Post your best grocery tips here! (Inspired by shirleyb's post)

[Shelle&Dave]

All I can say is store brand and coupons! That's the way to go. I do go to Save-a-lot and Aldis sometimes too.

I used to be really big into coupons, but I've been slacking off lately. It takes A LOT of time to stay organized. I started off with just taking an envelope full to the store with me. Then I got the usual coupon organizer with the dividers. Then I went to the shoebox with dividers. When that got out of control I went to the 3 ring binder with trading card holder sheets. This takes the longest to keep organized, but it's easy to use in the store.

I tried the pricebook and couldn't make it work.

I used to go to 3 different stores to buy the loss leaders and B1G1 deals. I had quite a stockpile of toothpaste, deoderant, laundry detergent, fabric softener, cereal....you name it. All of that is gone now and I need to get on the ball.

My favorite coupon message boards were

http://www.fatwallet.com/c/57/

http://www.dealideal.com/

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

DH and I have 5 kids (8,7, 5, 3, 4months) and what helps us alot is cooking from scratch whenever we can and trying to avoid the frozen foods. We also got a deep freeze so when something's on sale we can stock up. I clip coupons, too, but I'm not very good at sticking to my budget when I try to shop different stores to get the best prices, I always seem to go over, so I get what I can at Aldi's and then get the rest at Wal-mart. OH, and a big help is making a list of the meals we're going to eat (I shop for two weeks at a time) and making a grocery list from that. That works really well for telling my kids "no" at the store, I just say "sorry, guys, that's not on my list this time. Ask for it when I make my list and we'll see next time" although I have been known to, um, pretend things are on my list if they really want something, I'm a big softy!

 

[takemetoo]

Okay, if you live in Southern New England you MUST go to Job Lot! They have things like organic cerial for 99 cents, AND you can use coupons!

Amy

 

[pearlieq]

What works for us...

Stockpile non-perishables (though I must say, I am sooooo sick of people poking around my house and saying, "wow, that's a lot of laundry detergent". These are always the same people who say "wow, going to WDW again?!?!")

Be very careful in buying perishable items--buy only what you'll realistically use. It's no bargain if you throw it out.

Make a double (or triple!) batch of everything you make and freeze the leftovers. It's much easier to resist takeout when I have a full batch of ready meals.

Plan your meals a week in advance based on what's on sale at the grocery stores.

Nothing earth-shattering here. Just the same old, same old.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

I forgot to add, my baby is4 months old and I make his baby food from scratch instead of buying jars. Also, DH packs his lunch almost every day from leftovers so we rarely throw anything out (he has a fridge and microwave at work).

Our biggest vices are soda and DH's cigarettes, we buy by the carton and try to find them on sale, but I hate spending the money on them! But those come out of my grocery budget, also.

 

[kimbac3]

I make menus ahead of time, write a detailed list. Rarely ever use coupons because the store brand is still cheaper. Also by the cheap brand of cereal, the kids don't notice. We also don't drink alot of soda.When I do buy it (for birthday parties or BBQs) I get it at Walmart for $.50. I make homemade pizza.(I have a really easy pizza dough recipe if anyone is interested)We have pasta twice a week. I buy a LARGE can of plain ol' tomato puree and then kick it up.I freeze it in meal size portions in freezer bags. We eat alot of rice, noodles, and dried beans, I can cut back on the meat that way. We also have breakfast for dinner usually one night a week. We never have big breakfast in the mornings, so it is a treat for my kids to have pancakes (homemade) for dinner.
When we do eat out, (which is very rare) we look for places where kids eat free or places that offer coupons.
Kimba
P.S. My Dh has taken PB & J for lunch for the first 12 years we were married. We just now have added lunch meat and cheese to the shopping list. Although on tight weeks he still takes PB&J. Boy I love that man

 

[eeyore kelly]

I always go to the store when it is almost empty. I can look around, compare prices, and find unadvertised sales better. I save leftovers all week and do a leftover night. I save the two table spoons of peas, corn, rice, beans etc, in a sealable bowl in the freezer. When the bowl gets full, I add a can of tomato sauce, an onion soup packet, and a cheap cut of beef. Put it in the slow cooker, and at the end of the day you have "Trash Soup" (Learned that one from my grandmother) It's my family's favorite. Buy whole fruit-- not cut up. Buy fruits and vegetable in season when buying fresh. I hate cutting onions, bell peppers etc for every meal, and the fresh chopped in the produce section is expensive. However, in the frozen food section, it is $0.92 a bag. 2 bags last me a week. Snacks (chips Little Debbie) for kids (or DH) are few and far between. I always cook one serving more for DH to take to work.
No sodas.

 

[Cindy B]

Yes, nothing earth shattering.

I do stock up on stuff when the grocery stores have one GET 2 FREE! I've had shampoo, and laundry detergent from sales back in December!

DH also takes his own lunch, and I do also.

 

[minnie1928]

Don't forget rebates, big and small! They all add up! Many stores in PA are doing the "one check" thing where all you do is sign up for the rebates. After the rebate period ends they mail you a check automatically for qualified purchases. It doesn't get much easier than that!

 

[sorchamac]

Originally posted by takemetoo
Okay, if you live in Southern New England you MUST go to Job Lot! They have things like organic cerial for 99 cents, AND you can use coupons!

Amy

I agree - Job Lot is the best! I've even found more "upscale" items like Pantene shampoo and conditioner for great prices there. I get all my spices there ($0.88) and sometimes cookies or nuts.

 

[sorchamac]

Has anyone tried those coupon books - The ones where you send in a voucher and get $10 worth of coupons you choose.

here's one on ebay so you know what I mean

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57742&item=4318579161

I was just wondering if these worked out well...

Sorcha

 

[sorchamac]

Originally posted by kimbac3
I make menus ahead of time, write a detailed list.

For you all who make your menus ahead of time, how do you do that? I have a hard enough time planning tonight's dinner! I often think it would be easier if I just stuck to "Hamburger Monday, Spagetti Tuesday... Steak Sunday" etc My other problem is that DH works evenings, so there is no real evening meal. I should start doing it anyway, my kids are ages 4 and 6 and would like to have a meal like that every night. Then I can give DH the leftovers for his dinner the next night. I always make him his dinner to bring to work, but it's usually just chicken and pasta. I don't really like to cook....but I really need to get over that! I've also been thinking about going 'low carb', which means I really need to learn to cook something other than pasta and rice!

So anyway, how do you plan your meals so far in advance? And what freezes well? And how do you thaw and serve it?

Signed;

Clueless in the Kitchen

 

[ReneeQ]

These are a few of the things I do:

1. Subscribed to www.savingdinner.com. Check it out, you can get the first week free on her site. If you subscribe (or buy her book "Saving Dinner") you get your weekly shopping list and recipes. I always know what I'm cooking and what I need to buy.

2. Combine coupons with items on sale. I tried using www.cutouthunger.com, but I shop a lot at Food Lion and it's not on there. I do a lot of the figuring myself. If $3.00 cereal is buy one get one free, that makes it $1.50 a box. If you then use your two $1 coupons, you get the cereal for .50 a box. I check the grocery ads before I go and only take the coupons I need.

3. Ask friends or coworkers to give you their coupons, even if they cut some out for themselves, you might like what they don't use.

4. I shop at Publix every other week for the bulk of my groceries. I run into Food Lion the opposite week just for the specials. If they are having great specials on my Publix week, I'll go to Food Lion that week, too.

5. Anytime meat is on sale, I buy $30 worth. After a few months your freezer gets pretty stocked. Then by the time you're running low on chicken, it will be on sale again.

 

[punkin]

I don't really plan menus too far in advance. I cook whatever is on sale that week. For example, last week we had very cheap liver at the store. I bought two packages. One to make and one to freeze. (Now I know most kids don't like liver, but mine love it). Also, this week I found salmon steaks for $2.99 per pound. I bought a lot and froze them. Whenever there is ricotta or mozzarella chese for sale, I buy enough for 3 lasagnas and freeze 2.

 

[sorchamac]

Originally posted by punkin
Whenever there is ricotta or mozzarella chese for sale, I buy enough for 3 lasagnas and freeze 2.

wow, I never thought of freezing mozzarella cheese. I know you can freeze butter, never thought of doing it for cheese.

What else freezes well?

 

[pjlla]

Honestly, I think that the number one key is KNOW YOUR PRICES! Who cares about B1G1 free, if the one you are buying is way overpriced!?? If you don't know your prices you won't know a real bargain when you see it. Keeping a price book is time consuming, but if you at least keep an eye on the basics (meat, milk, bread, lunch meat, cheese, paper products, detergent), then you'll know if you really find a good buy!

I rarely use coupons, as I find that the store brand is still cheaper, even after double coupons! I don't buy store brand of everything, as there were a few things we didn't like, but I buy many storebrand things.

We're very lucky as there have been grocery store wars going on around here since Stop N Shop opened in the spring... several large chains in one area equals competition which also equals... good sales!.................P

 

[punkin]

Actually, I meant, I freeze the lasagnas, but I think cheese should freeze fairly well too (After all it freezes well in my lasagna).

 

[LisaZoe]

I often buy a 2 pound brick of cheese, grate it and put it in a freezer bag with a date. It does get some ice in it from the moisture of the cheese but it works great on anything where the cheese is going to melt anyway, such as in chili, burritos, etc. I've also found great prices on shredded parmesan and have frozen that. By the time it hits the spaghetti sauce, it's mostly thawed.

Since it's just DD, not yet 3, and me, it's sometimes hard to get the really good deals because most are in family/large sizes. Somethings I have done, that also saves time, is to brown hamburger in a large batch, spread on a cookie sheet or 2 and place in the freezer. I later transfer to freezer bags and use whatever amount I need later for tacos, burritos, spaghetti sauce, chili, etc. I've done something similar with the jars of spaghetti sauce (I've tried making from scratch but decided it wasn't saving enough money to make up for the time). I get a family size jar and pour it into ice cube trays, freeze, bag and later pull out as little or as much as I need.

I have to admit that until recently, I wasn't worried too much about a budget. Now, though, I know I need to get back into the habit as I'm going back to college and will have to live on much less than we're used to.

 

[mamalle]

Im not really a coupon saver at all but do alot of buy one get one free items and stock up that way. granted if publix has a $2.00 coupon in their weekly flyer I will use it or one that is on the product to peel off. I do use my costco coupons when they come out also. I know my prices for everything that I buy so if it isnt a bargain I do not buy it! I make my weekly grocery list and write down dinner for each night and calculate the price for each item and Im always right on the money. dh thinks thats anal but oh well. I do alot of bulk shopping and I think that helps. My milk is cheeper at costco and alot of what I buy there I freeze in our freezer out on the patio. I buy kirkland brand things like water and household supplies. it seems to go a long way.

 

[The Princess]

Last year I bought the Food Saver and I freeze everything!!! I have 2 freezers plus 2 refridgerator freezers.

I have a garden and have already this year froze 70 stuffed green pepper, Hot stuffed peppers, tons of parsley and basil. I even freeze tomatoes~(which you can only cook with not to use on sandwiches) Last year I did corn on the cob but wansn't to happy with it.

I never throw bread out I make my own bread crumbs.

I buy meat in bulk when its on sale.

My friends think I'm nuts! Oh well its fun. If I think of anything else I post it