or tilapia

I go to our Walmart a couple of times a year, usually when looking for a specific toy for the kids or maybe some clothing since they often have character tees for cheap.

I always feel like I need a shower after leaving our Walmart. I would gladly spend a little extra than spend time at our walmart, let alone buy food there.

 

[mrsklamc]

Luckily, my wife does need designer clothes, jewelry, etc. One of the many things I love about here.

Can't help but wonder if you meant she doesn't need those things?

 

[North of Mouse]

How much of that meat was on sale? That is really the key. A certain type of meat may only go on a "really good" sale once every 4-6 weeks. An example is chicken breasts. If I were to just pop into the store and buy chicken breast when I needed them they will cost between $4-$6lb at my local store. But once every 6 weeks or so they go on sale for $1.99lb. so I only buy chicken breasts once every 6 weeks at the sale price and I buy 15-20 lbs of it, or however much will get me through until the next sale. When I bought our meat from a store it was rare for me to buy more than one or two kinds or cuts of meat at a time, instead I would rotate buying whatever the super sale of the week was in large amounts and freeze it. Then as you meal plan you pull it put of the freezer, this way you are always buying at the low price point.

You are so correct! If you just go to the store with the intention of getting a certain type of meat, then you will usually pay a very high price. I always shop the sales, stock up in freezer and know how much to get until the next sale. I get ground chuck a lot of times 2# $5, also the chicken breasts for $1.79 - $2.00lb. I *never* pay full price for any cut of meat.

It's the same for most staples in the pantry - sales + coupons.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Chicken breast are 16.00 for 10 pounds at Costco we do not care if they are frozen. They are individually sealed so we pull out as many as we need. Ground beef is most expensive but we typically pay about 16.00 for 5-6 pounds and it is not the high fat variety. We buy steaks in meat box when we visit a Amish town. It is 90.00 for the box and contains rib eyes, t bones, strip and sirloin. That is how we cut our meat costs without quality. We also buy our fish and shrimp frozen although I did get a decent (for a splurge) price on fresh shrimp at whole foods which with their sale brought it down to frozen shrimp prices.

I want sheparda pie tonight but alas no potatoes on hand so I will have to buy some...

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[4HppyCamprs]

Chicken breast are 16.00 for 10 pounds at Costco we do not care if they are frozen. They are individually sealed so we pull out as many as we need. Ground beef is most expensive but we typically pay about 16.00 for 5-6 pounds and it is not the high fat variety. We buy steaks in meat box when we visit a Amish town. It is 90.00 for the box and contains rib eyes, t bones, strip and sirloin. That is how we cut our meat costs without quality. We also buy our fish and shrimp frozen although I did get a decent (for a splurge) price on fresh shrimp at whole foods which with their sale brought it down to frozen shrimp prices.

I want sheparda pie tonight but alas no potatoes on hand so I will have to buy some...

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Adding that we had to stick to a 150.00 budget every 2 weeks for a family of 5 plus 2 dogs and 2 cats due to poor spending choices. I never ever buy meat when I have to buy pet supplies it was to big a chunk of the budget.

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[Salrx95]

Can't help but wonder if you meant she doesn't need those things?

Wow, how could I mess that up. The 2 most important letters of the post. Yes, she doesn't need those things. She shops the discount and clearance racks often and always looks great.

 

[Sparkly]

Never go grocery shopping when you're hungry! That extra money for a sandwich or sausage roll adds up.

 

[danygirl]

One other way I keep my bills low is to buy things like make up, deodorant, toothpaste,toothbrushes, dental floss, face cream, sunscreen, etc at drugstores. Unless your grocery store has an amazing sale going on they will almost always be cheaper at the drug store. Drug store deals beat costco pricing too.

I sometimes hit more than one grocery store in a week, but my favorite "trick" is using other store coupons at my main grocery store. They take ALL competitor coupons, which makes it possible to get the loss leader deals from multiple stores all from one store. Many will price match too if you ask.. And get rainchecks if they are out of sale items. I mainly buy the clearance meat (got 3 awesome Tbones for $8 total this weekend!) and freeze your meat. I honestly could not make our budget work if I wasn't buying my meat on sale/clearance and freezing it. Same with milk. When I get a deal (or go to costco) I buy a lot of milk and freeze it. This week I was getting half gallons for $1.14, so $2.28 per gallon. I bought all I could get and froze it.

I get fruit and veggies from a farm market I can walk to in the summer. Sometimes they have the day old corn or the irregular melons dirt cheap. I get a lot of that, too.

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

It is downright depressing anymore looking at these threads. I don't know why I look.

Early in the thread, someone listed 2 lb. ground chuck for $4.58. I can't buy 1 lb. of ground chuck for $4.58. Just bought some, $4.79/lb. The "good" stuff in the case was $5.29/lb.

My wife does the bulk of the grocery shopping. I just stop for meat on Friday. Porkchops, a roast, about 1.25 pound of hamburger, 2 jars of spaghetti sauce, and hot sausage, each the meat for a single meal plus lunch the next day, $56. That's 4 meals and only includes the meat portion. Still have to add all the rest for those meals, plus lunch items for the kids for 5 days, 3 more days of dinner, toiletries....

We spend about $250/week.

Don't be depressed. We have no idea where these people live or where they shop. Seriously people, please post WHERE YOU LIVE and if you are buying regular products or organic etc. Cost of living and cost of food varies greatly in the USA and I assume it does in Canada as well. My MIL used to get so mad when she stayed here (Maryland) for a month and went shopping at the local Giant. She said it was soooooo expensive compared to the Houston TX area and the produce was not as good.

Personally I shop at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Costco with a very occasional trip to Giant. I do buy my meat from Whole Foods only on sale! Trader Joe's has pretty reasonable prices in my opinion, as does Costco. I love the Kirkland brand for many items. We do not eat food with preservatives or artificial flavors/colors. And we only drink organic milk. The amount we spend varies but I would guess around 180 - 200 a week (family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kiddos). I don't really have a "budget" for food, we have to eat so I pay whatever it costs. Trader Joe's and Costco do not have "sales" but Costco has their own coupons and TJ's takes coupons for stuff that is not their own brand. WF's takes all coupons. We need to eat lots of fruits and vegetables so I sort of HATE the winter because nothing is in season locally

The best advice I have is not to eat out or rarely eat out. That is what costs so much!

 

[MickeyP]

I don't know....if you're going to spend that much on groceries, then I say go to Olive Garden and fill up on bread and take home a doggie bag. Maybe you can get 2 more meals from it. 3 meals from Texas Roadhouse the other night is definitely worth it, and no clean up!!!!!

 

[skeettafic]

When you guys grocery shop...are you going to multiple stores? Do you include paper products/toiletries? I shop at the commissary at our local military base.....and I get everything there except for dog food that we get a Pet Smart. I spend wayyyyyy more than I see people posting on here. I guess if I only included FOOD I might come in close to some people's amounts. What are you including??

Yes, I go to multiple stores. Today was CVS, Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle. Target is also one of my go-to stores but it is farther away than the others so sometimes I skip it. Giant Eagle (our local grocery store) tends to be more expensive than Wal-Mart but they double coupons up to .99 so when things are on sale, I can do pretty well. I also will use couponing sites to help plan my trips so that I make the most of the deals/coupons out there. I really like hip2save - she's where I learned how to make the most of the coupons.

My $120/week includes food, pet care and household. One thing is that we chip in with my in-laws and buy 1/4 cow every spring so I buy no beef through the year. The other tip I have is to look for the meat that is just about to expire because it's marked down. We freeze it immediately and cook it as soon as it thaws. I got 6 pounds of chicken breast today for just over $7 since it was going to expire in a few days.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Well my paper towel come from menards because it 15.00 to 17.00 (if not on sale) for 30 rolls of paper towels and that is my weakness in disposables. Otherwise I shop at Costco or SAMs and Walmart and Meijer for food and pet supplies. Yes that is included in my budget. We now have a budget of 250.00 every two weeks. I went a bit over last week because I included oil Change supplies and clearance stocking stuffers for next year.

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