Grocery Saving Tips Needed

[danetter]

A few months ago I was doing pretty good couponing and when Walmart was honoring our Winn Dixie B1G1 sales ads. Now that Walmart has stopped doing that I am back up to spending 150.00 to 200.00 and sometimes more a week for a family of 4 and still not have enough food for the entire week. I guess I could shop at Winn Dixie and do the B1G1 and use coupons but Winn Dixie is usually more expensive than Walmart. We don't have a Publix or any of the big competitors to double coupons either. Good ole Ms.

 

[MSSANDRA]

My biggest piece of advice is to learn your stores and shop the sales and to stock up on sale. I know that our Sams has boneless chicken for 1.64 and I can never beat that anywhere else so I just pick up a pack or two and separate and freeze whenever I am there. Most other meats I watch for good sales at a couple different stores and buy in bulk and freeze. Sometimes one store will have split chicken breast for .99 and I will buy a ton. Found hamburger for .99 at Target recently and stocked up. Watch for sales on things like pasta and cheese and s sauce and buy enough to last till you see the sale again. You might spend 400.00 one week but next to nothing for the next two weeks. Eat the produce that is on sale or hit a local produce stand where it may be much cheaper. Grapes are way too expensive right now, but oranges and pears are better buy. If fresh produce is not great or expensive right now.....use frozen. Clip your coupon but be sure that you are not buying things just because you have a coupon. We rarely buy soda, chips etc. I often make muffins and cookies for a fraction of the cost. We pop con in a pot often and save a lot over the bags. We are not brand loyal on most items but rather what is on sale AND we have a coupon is our choice.

 

[tzolkin]

I agree with MSSANDRA's post.

I know many people who shop at Walmart because "it's cheaper" but they spend way more on groceries than I do.

I live in a very rural area and there is only one grocery store nearby (most shopping is 45-60 mins away). The regular prices are quite expensive, but they have great sales. I have made a habit to only buy things when they are on sale. I have a fully stocked freezer and pantry so I can always come up with meals to make. With fresh produce items, I will plan meals that week to go along with the sales. For example, my kids love asparagus but I will not pay over $4/lb for it. I will save a salmon meal for a week when asparagus is on sale so we can have it as a side.

Most of the time every item in my cart is on sale, so my bill will usually be 30 to 50% less than if I had purchased at regular price. I know Walmart's regular prices are less than my stores regular prices, but they are certainly not that much less.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I think knowing what a "good" price for something is, is half the battle in your food budget. I personally have a very good memory and know the cost of my regular food items at my grocery store, but I know most shoppers keep a log of prices. I know I've been to Wal-Mart and seen that their price on something was no cheaper than what I just paid at Publix the same week. We do have our favorite brands and I watch the ad for them to go on sale, check my pantry and buy if I'm down to the last one. I don't have a huge amount of storage space, but I try to make the most of it.

 

[scrapquitler]

A few months ago I was doing pretty good couponing and when Walmart was honoring our Winn Dixie B1G1 sales ads. Now that Walmart has stopped doing that I am back up to spending 150.00 to 200.00 and sometimes more a week for a family of 4 and still not have enough food for the entire week. I guess I could shop at Winn Dixie and do the B1G1 and use coupons but Winn Dixie is usually more expensive than Walmart. We don't have a Publix or any of the big competitors to double coupons either. Good ole Ms.

If Walmart won't price match the Winn Dixie sale prices, then buy those sale items (and anything else that is less expensive) at Winn Dixie, and buy your other items at Walmart.

Consider buying a subscription to Emeals. They charge like $8 a month, but make a meal plan (and recipes) designed around what ever happens to be on sale at the specified store each week. I tried it for a few weeks, and I liked the meals and I tought it was a good plan, but the other people in my house are very picky and were unhappy about it.

 

[danygirl]

OP, we spend about $75 per week for three, and we alll pack our lunches, eat breakfast at home, and we rarely eat dinner out. I am right outside DC, so I am paying the same prices you do, and I also shop at Harris Teeter, which is a great store for couponers

first, I buy when prices are at their lowest and use coupons, so i get the max savings. I have a small stockpile (not like on that tv show) because I usually buy enough when the prices are the lowest to hold me until the next sale. My H-T lets you use compeititors coupons, so I get a $5/50 coupon from recyclebank each month for shopppers that I use there. I also get the great loss leader coupons from shoprite and wegmans in the mail and use them there

If you go to one of the great coupon match up sites, such as weusecoupons you can get a listing each week matching coupons to the sales to get the biggest bang for your buck with very little work.

There are often coupons for fruit or veggies or meat, but they are not in the coupon inserts - they are in the store ads or other places online.

We eat fresh fruit and veggies daily, and we eat meat, too. I buy the marked down meat (aged meat) and freeze it immediately so it doesn't go bad before I cook it. If there is one steak on sale I buy and freeze, eventually I have enough for each of use to enjoy a grilled steak. We also eat chicken breasts and whole chickens, use the ultra lean ground beef, and eat roasts and other beef cuts.

I buy the health and beauty stuff at cvs and rite aid (and H-T if they are on sale and match with a coupon) where I pay pennies on the dollar. Right now I have a years supply of shampoo that I got on clearance at H-T with coupons - I think it cost me under $2 for 12 shampoos and 12 conditioners


all in all we spend about $75 per week on groceries plus health and beauty items.

 

[worm761]

My best suggestion is to be willing to go to more than one store. Grocery shopping is an even in my house. I go where the prices are best and get only what they have cheaper.

Make a menu. Make a list. On your menu include breakfast items, lunch items, and snack items.

Cook from scratch. It really isn't that hard and doesn't take that much time. Sure opening a box or can is easier but rarely cheaper. I buy a giant can of crushed tomato from Sam's and make a big ole pot of pasta sauce. Then I break it down into meal size portions.

If your kids are old enough, have them help cook. This is a life skill they need anyway. Plus they think it is cool to make stuff normally bought. We make pizza bagel bites (bagels are not that hard to make), stuffed pretzels, pizza pockets/ lean pockets. If the store can make it, you can make it at home cheaper and healthier.

Try a meatless night once a week.

Search out places to buy food. I find Walgreens has decent sales on milk, cereal, tuna. I found a local butcher and buy meat from him. It is cheaper to do so. I buy produce at the farmers market because they are cheaper too. I got huge green bell peppers this weekend 2/$1. So we stocked up. I will chop them up for fajitas and freeze.

 

[Marionnette]

I agree with those who suggested that you consider shopping at more than one store, if at all possible. For me, that isn't a problem because there are at least a dozen grocery stores within a 10-minute drive from where I live. It's not that way for everyone and I certainly would not miles out of my way to grocery shop at different stores when I have better to do with my day off.

The other option is to find a couponing blog that keeps up with the deals in your region. The one that I follow is based in NJ but she stays current on the grocery stores in the Philly area, too. It works for me! SouthernSavers might be a better fit for you.

You might also want to check out the forums on AFullCup and HotCouponWorld. Lots of friendly advice and encouragement on those websites.

Good luck and don't be discouraged. I think that once you find your footing again, you will be okay.

 

[pjlla]

You've gotten a bunch of great suggestions here from other posters. I am just going to add a few thoughts...

in addition to buying your groceries cheaper (sales, coupons, bulk, etc), start thinking in terms of cheaper meal ideas. Brand name cold cereal for breakfast is one of the least healthy and most expensive "at home" breakfast meals I can think of! Home cooked oatmeal (not instant) is super easy, quick, and much healthier, not to mention CHEAP! Homemade waffles and pancakes, cooked up ahead of time and frozen... cheap, easy, and healthier.

Lunch meat.... expensive! Leftovers in a thermos (soup, meatloaf, meatballs, pasta, rice, etc) or in a microwaveable glass container... much cheaper. If your family does insist on sandwiches for lunch, try making your own lunch meat equivalents by slicing up turkey, chicken, ham, pork, etc. Also peanut butter and jelly, cheese and jelly, lots of "salads" (chicken, ham, egg). I pack my son's lunch every single day (and did for my DD when she was home as well). DS prefers repetition (plus he is picky and has food allergies), so he gets the same thing 9 out of 10 days. I do buy a nitrite-free, uncured ham "deli meat" for his sandwiches because he has a poultry allergy and it is easier for me to buy him that lunch meat rather than try and find a whole uncured, nitrite-free ham to slice. He also gets the same organic snack bar as a treat in his lunch every day.... bought on sale at Target with coupons when I can find them. But he also takes leftovers when I have something that he likes that is easy to pack.... pizza, soup/stew, meatballs, fried rice.

Dinner.... if you are REALLY trying to reduce your grocery bills you might need to start thinking in terms of some meatless meals or meals that involve meat as a small part of it.....

rice and beans.... super easy, CHEAP, and (IMHO)delicious!

fried rice...... (same as above) and meat can be either minimal or non-existent (although I will use a scrambled egg if I have no meat).

whole wheat pasta and sauce/diced tomatoes. It is important that this be a healthy pasta like whole wheat, especially if you aren't including any meat (or very little meat). Otherwise you might as well give them a Poptart for dinner... Anyhow, whole wheat pasta can be found on sale and with coupons and is available in bulk at places like Sam's.

eggs.... I can find organic eggs here for $3/dozen and if I use plenty of "extras" in the meal, we can get away with two eggs for each of my men and three egg white for myself.... just barely over a half dozen. I usually serve scrambled eggs or omelets with homemade applesauce (usually with apples that are < 99 cents/lb), and maybe a roasted veggie on the side.... and I suppose toast or a muffin would be good too.

minimal meat meals like tacos..... and stretch that hamburg/ground beef with things like TVP and beans.......soups (my hamburg soup uses less than 1 lb of browned/drained 90% lean beef and serves three hungry folks with leftovers.... and the other ingredients are some of the cheapest produce around like potatoes, carrots, onions, celery canned diced tomatoes.

LAST suggestion would be DON'T WASTE ANYTHING! I try hard for 0% food waste here. Leftovers end up as lunch the next day (and the day after that if necessary). If there is a reason that no one will be here to eat the leftovers, I pack up a container, label it well, and freeze it.... then the next time that DH will be here home alone some night, I pull it out for him and he has a nice homemade dinner for one!

I buy as much organic as the budget allows, scrub them well before peeling, and then save the peelings in the freezer for homemade vegetable stock. When the peelings have been used for the stock and strained off, they go into the garden for compost or (this time of year), out into the yard for the birds and other critters.

End heels of bread that don't get eaten quickly enough get toasted and crumbled and saved in the freezer as breadcrumbs for things like meatloaf.

Anyhow..... to make a long story short (I know.... too late )..... find some CHEAPER meals and reduce your food waste! Good luck...........P

 

[writermommy6]

Not sure if this has been said but designate one night a week as leftover night. Each person can pick what they want. That way if you have only one serving of spaghetti, meatloaf, etc then each person gets something different.

Consider breakfast for dinner.
Don't forget portion management. We often think we need twice as much as we actually do.

Don't be afraid of grocery thrift stores/ food banks/bent and dent places. Just because it's damaged or the potatoes have a few bad spots doesn't mean it's inedible.

Take the stuff and prep and/ or cook it and freeze.

If you find stuff discounted at the store that is getting ready to expire then try to stock up. You can freeze milk, bread, butter, yogurt, sour cream. Make sure you pour a little milk out of the container before freezing it because it will expand. Turn yogurt and sour cream upside down to freeze to keep it from settling. Thaw all of it in the refrigerator for 6-24 hours.

Don't have a deep freezer? Start searching craigslist or freecycle.org.

 

[worm761]

Do you garden? Or have you considered it?

I am trying. I used to be able to grow anything but then moved to Florida and haven't been able to down here. But I haven't given up. Currently I am working on a window sill garden from scraps. There are plenty of plants you can grow from scratch. I currently have celery and bok choy going. And I have green onions I planted around 6 months ago. Bought a bag for a dollar, brought them home, cut off what I needed and then planted the bottoms. Now I just go to my backyard whenever I need green onion! I have found a bunch of posts on Pinterest about what you can grow inside, start from scratch and whatnot.

Also, look at $5 Dollar Dinners blog.