Any tips on ways to reduce grocery bill?

[MinnieForMe]

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. I said the same thing when I looked at the price of meat. We also spend almost $5.00 lb. for hamburger and turkey/chicken chopped meat is no cheaper. It's actually cheaper to buy a whole chicken or steak than hamburger here.

 

[mrsklamc]

How much you can save is definitely dependent on where you live, how competitive the grocery stores are in your area w/ things like double coupons, and how much time you can put into meal planning and pricing research. For example, in central Indiana right now Meijer has a center cut boneless pork loin for 1.67 a pound that I will have cut down into chops and that will be several meals for us.

The book "The Complete Tightwad Gazette" really breaks down ways to save on groceries and in many other areas.

 

[worm761]

I live in northwest Florida. I shop at Winn Dixie, Food World, Publix and Sam's Club. Though not always all of them. We are a family of 3 adults (me, DH, and my dad), teen DS, and 3 year old DD. Plus we have 2 dogs, one of which is well over a hundred pounds. My grocery budget includes all food, dog food/treats, cleaners, and health/beauty supplies. I try to stick to $300 every two weeks.

I shop sales and make everything from scratch. We buy roast/pork/chicken/turkey when it is on sale to grind and make our own ground meats.
We buy hunks of meat to cook and slice for deli meats. Cheaper per pound and doesn't have all those scary ingredients in them.
We have to eat low sodium and low cholesterol.
I started incorporating TVP into my ground meat to help with cost and health.

I have started a new budget this year and part of that is budgeting exactly what I am willing to pay for the ingredients I need/want. For instance, split chicken breasts including the rib were 98 cents a pound. I budgeted $7 so I bought $7 worth even though I don't need all of that for this menu. The extra is in the freezer for different meals. When writing my grocery list, I include what I have budgeted for each item. This helps keep my costs in control.

When I purchase meat with a purpose I label what meal it is for. Otherwise I just label it with the type of meat and how many ounces there are.

I keep a running inventory in my Gmail Drive. DH and I can both access this from our phones so if we see a good deal, we can quickly look to see what we have on hand. A good deal is a good deal only if you use it up. I also keep a list of rock bottom prices so I know a good deal when I see one.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I live in northwest Florida. I shop at Winn Dixie, Food World, Publix and Sam's Club. Though not always all of them. We are a family of 3 adults (me, DH, and my dad), teen DS, and 3 year old DD. Plus we have 2 dogs, one of which is well over a hundred pounds. My grocery budget includes all food, dog food/treats, cleaners, and health/beauty supplies. I try to stick to $300 every two weeks.

I shop sales and make everything from scratch. We buy roast/pork/chicken/turkey when it is on sale to grind and make our own ground meats.
We buy hunks of meat to cook and slice for deli meats. Cheaper per pound and doesn't have all those scary ingredients in them.
We have to eat low sodium and low cholesterol.
I started incorporating TVP into my ground meat to help with cost and health.

I have started a new budget this year and part of that is budgeting exactly what I am willing to pay for the ingredients I need/want. For instance, split chicken breasts including the rib were 98 cents a pound. I budgeted $7 so I bought $7 worth even though I don't need all of that for this menu. The extra is in the freezer for different meals. When writing my grocery list, I include what I have budgeted for each item. This helps keep my costs in control.

When I purchase meat with a purpose I label what meal it is for. Otherwise I just label it with the type of meat and how many ounces there are.

I keep a running inventory in my Gmail Drive. DH and I can both access this from our phones so if we see a good deal, we can quickly look to see what we have on hand. A good deal is a good deal only if you use it up. I also keep a list of rock bottom prices so I know a good deal when I see one.

That is a very good point. I use a Iphone app called Grocery IQ and I can do a pretty good guesstimate before I leave the house on how much the grocery bill will be for what I need. I have a pretty good mental list of what stuff "should" cost but the app definitely helps to not be surprised at checkout. We carried a calculator before we got the APP.

 

[Shanan]

I also shop the sales. From Thanksgiving thru Christmas I shopped what was the loss leaders for the stores & stocked my pantry with that. I got great deals on Campbell's Cream of Mushroom & Cream of Chicken soup along with coupons used that was much cheaper then the store brand soups (& man did I ever load up on that).

The only time I buy hamburger meat is if it is in the reduced meat section and if a boneless roast is on sale. I have found that a roast on sale is cheaper per pound of meat then the highest fattest hamburger meat. My store grinds up the sale roast up for hamburger meat with no extra cost when requested.

DH swore by French's mustard. The price difference between French's & store brand is quite a bit. I bought store brand & just replaced his French's. Only admitted to doing that after almost 3 years when he thought his French's mustard had expired - I told him Nope! Been using store brand for years in the French's bottle.

 

[auger]

The way I save is to buy only when items are on sale.
My family knows that cereal is NEVER purchased at full price. When it goes on a great sale (meaning $2 or less for a large box) I will stock up.
When it's gone, tough luck till it goes on sale again!

Same thing goes for most everything I buy.
If I need ground beef, I buy a boatload when it's on sale.
I bring it home and cook it up all at once, then I package it in ziplocs or storage containers and put it in the freezer.
By cooking it all at once, it makes it easier to make meals. Meat is already cooked, just go from there!

I do the same with Chicken, Chops, roasts, stew beef, etc.
I also buy hams and we eat off of those for an extended period.

Before Thanksgiving, one of our stores had gravy on sale for 1/3 of the usual cost.
I bought about 20 cans. That alone saved me at least $12!

So basically, when it goes on sale, buy a bunch!! It's hard to do at first, because you have to get into the cycle of it to really see the benefit.
But the benefit is there!

If you have a Sam's, BJ's, or Costco, look into a membership.
Personally, I use Sams. Don't care for Costco, don't have a BJ's.

I can usually find good prices on meats at Sams if no one else has a sale.
I also buy all cheeses there in bulk. I divide it into smaller bags and freeze it.
Can't tell you how much I have saved in cheese alone over the years!!

The other way to save is to use coupons whenever possible.
I don't have the luck of my coupons matching my purchases the way extreme couponers seem to be able to do.
But when I have one that I can use, I definitely use it!

 

[Ava]

The biggest thing we did to cut down the grocery bill was to stop buying sodas/juices. We don't buy soda at all any more, and only buy the occasional half gallon of juice when it's on sale for under $2. Soda and juice are so expensive and not necessary (and not very healthy either).

We also don't buy things like cookies and chips, only very rarely for a treat if they're on sale. This also helps me and DW not snack so much at night after DD is in bed; if the junk is not in the house then we can't eat it!

 

[jcemom]

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!!!!!

LOL DH thinks I'm crazy for doing that at Olive Garden! I love the salad and breadsticks, and since I can't bring home a bunch of those, I fill up on those and bring home my entree.

 

[scrapquitler]

Don't be depressed. I said the same thing when I looked at the price of meat. We also spend almost $5.00 lb. for hamburger and turkey/chicken chopped meat is no cheaper. It's actually cheaper to buy a whole chicken or steak than hamburger here.

Same here. The cheapest thing I can usually get is chicken thighs for like $1.59/lb, and my family doesn't really care for them very much. They like steak, steak tips, chicken breast, hamburger, pork chops, roast, etc. I pay a lot more for meats than I see posted here regularly. About a month ago I got a special deal at my grocery store (I still think they made a mistake, but I took advantage of it because I have NEVER seen such a low price: they had hamburger for $3.29/lb in a 3 lb package, and there was coupon in the circular that those packages were part of the 4 packages of meat for $20 deal, so I got 12 1/2 lbs of hamburger for $20...the best deal I've had in a long long time.

 

[fanofWD]

these are all great suggestions!! It's nice to hear ideas from so many different people and different budgets. My DH, me , and our DD's budget is $60 a week. We do it by couponing, eating a lot of meatless meals, and stocking up when things go on sale...I'm sure living in a inexpensive part of the country helps too. Ours is a budget of necessity, though, with myself going to school full-time and my DH being a part-time Children's Pastor, money is tight! Thank you all for sharing, it gave me a few ideas I haven't put into practice yet

 

[courtneymarieclare]

I usually only buy stuff that is on sale, with very few exceptions. Then I build my meals around these items. I don't plan meals and then go buy the ingredients; I buy ingredients and then plan the meals. I shop Winn Dixie, Publix, and sometimes Target. I take advantage of the buy one get one free sales at Winn Dixie and Publix (Winn Dixie always has meat/poultry/fish included in their B1G1s). I combine sales with coupons. I stack store coupons with manufacturer coupons. The other day I spent $128 at Publix, but my original total was over $200. I saved $75 between store sales and coupons. I got a lot of food for that total and it was mostly all "real" stuff to make meals.