Could you please help me cut my grocery bill?

[Jen117]

I coupon and sale shop on double coupon day, so my bill is usually around $100 but only $50 after my coupon deals. I am not afraid to go to several stores to save money.

Breakfast at our house is usually cereal and milk, pancakes, toast or English muffins with PB or scrambled eggs. I add in fruit when they need something extra. Simple things that we can make/eat fast.

Lunch is sometimes leftovers or sandwiches, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, spaghetti or whatever I have on hand that I can throw together. I cut up raw veggies a lot for snacking and lunch. This is for the the kids and I. DH usually takes leftovers or a sandwich with cut up carrots and a yogurt.

Dinner varies greatly. Last night we had BBQ chicken legs, baked potatoes and steamed green beans from the garden. Tonight was green bean/tater tot casserole. I like to use the crock pot when possible to make it easy for me. There are lots of crock pot threads in several places on the DIS. I always try to make a balanced menu and use as few processed/mixes as possible.

Hope that helps.

 

[kimbo0569]

Not sure if you have it in your area but I do Peapod by Stop & Shop. There is a $7 delivery fee but it cuts my impulse buying way down and I save my time and gasoline. Plus, you can use coupons. You can even look at the labels on their site. I LOVE IT!!!!

I don't know if they all do it, but some of the Super Stop & Shops by me have the self scanners. As you walk into the store, there is a wall that has the scanners, you scan your shopper card and it sets the scanner for you to take.

Before I go shopping, I have about 5-7 meals planned (I go through my cookbooks or different product websites) and a list of what I need in the house for those meals and other staples that I need for the week. I also go through the sales flyer either before I go, or as I'm shopping and I go through and collect any coupons I might have.

With my list, the sales flyer and my coupons, it helps alot and with the scanner, it keeps me on pretty much on budget and curbs my impulse buying as well. Plus I can bag my own stuff as I'm shopping (I bring my own cloth recycle bags with me - for each bag of your own that you use, Stop & Shop takes 5 cents per bag off your order.

Hope this helps!

 

[aeschbaa]

Every Saturday morning the grocery store that I shop at has the ad available for the next week (Sun-Sat). I shop according to what is on sale and make meals based on those items. I have also found that coupons are very cyclical. Typically the store runs sales on the items with coupons so that you can get them at a better price. In addition, a week to two weeks before a coupon expires that item is on sale again in case you missed it the first time around. However, I urge caution to only buy "on-sale" items that you know that you use on a regular basis. Otherwise you can end up spending extra after initially feeling like you should buy it because it is "such a bargain."

I have a family of 4 and we usually spend $75 per week on groceries. This generally includes everything (toiletries, paper products, etc.). We spend an additional $40-50 on formula/diapers/wipes.

 

[ccgirl]

Thank you for reminding me of them! I haven't ever used them. May I ask what you spend on groceries every month, approximately? We are also a family of 4.

I spend about $125 every two weeks. Toiletries and diapers included. This past food order I spent $115 and "saved" $70 between sales and coupons. I look at the sales and only purchase from that. I then plan my week. This past week I got a lot of chicken breast. I sliced some up and marinated it in teriyaki and honey/mustard and put it on a stick. For some reason, my kids think it's great eating meat from a stick. I then used the left over chicken and put it on a salad for the next night. I try to double my meals to save time. Another good one is steak. If we have steak one night we usually have fajitas the next night. My kids also LOVE taco night. With the lefover taco meat; I add it to macaroni and have a chop suey. I will buy the bag of frozen meatballs on sale and have it with pasta one night and then meatball subs another night. Another easy, quick and healthy meal is a baked potato bar. My DD7 actually requested this. I buy the large baked potatoes and use fat free cheese, broccoli, salsa etc and the kids can make their own baked potato. It is another great way to use leftover hamburg etc. As you can tell; although I am able to keep our food bill down we still eat well. Definitely not having pasta every night. ALthough, my kids would love if we did.

I don't know if you have a BJ's by you but I only buy diapers there and only when I have a coupon. I broke down the price per diaper and they were cheaper.

My mom used to think I was crazy having my groceries delivered until she saw the excellent quality. It comes directly from the warehouse not the store so the food is a lot fresher!

Good luck.

 

[busyshrew]

One of the biggest things I do to save money is to buy big cuts of meat. You often pay a premium to have a butcher to do the cutting for you.

For chickens, I almost always buy a whole chicken and either roast it whole (we eat the legs for one meal, the breasts can make another whole dinner plus one lunch for DH, and the bones go for soup), or I will cut it up raw and separate the parts as needed. The only "part" I buy is chicken wings (it takes waaay to long to save up 30-plus wings for a family dinner). You can do the same with beef & pork - buy bigger roasts with an eye to cutting them up into smaller bits. If you have a kitchenaid with a meat grinder attachment, even better!

It might seem intimidating to do at first, but the cost savings are great and there are lots of youtube videos and internet sites that can show you how to portion up meat, step by step.