What are your best grocery budget tips?

[worm761]

I love my butcher. He has great quality meat at a reasonable price. If meat is not on sale somewhere, I go to him.
I make a lot from scratch.
I buy the things I use the most in bulk at Sam's Club. I know some people don't like paying for a membership but I save more than the cost in dog food alone. Oz is over 100 pounds so he eats a lot of food! He is a good dog though. Anyway, I found they have cans of tomato sauce (HUGE) for $2.47. So I bought those, seasoned it myself, and froze it in zip lock bags. It made three meals at least.
I freeze anything I think I can use later. My freezer was a great investment.

I am learning to shop the sales. But I need to learn when to stop. Meat is on sale for half price...I have a freezer full, at least 3.5 weeks worth of meat. Do I go get more? Or just wait it out?

 

[MSSANDRA]

Watch and learn the cycles of the sales at your local stores. I know for example that split chicken breast will go on sale for .87/lb every 6-8 weeks or so. I know to buy enough to last that long. Hamburger was resently on sale for .99/lb and that is VERY rare around here so I bought like 50lbs in case that does not happen for a long time.

Buy which ever fruit is on sale each week. Buy in season.(no more watermellons this week) Stock up on can items on sale but compare what is a better buy the sale or sams. There are some things we know we can never beat Sam's price and we just buy those on a regular basis. Search for the lowest price for basics (maybe sams) for milk, bread, eggs etc.

Plan meals around what is in season and on sale. Check out a local farmers market for good prices and fresh items!

 

[QVCshopper]

Three things help me reduce my grocery budget: 1) Buying reduced meat on clearance. When the meat is near the sell-by date, I usually get 1 lb for $1. Freeze and use when I need it. 2) Stopped the once a week big order. I'm now at about 1x/every 3 weeks. The rest of the time, I do $10 orders here and there. 3) Buy in bulk only on things like snacks and cereal. I don't have the room and I forget what I have otherwise. Usually, we're at under $400/month with a family of 4.

 

[Disneyforus]

If you are a "lunch meat" family. Buy a large meat portion from a bulk store(like Sams) and have them slice it...then freeze in freezer ziplocs. I can buy a 10 lb boneless turkey for $25 which is much cheaper per lb than the deli.

 

[FINFAN]

I hit the store if I can n the night before the ad changes, around here that is Wednesday night. Usually I can get the sale prices for both the current ad until the end of Wed., plus the items already listed for the sale starting Thurs. It wont work on every item, but I seem to have luck on the dry good stuff like cereal, canned goods, paper products etc.
Also you can combine store coupons and manufacturere ones, like a Target Tide coupon that the register or website may have and a Tide manufacturer coupon. As long as only one says manufacturere and they are not expirered I have been able to combine.

 

[DawnM]

http://www.budget101.com/ebooklet/ebooklet_fam4.pdf

I love this e-book.

The only problem is that we rarely eat beef, but we add in chicken and fish and still can save a lot.

Dawn

 

[figment3258]

I think for myslef sales used to be a great thing but then i would stock up and I found we did not use everything and we were stocking up again and really not saving any money. I do love bj's which is just like sams club and i get organic juice boxes and other staples that we use everyday. I say if you have enough food for 3+ weeks start using what you have and then re stock but that is just my po. Do what is best for your family.

 

[pampam]

This time of year is the best for canning and freezing produce. Many people with gardens will give away their surplus. There is an old joke about how to do a basket of zucchini. Take a basket of zucchini to town, look for an unlocked car, and put it in the back seat.

Bushels of apples, peppers, tomatoes, or even carrots can be had for minimal cost.

I buy and freeze carrots and onions. Last year, I froze and dehydrated enough so I never had to buy any all year long- I only paid 20 cents a pound for my years supply.