Need budget ideas for grocery shopping

[barkley]

Thanks for the information!

Yesterday I planned meals and wrote down what I needed for each. I then went to pantry and freezer to see what I had. I made my list and today shopped. I went to Aldi and bought things on my list there. Hit Sam's and Meijer. A weeks worth of meals plus 14 precooked lunches (frozen chicken taco soup and white chicken chili) was $117. That included cat sand and dish soap that I normally don't buy weekly.

great!

now-as you start doing this keep track of which meals are hits with the family then when the non perishable or able to be frozen items for them are on sale you can grab them to set aside for the next go round of that dish.

btw-unless i'm absolutely planning on using a meal for leftovers the next day or night, if they are freezable i throw them into a small container, freeze them and then maybe once a month we have a 'potluck nite'. i pull out and defrost all those partial leftovers to reheat and serve it with a simple salad. it's a great go-to for a known busy nite (like when the kids have activities that will run late) and much less expensive than going to fast food.

 

[QueenIsabella]

It's interesting to read all of the good deals at Kroger. We don't have Kroger here, and probably won't get one. I base that on the fact that the WSJ reported that Kroger is pulling out of the Raleigh-Durham market, which is as close as they get to us.

They are the parent company of Harris-Teeter, which we do have, but I find H-T to be way overpriced. I don't even bother to get their specials. I still keep an eye out, though--we have several established grocery stores, plus Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Aldi's, and Publix. And Lidl is supposed to open next year--the lot is cleared, the roads improved, but still no Lidl.

 

[barkley]

we don't have krogers but we've got fred meyer's which is a subsidiary. i don't know if the actual kroger stores offer better deals but the kroger brand products are not much less expensive than the brand names here. i actually do better w/ either brand names on sale or the generic type brand that the independent grocery stores around here carry (western family brand).

one other tip for savings-if you are going to stock up on something that totals what would be a case of the item, before you get it off the shelf check with the store manager to see if they will offer a case discount. walmart won't do it but most other grocery stores offer me at least 10% off if the item is not on sale and sometimes if it's on sale they might kick in at least a 5% discount (unless it's a loss leader for them).

 

[CouponGirl]

Your last point is a good one. I often see shredded cheese on the buy 5 save $5 at Kroger and assume it's a good buy. But when I bend over and examine unit prices, the regular priced larger bag is a better deal.

Unit prices are very handy for determining which size (and brand) is actually a better deal! You just have to make sure when comparing that each item is measured using the same unit of measurement.

Lots of great suggestions on here!

 

[Judique]

Besides coupons what are good ways to save on groceries and shampoo /laundry, etc.?

We have a Sam's and Costco membership (Costco is a gift yearly). We are a family of 4 ( 75% of time 3 as DS is away at college).

I need guidance on how to save on our groceries and daily cost of living expenses. I know it will take time but any small steps to get started would be appreciated.

The best way I've found to save is to decide how much I have to spend. Or want to spend. Develop a budget amount and go from there. If the money runs low, time to look in the freezer or cupboard.

From there, figure out the meal plan. Plan on left overs. Buy seasonal produce. Skip the big box of 9.00 blueberries and wait until they are 3.99. Now may be the time to sub in the big bag of frozen fruit.

Time is usually a major factor in saving money. Not everyone can run to Aldi's, target, cvs, Costco, sam's to try to get all the deals. So if you are not time rich, you may pay more for convenience.

Eating out - budget buster - if you 'up' your grocery budget and splurge on something, in place of a restaurant meal, you will save money.

 

[kymom99]

The best way I've found to save is to decide how much I have to spend. Or want to spend. Develop a budget amount and go from there. If the money runs low, time to look in the freezer or cupboard.

From there, figure out the meal plan. Plan on left overs. Buy seasonal produce. Skip the big box of 9.00 blueberries and wait until they are 3.99. Now may be the time to sub in the big bag of frozen fruit.

Time is usually a major factor in saving money. Not everyone can run to Aldi's, target, cvs, Costco, sam's to try to get all the deals. So if you are not time rich, you may pay more for convenience.

Eating out - budget buster - if you 'up' your grocery budget and splurge on something, in place of a restaurant meal, you will save money.

My husband, who usually doesn't mind spending money, will sometimes comment about the cost of a good steak. When I buy steak, it's ribeye. I don't buy it often. When he says something I will point out to him that it's much less expensive to buy a nice steak and cook it at home than it is to eat in a restaurant. Then he remembers that I'm always right.

 

[tasha99]

Just bought 3 lb. of ground beef for $4.99/lb. on sale. I have no budget ideas for you. Groceries are outrageously expensive where I am. Coupons are non-existent and only 1 actual grocery store.

When I was married we tried to do the shop sale items at the grocery store with coupons. Hours upon hours of hunting for coupons that wasn't drugs or junk food and actual stuff we use and I think we saved $1.50. The next day I punched out 5 minutes later and made a lot more than that savings. Of course, the rest of the order was $100 more than we would pay at Walmart for the week's groceries. Spent $45 on 3 lb. of ground meat, toilet paper, a roll of paper towels, and half a pound of lunchmeat. That's half my 2 week budget. Got tired of surviving on $3 frozen pizzas.

Food and automobiles are pricing themselves way out of my demographic.

Yikes! Here it's about 3.99 regular price, but I just bought 10 pounds at $1.90/lb by going to a restaurant supply store. Where do you live that's so expensive?

I lived in Manhattan for a while, and discovered chicken at the Fairway Market was reasonable if you bought the whole bird, but outrageous if it was cut up. I hate cutting chickens, but started cutting them in our tiny, tiny kitchen, with a tiny, tiny sink, because the difference was more than I could stomach. Having done a lot of moving around, it's amazing to me how different prices can be depending on location. I paid $8/lb once for a really good hothouse tomato in Alaska, while at the same time, my salmon was free (so much fishing . . . )

 

[TwoMisfits]

One idea I didn't see...alot of folks say to only buy what you use, and that's true...but be more creative in how you use. Think of how foods that start to get "ehh" can be used up before they go bad or can be stored to be used later (freezer space is priceless for this), since the biggest way folks lose at the grocery store is wasting what they buy.

For example...taking the 29 cent banana idea and only buying what you need fresh...I'd disagree. I'd buy a whole bag, and eat it fresh until it gets to the point of "smoothie/banana bread" overripeness and I'd plan a late week smoothie and muffin for those bananas and freeze the rest at that point, b/c having available bananas for these items in priceless when you have other fruits you might need to use up. When they are back to regular price, then you can only buy a "fresh" amount, since you have the frozen ones you might need for other things.

Like, this week, I'm about to go buy a whole seedless watermelon for $3.69. This is gonna be way more than my family will eat fresh, even planning a watermelon feta salad and a day of fresh watermelon chunks...so I've also planned to use the rest in a late week smoothie with strawberries I froze before my vacation last week. Watermelon strawberrry is an awesome smoothie combo and I'll have both done so cheap (since I bought the strawberries at $1.38 and froze the only set I didn't use). I don't like to freeze watermelon, so I'll juice anything left after the smoothie and have it around for anyone to drink, so I don't waste anything.

And as a corollary, know which foods you can't do anything but use fresh and as-is and use them 1st...lettuce can be made into a soup, but I've done it and it's blah. It's also pointless to freeze. So, for an item like that, yes, pretty much it's buy what you use and use it every time.

Food knowledge is probably one of the most useful things to use to save money at the grocery store. So, just reading and starting this thread is probably a great start to saving money at the grocery store.

 

[sk!mom]

I don't have any really new tips and I'm past the days of feeding a family. I do all my shopping at HEB (their quality and service is unmatched plus they are great to their employees.) I do stock up on their sales and buy lots of their store brands because again- the quality is great.

My biggest savings come from using everything that I purchase. I plan a meal or two per week that are shelf stable or freezer safe so that if we have unplanned meals out, nothing gets wasted. For instance, we had tostados last night because we had lettuce and tomatoes that needed to be eaten. I had steamed broccoli for lunch for the same reason. Dh and I eat breakfast at home daily, make our own coffee but purchase a high quality brand, and take lunch from home daily. DH eats primarily leftovers for lunch with the occasional turkey sandwich if leftovers run thin. I cook a new meal each night and extra portions are eaten for lunch the next day or frozen for lunches.

My grocery bill is quite high due to eating normally 20 meals per week at home, the fact that we eat what we like- no filling in with cheap carb filled meals ( a typical week would be salmon a couple of nights), and the amount of wine purchased. When I compare with coworkers at lunch, my bill is much higher however, I have to remind myself that they all pick up lunch daily, get coffee from Starbucks on the corner, and often ask how I manage to cook every night.

So- make sure you use what you buy and brown bag your lunches or include meals out in your food budget to have a true picture of what you're spending.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I live in a small city in northern Canada, so grocery shopping is a little different. We can't coupon like you tend to to the US. We do shop Costco, but I do watch the prices. As a family of 4, we don't need some items in bulk like that. I plan out meals, buy what is on my list. We buy produce based on what is in season ( which can still run very high ) and do most of my cooking from scratch with not much processed foods. I will always have and " alternate " easy meal that can be substituted in easily on a week night if we are too tired after working or our week is thrown off by an extra a kid activity. I shop sales when there are good deals on dry and paper goods and make use of Airmiles and store loyalty programs to get rewards that I use towards extra $$$ for family vacations. The one thing that I don't scrimp on is meat. I go to our local butcher shop, which is almost a one of a kind in our area, where all the meat is sourced locally. I don't want the packaged stuff that is in the meat sections in our grocery stores or Costco. Most of the meat that comes to our grocery stores is packaged in the US...then comes to our grocery stores prime example is Walmart. How long has it been in that package before it hits the grocery store, then is sitting in the package at the store I am more than willing to support a locally owned store, that buys from local farmers...than mystery meat that is how many days old, and grown in some huge feed lot. It may cost me a little more, but I will support local when I can. I also hit up our local farmers market for produce and baked goods.

 

[neatokimmo]

So I am currently hooked on Walgreens. Join a couponing at Walgreens group on Facebook and let the coupon masters show you how to get your household stuff cheaper. I started in June and have spent $80 oop. Each item was already on sale lower than walmart or dollar general. Then almost everything produced points or Catalinas. A few items double dipped with ibotta also. I currently have $120 in points that I’ll keep rolling.

Also, all the Kroger fans, don't forget your Friday freebie. Mine was fancy bread. They also have 99 cent post cereal today (55 cent ibotta rebate), and 99 cent blocks of cheese.