Saving money and grocery shopping...

[budbeerlady]

I hit Meijer and Family fare in our area. Our Walmart doesnt do sales and they are much more expensive on the basics then Meijer. I also do alot of couponing. I do savings angel which is easier than the grocery game. I had a cart full today at Meijer for $30.94.

For my $30:
4 Bagel Bites
6 Hamburger Helpers
2 Pilsbury Grands
2 Arm and Hammer Laundry soaps
1 Pepperidge farm goldfish
3 angel soft bath tissue
1 Jacks pizza
1 aunt millies brown and serve rolls
2 meijer fruit snacks
1 meijer popcorn
4 chex mix
4 fruit loops cereal
1 little debby easter snack cakes

If the store has sales I think by stocking up you can do much better than Walmart or even Sams club. I would LOVE double coupon days, uhhh, I wish they did that by us!!!!!

 

[bettymae1121]

ETA: I also started making my own laundry detergent and using vinegar for fabric softener. I buy dish soap from TJ's and get trash bags, dishwasher detergent in bulk from Amazon. I quit using many cleaners and use the natural versions like vinegar, lemon juice, baking soda, etc. There are SO many things that people buy, that they think they need, but do just fine without. And, most people don't know until it's too late how badly all those chemicals can affect your family's health; so staying away from them is good for your wallet and your health!

Ditto! I bought a ton of good quality wash cloths from Costco and use those instead of paper towels. Huge $$$ savings (a 10 pack of cloths cost about what a mega Bounty pack cost me, and the cloths will last forever!) and much better for the enviroment. I even use the cloths instead of Swiffer for my floors with better results!

I also use vinager, lemon, and baking soda all cleaning now. I don't make my own laundry soap yet, but that's next on my list to try. Our home is healthier and our wallets fatter, a win-win for everyone!

I can't wait for whole foods to open near me (should be another few months) and then I figure I'll do about 99% of my shoping at TJ's/WF's.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Meijer is primary. Kroger is secondary for savings. Kroger has been more aggressive on pricing lately though. Kroger has better meat, Meijer better produce. Both double coupons to .50.

CVS and Walgreen are great for cleaners, toiletries, hba items, etc.

I went into a Woodman's (sp?) in Kenosha, WI last summer and wished there was one around here, the prices were great.

Wal mart is the last place I go for low prices, because they aren't very low.

 

[travelbug]

For me, it's Meijer for most things and Aldi for a few things.

 

[funnygarcia]

Target/Super Target if they have good store printable coupons (Or store peelies) combined with my manufacture coupons. Lately only have bought cleaning, HBA and a few things that we really like (market pantry cheese).

Rainbow Foods (Roundy's owned) doubles five $1 coupons on Wed and Sat with $25 order. They have various store coupons and B1G1 offers, if I plan it out well I can get a $25 order down to about $10 on average or if it's a super good match up deal about $5. Once a month they allow 10 coupons to double per order.
It would be easy cheap to buy the packaged food junk (cookies, hamburger helper, fruit snacks, sugary cereals, chix nuggets) , but deals can be found on vegies, cheese, dairy, meat, organic cereals... if you learn how to look.
I'm actually skipping doubles this week because I have sooooooooooo much food in my cabinets and freezer.

Aldi's for produce

Or look to see what the discount grocery (Mike's Discount Foods) has in stock that isn't too past "prime".
The discount grocer sells outdated, close dated and discontinued products.
I buy bags of red n green peppers at Mike's for $1 - $2, cut and freeze on cookie sheets, package for later use.... just like Trader Joe's pepper mix but much cheaper and I can choose strips or diced.

I tried shopping at Super Walmart, the prices were higher than Target, they don't carry products that matched my coupons and it was a major hassle to checkout. One location had set the registers to beep with any "like" coupon... making it difficult to buy 3 of product X with my three 50¢ coupons (I buy more than one newspaper).

 

[jodifla]

What's saved me the most money is starting the Grocery Game. At first I couldn't understand how it would help, since we don't eat that much processed stuff (or at least TRY not to.)

But the Grocery Game has you stock up when things are on sale, AND it tells you the original prices and the percentage you are saving. That made a huge difference....I could clearly see when it was a good time to purchase things like meats that were on sale for 60 or 70 percent off.


The first four weeks I spend more, now many weeks I just shop for milk and produce.

The second thing that Grocery Game has you do is make your menu from the pantry; I was making our menu on whatever I felt like eating for the week. So that economizes a lot.

I don't have the tales of getting $100 worth of groceries for $7 and the like, but on my last bill I spent $119, saved $49 and that will be the bulk of food we need for two weeks.

 

[disluhypno]

Oh my goodness, I cannot stand being in Wal Mart for too long of a time. I am really into health, wellness and nutrition, and going into Wal Mart is incredibly frustrating whenever you are trying to find whole foods.

Almost everything is processed to death (literally; processed food is dead) and the aisles are full of cheap food that people will ultimately pay a high price for in the long run. Even the produce section which should have fresh, whole foods come in packages (not all the time), and there isn't much variety in the stores I have been in.

Now, Wal Mart is inexpensive, and I understand that sometimes you have to settle when you shop with a budget. However, whenever I buy organic I like going to Kroger, HEB (Texas store?) or the farmer's markets. Wal Mart doesn't have a large selection of organic merchandise, and if they do it is highly processed cereals, juices, jams, frozen foods--things incredibly high in sugar and not health promoting, although somewhat better than conventional items.

I can usually find all my organic needs at Kroger or HEB, PLUS they will double or triple my coupons I have for my items. Whenever I find an organic brand I will contact the company to receive free coupons--I almost always receive them unless it is a very small company. These brands are processed, but not heavily as it is for smaller food items with minimal ingredients. Kroger and HEB also have a much wider selection of organic production, however it still can grow.

If you ever need coupons for a brand you tend to buy but can never seem to find them, no matter what it is, go out of your way to contact the company. It only takes a couple of minutes to send a short and sweet email: telling them how much you appreciate their products and that you are a regular customer and will continue to be, give them your address for your coupons, etc.

I am sorry if I happened to offend anyone on the Wal Mart side of things. I know sometimes it's hard to find good, high quality whole, nutritious foods at an inexpensive price, so sometimes you have to settle. If you are faced with a high priced organic apple at one store, and a cheap apple at another, and you can only afford a conventional one, then buy the conventional one. Fresh, whole foods are better than no whole foods at all. Besides, if you are moderately healthy anyway, your body won't have too difficult of a time filtering out the pesticides, toxins, chemicals, whatever.

Hopefully this reply has given some insight into my opinion on saving money while also promoting health and wellness. You know what? Maybe there should be a new wall post about staying healthy while being on a budget. Or maybe staying healthy while at Disney? Perhaps I'll blog about it. Anyone else on board?

 

[vegasnative]

I voted "other". While Wal mart "can" be cheaper on most things it isn't always the cheapest place. I look at the ads that come out on Wed or Sunday, and combine those sales (normally at our local grocery stores, Albertsons or Safeway) with coupons, and if it is a great deal then I stock up. Last week, Albertsons had fruit snacks for a $1 a box, I had coupons, and each time you bought 5 boxes you got a coupon for $3.50 off. I was paying .10 cents a box or .30 cents a box. This week, my deal has been Fruity Pebbles & Cocoa Pebbles and Kelloggs cereals. They are $1.50 a box at Safeway, each time I buy 5 they give me a coupon for $4.00 off. So I'm getting the kids cereal for .70 a box. So, it's stuff like that I really try to take advantage of and stock up.

 

[Zoma]

Another vote for Woodman's! Their selection is amazing(even their organic section is full of options) and their prices are very good even when you compare them to Aldi's.

Is it just me or is Walmart selection going down? It seems like many of the name brand items are disappearing and replaced with Walmart's own brand.

 

[disneyfan55]

There's a web site called frugal living that gives all kinds of money saving tips. On another note, I really don't see the cost savings (unless large amt of the coupon) to the online coupons since you have to print them and most ink costs quite a bit. Just wondering. Thanks.

 

[cjnix29]

another vote for Other....I'm a meijer shopper. They price match and double coupons, plus have store coupons online you can combine with manufacturers coupons. Also just found out today that they take other store coupons! I had been running to Kroger to pick up the few things I had specific Kroger coupons for...not anymore! Was at Meijer today, spent $42, saved $95. That total doesn't count the price matches. Plus their pharmacy runs coupons all the time, so I can cash in with that too!

 

[thebeesknees]

OP, I'm in CO as well and I voted Kroger, although I also do some shopping at Safeway. The key is going through the ads and figuring out what I have coupons for and using that to my advantage. Safeway is generally more expensive than King Soopers, but when they have those coupons on their ads, I will sometimes stack them with manufacturer's coupons and get a really great deal. For our organic stuff, I head to Sunflower Market - their ads overlap on Wednesdays, so you can get some great bargains on produce and natural meat. I don't usually shop for groceries at Target unless it's bread that is on sale for .82, or sometimes their MP whole wheat pasta is .89 a box so I stock up on that. Target is more for my clothing and home decorating stuff. I used to shop a lot a Walmart for groceries, but their prices have gone up a lot and it is no longer worth the drive to go over there, not to mention that the store is always a mess and just feels icky to me!

 

[antmaril]

I shop at both Kroger and Target. Between the two, I find some real bargains.

 

[disluhypno]

I voted "other". While Wal mart "can" be cheaper on most things it isn't always the cheapest place. I look at the ads that come out on Wed or Sunday, and combine those sales (normally at our local grocery stores, Albertsons or Safeway) with coupons, and if it is a great deal then I stock up. Last week, Albertsons had fruit snacks for a $1 a box, I had coupons, and each time you bought 5 boxes you got a coupon for $3.50 off. I was paying .10 cents a box or .30 cents a box. This week, my deal has been Fruity Pebbles & Cocoa Pebbles and Kelloggs cereals. They are $1.50 a box at Safeway, each time I buy 5 they give me a coupon for $4.00 off. So I'm getting the kids cereal for .70 a box. So, it's stuff like that I really try to take advantage of and stock up.

I had no idea Albertson's was still alive! They have all disappeared in the Dallas area. I only have memories of that grocery store from when I was little.

 

[gandycat]

Around me Meijer has the best prices (baring a loss-leader sale at another store). But I shop mainly at Trader Joes since we try to eat as natural as possible. TJ's has great prices and I find that I spend about as much on organic/all natural products there as I would regular products at other large grocery chains.

But I know there aren't Meijer's and TJ's everwhere. But for those that have one or both options near them, I encourage you to check them both out!

Ditto!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm doing really well at Wegmans right now. Surprisingly, their brand is very cheap (1.79 for a big jar of applesauce; .69 pasta) and good. Also, the new one that opened up near me gives out 2 free items / week with a $10 purchase. I keep buying my groceries in $10 increments and getting 2 free items (this week is coffee and juice) over and over again (did 4x in 1 week once), and they double coupons up to .99. Other than that, Redners (a small local chain) is very cheap.

 

[iwrbnd]

Every time I grocery shop anywhere but Walmart my bill is about $50 higher!

 

[sasywtch]

Am I the only west coaster on this one? WinnCo bag your own type store with great prices. I know my prices pretty well and Walmart is more expensive than WinnCo. And then, my garden for fresh produce (just had it rototilled today!)

 

[Planogirl]

Do you shop at the tollway and Park location? I go there a lot, too! It's difficult to believe it's a Walmart! The only other one I have seen that is so nice was in Fredericksburg.. My Walmart is a bit more typical (Firewheel), but I use any excuse I can find to go out to the Plano location. (My kids play PYSA soccer, so we are always out that way)

I've been to that one and it's nice but I normally go to the Hwy 121 and Coit location. The Management keeps that store so clean and well-organized that it's hard to believe that it's a Wal-Mart!

 

[MrsPete]

First, where are you shopping?

Grocery stores are always going to be your most expensive option. They offer everything in one stop, and you're paying for the convenience.

Look for food auctions, surplus food stores, internet sites, farmers' markets, ethnic food stores, health food stores, bread outlets, drug stores, and wholesalers. These places are often a bit off the beaten path, and they sometimes take a little more planning; for example, when I buy at the surplus food store things are usually in HUGE boxes (think 10 pounds of chicken) and sometimes I even split them with family members. But the price is always right.
Also, keep in mind that some places are good just for one specific thing; for example, the health food store where I shop is incredibly expensive . . . except for its spices, which are unbelievably cheap.

It takes time to learn where these places are in your community, and you have to develop the habit of using them. For example, I just mentioned the spices. That store is a good hour from my house, so I don't go often. I keep a sticky-note inside the cabinet where I store spices, and when I run out/run low on something, I write it down. When I know I'm going that direction, I grab my note, and I get everything I need (because I may not go that way again for months). You won't suddenly start doing this exactly right.

Keep in mind that some expensive venues have excellent sales (often loss leaders). So you can go in and buy JUST what's on sale and do well. For example, we shop at a local butcher shop that's relatively expensive . . . but they put one item a week on an excellent price. If we went in and bought a little of everything, we'd spend more; by purchasing JUST the item on sale, we do well.

If you find non-grocery store prices, you can do waaaaay better than you can with coupons.

Also, make yourself a grocery store price book. Have you read The Complete Tightwad Gazette? She outlines a method for starting a grocery price book, and it's wonderful.

Second, stock up when things are on sale:

Regardless of where you're shopping, buy plenty of a staple when it's on sale for a good price. Then actually use it. Develop a storage area and rotate your stock.

Finally, if you want to see instant savings, look at your beverages:

Years ago I read that the average family spends 30% of its grocery bill on beverages, the vast majority of which add little nutrition to the family's diet. If you're buying individual cans or juice boxes, you can save by buying larger containers. Juice isn't really nutritionally different from soda, and it should be an "occasional" drink. Bottled water is not a need. And alcohol . . . well, you already know that's expensive and unnecessary if money is an object. Tea and Kool-aid are super-cheap, and water is free (well, almost). Beverages are -- by far -- the quickest way to cut a budget.