So hey. Heard anything about those food shortages and skyrocketing food prices? They SUCK. I thought that it might be fun - or fun-ish, anyhow, or possibly helpful - to start a post on how to save money on groceries right now while things are all nightmarishly expensive and stuff.
Here's my two cents:
- buy store brands. They're cheaper. If you're family gets all weepy about eating generic cereal, you're raising a family of babies and it will be a much needed character-building experience for them.
-eating by candlelight can make a spartan meal seem fancy. The same goes for making peanut butter sandwiches, eating them on a blanket in the yard and calling it a "picnic."
- prepackaged things for kids' lunches can get awfully expensive quickly. Making your own carrot sticks and cookies is cheaper and probably builds more of that "character" stuff.
- plan ahead of time what you're going to eat in the upcoming week and only shop once a week, list in hand. Make sure you check your cupboards and fridge so you don't buy even MORE carrots, like a certain person who is writing this RIGHT NOW.
- my husband just suggested "setting a budget." Ha ha! Funny husband!
That's all I can think of right at the moment. How do YOU save money on groceries?
Saturday, May 3, 2008
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74 comments:
Coupons, including the online offers.
Farmers markets are usually cheaper on the fruits and vegetables.
Shop more than one store, checking which has the cheapest whatever.
And no, I don't always have th energy to do all these things either.
Would you post some yummy recipes using relatively inexpensive ingredients, like eggs and peanut butter and hamburger?
I am so bad about not preparing a menu plan. Ughhhhh!!!! We do always eat well.
I mostly buy store brands with the exception of a few items, like ketchup. I MUST buy Heinz! Soups are a great way to make a few simple ingredients stretch to feed a large family.
We struggle with this saving money on groceries thing...we eat very healthy, usually, and lord knows L. hardly eats anything but bread and water, yet somehow we spent quite a bit on groceries...we have started making skimpy, less involved dinners--doing cereal nights, or just having a salad for us grownups and cereal or fruit and cereal for the kids.
homemade cookies build character? well, we are all set there. Mostly I stay away from anything prepackaged, pre-sliced, etc. Also I try to buy meat in larger packages when it is on sale and freeze portions. We put chicken on top of salad - this means we need less chicken per person - it looks like more all tossed up and you serve the big plate of veggie - it works the same instead of grilling chicken breasts, we grill kabobs. Or I cook a whole chicken, then recycle into the next day's pot-pie and the third days' soup.
what is this budget your man speaks of?
Replacing meat with vegetables is the quickest way I know to bring down a grocery bill.
Coleslaw over Salad.
Apples over Grapes.
Chicken Thighs over Breasts.
Those are the big 3 for me.
Shop with cash. Leave any and all credit cards and checkbooks at home, so you aren't tempted. If you only have $50, you can only SPEND $50.
Buy in bulk and bake from scratch and eat almost zero meat (we are having the first meat we have had in over a month. :))
Although budgets work, I don't like them. I like the idea of spending as least as possible.
Good plan.
we grow most of our own food,which is definitely less expensive,especially when feeding a family of 9. We also belong to a CSA to augment what we don't grow. CSAs are the best way to buy local food and do it economically if you;re not growing it yourself.Our CSA averages $15/week and that's a basically "take all you need" system. All fresh surplus is canned or frozen to carry us through the winter months.We don't buy any prepackaged,prepared food,including bread. We also barter for eggs from a local farm and have a Cow Share with a dairy farm which provides us with our milk,yogurt and cheeses. We also tend to get our meat local straight from a farm,as well.
I couldn't tell you exactly what our "grocery" bill amounts to but it isn't much and we eat really well!
I plan menus 2 weeks at a time and buy what we need for those meals.
Sometimes we eat eggs and hash browns for supper. In the winter time we eat a lot of soups.
Stock up on sales. And I made homemade bread today and THOUGHT about doing that weekly since we're spending $15 a week on bread alone. However, the grocery store just had a very rude $15 price tag on MY bag of flour that used to be $7.99!!!!!!!!!!!! A.R.G.L.E.
B.A.R.G.L.E!
When we run out of milk, bread, bananas (the big THREE in our house) we wait an extra day before going to the grocery store. That extra day seems to motivate us to think outside the box in terms of food. No milk? Use up the powdered pancake mix in the pantry. No bread? Guess it is soup for lunch. No bananas? Well, finally I'll eat those kiwis that have been hanging around for weeks (really kiwis have a crazy long shelf life).
I mostly don't use store brands though. Sure for flour, eggs, apple juice, and some other basics but usually it tastes like crap. If you compare labels the store brands frequently have more salt, and more fat than the real brands. And yeah, I admit it: my character is in need of building.
soup, bread, and cheese is a fine, fine meal.
Stay out of the snack aisle when grocery shopping. Don't shop when you are hungry.
Do you know how many times my husband has asked me to set a budget in the past 3.5 years I have been at home ? Pshawww!!!!
Great tips Beck. I'm a coupon clipper, including the online coupons. Saved tons doing that.
I also check the flyers every week and will shop "Price Chopper" or "No Frills" and Walmart a lot more than Loblaws/ Dominion.
For kid's lunch, I also make my own crackers & cheese, veggie and dips.
I only shop with cash.
I grow and butcher my own beef which saves us a bundle on meat costs.
And I never, ever shop with my best friend or I end up spending twice the money!
I've found the warehouse stores (Sam's Club, Costco, etc.) can save you a lot of money -- IF you buy only what's on your list AND if you can store it.
I buy certain fruits and veggies at Sam's, and I save almost 50% on what the mainline grocery stores sell. I also buy bread and meat and freeze what I can't use. They also have double boxes of cereal for very reasonable prices.
Just go on a weekday morning to avoid the crazy crowds.
Great list!
well, I don't do any of the things your commenting people do, but at least now I feel bad about it.
*resolves to be better about grocery spending*
make sure you eat your food before it goes bad (this helps keep your fridge clean, too)
I go through the cupboards and freezer and think "what meals can I make with what I already have?" and then just buy the things I need to supplement them. this helps use up stuff that gets ignored in the back corners.
I'm with TEOM and Heather-- lose the meat. We might eat meat once a week. If I'm feeling extravagant. It makes an enormous difference.
We do have growing little boys who need protein, of course, so I work hard to make sure they get complete protein combinations of grains and legumes (also some dairy and eggs). I check out vegetarian cookbooks from the library regularly to try new recipes so it's not always the same old rice & beans.
Store brands are Teh Awesome, and in some cases, actually healthier (for instance, many store brand or bag brand cereals do not contain the high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils of the national brands).
Eat leftovers immediately or, if you're sick of them, freeze them in single portion sizes for a time when you're not.
Buy yogurt in large cartons rather than individual cups. Buy it plain and add your own fruit-- much cheaper and way less sugar.
I am finding that the facing of financial realities has caused me to reconsider my commitment to organic things. Sure, I'd love to get organic milk for my kids all the time, but I just can't right now. I have to trust that it balances out against our unusually high (for Americans, anyway) vegetable and fruit consumption.
I also-- due entirely to Beck's inspiration!-- now plan my menus for the week based on what I already have in my pantry and buy only what I need to make the meals I have planned.
Budget setting is also fantastic. We recently took a long hard look at our finances and set a real, actually-based-on-numbers budget that includes a plan to eliminate all our "bad" debt. Our budget for groceries is $50 a week. When I am tempted to go over, I remind myself that every month we bust the budget is another month we're in debt and don't have to be. That's a real motivator.
Finally, my latest capitulation to the exigencies of poverty has been to give up spending the gas to make the 20 mile round trip to my beloved Wegman's. Instead, I shop at the grocery store I can walk to from my house, El Primero Mercado. EPM, as we call it, does not stock Iberian ham or cave-aged manchego or organic fiddlehead fern tendrils, but we can't afford that stuff right now anyhow. They do have great cheap produce and all the basics that we need.
PS-- It may be stating the obvious, but it's absolutely necessary to make a list.
Make the list before you go to the store. And stick. To. The List.
If it is not on the list, do not buy it. This is a difficult skill to master, but ever so rewarding.
I'm a coupon clipper too and I print them off online too so I can get even more then what comes in the Sun paper.
I clip lots and lots of coupons and then let them expire in my purse.
I do try to meal plan. I shop weekly. I try to make surprise thrown together meals with leftover groceries that haven't been used. My husband worries when I call a "meal" Melanie-surprise. He knows that means I don't know what it really is.
DEFINITELY make a meal plan and resulting list and stick to that list.
We buy most stuff from our regular supermarket, but certain things are much cheaper at Aldi (a European chain store that's here in Australia now): peanut butter, cream cheese, rice crackers, cereals, hommus, tinned tuna and salmon - a lot of it is half the price of the other supermarkets. When I'm organised I do a three-week meal plan, get that cheap stuff at Aldi every three weeks, then shop for the other stuff and fresh fruit and veg once a week.
When stuff we use regularly is on sale for a good price we buy two or three of those things.
We also eat little meat (husband has some; me and the babies, none).
We stay away from prepared/pre-sliced/etc food as much as possible.
The coupon is not a trend that has hit Australia. Shame.
If I could just forgo that weekly bottle of red wine and tub of cookies & cream ice-cream, we'd knock another $15 off the bill.
Use coupons
Use beans & lentils in place of meats
Buy local
Shop what's in season and on sale
Plan around what's in your fridge and pantry
Those are the tricks up my sleeve. Good tips all-around from everyone!
This is going to sound nuts, but I go to the store almost every day.
There is this little Fresh and Easy market on the corner and it's very cheap. We go there right before dinner, usually walking and get ONLY what we need for dinner, nothing else except maybe bread and milk, and pay with cash.
Ironically, it has saved me a ton of money because I know I'm ONLY buying what I need for dinner, and not a bunch of extra stuff. Then once every other week or so I go for the rest of what we need - cereal, toilet paper, etc.
When I go to the grocery store and I'm just trying to buy two weeks worth of whatever, I end up buying so much random stuff and I tend to waste more money. I'm OBVIOUSLY not a planner.
budgets!!! *snort*
Coupons, farmers' market, more veggies & beans & less meat, save and eat leftovers. Stock up on pantry/frozen items when they're on sale.
I don't plan ahead--I go to the store/farmers' market and plan around whatever's cheap.
We eat a lot of stir fry--stretches the meat and is oh-so-healthy.
Thanks, now you made me write a big ol' long blog post about this.
I am so with you on the creative things to make cheap meals special. We have a Friday-night tradition involving dinner in the living room watching episodes of *The Twilight Zone*. Even tacos take on a special significance when you're eating them with Rod Serling.
Heh heh. Great tips!
I have tagged you for a meme. Please play along. :)
http://regainingparadise.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/in-retrospect-its-all-about-meme/
great advice! the healthy food guide magazine that's published here ran a lengthy article this month on the very same thing. just tonight DH pureed the left over leftovers into gravy because he had run out of gravy mix!!!
http://www.healthyfood.co.nz/
We used to eat out more, now most of our meals at at home. I try to make double portions of the meals I know my kids will eat, and then freeze the second half for a later meal. That way I have a quick dinner already made for the times when going to out to eat seems awfully tempting...
Heidi
I don't do budgets here either. And I had a mini heart attack in the GAS station last night because THEY now carry their own brand... hubby sent me to get him some Krunchers and they don't have them anymore but had the imitation. I didn't think he'd approve! But I went for it, and it was cheaper!, and he totally thought they were yummy. Yay!
Steph
I have a "master list" that I used to keep on the door of the fridge and just highlighted things when I needed them. I need to get back to doing that.
I cook with chicken breasts, but I split a package in half when I get home, then freeze it. Until the kids are bigger, we can split 2 breasts 4 ways. We don't eat beef or pork... but fish is expensive and that is my biggest problem. Salmon is a huge favorite in our house and it is never less than $9.99/lb.
We are getting a vegetable garden in the ground next week.
We do have farmers markets, but they too, are getting more expensive.
And is it just me or the healthier you eat, the higher the grocery bill... it just breaks my heart (and hurts my wallet).
Great ideas here, Beck, as always!
When it comes to saving money on groceries, I am a firm believer that it's AAALLLL about the menu planning. I have a list of what I call the "perpetual pantry" (stuff I always need to have in the house, no matter what ie. flour, sugar, spices, etc) and then make up a list of more items depending on what meals I've planned for the week.
And, now that summer's right around the corner, I'll be doing a lot of our shopping at the Saturday market, where the food comes from local farms. We also have a large farm just down the road from us, and they sell produce, etc. daily, as soon as it's harvested-- sometimes, the kids and I go in and do our own picking! It makes a fun day-trip.
I'm expanding the garden this spring to include vegetables for the first time... And so soon, I'll be battling bunny rabbits as well as the "usual" raccoons and squirrels! Here's hoping there will be some food left for us humans...
xo CGF
What is this thing called budget?? Ha, ha! We're a list family all the way - can't go to the store without one.
Groceries, hmmm...its almost alien in my family. As you probably might remember, I am hopeless in cooking. Allan is seldom at home during meal time, so when the chief is not around, we eat out.
But its getting crazy over here, people are really stocking up, especially rice itself. Which makes the price shoot up more (demand more than supply)
but one great way we learn is doing research, go to 2-3 different stores to check out the prices 1st.
and not forgetting those special discounts corners, those are must-grab items.
I was shocked this week to find the rice section of my local grocery store nearly empty and even more shocked to pay $12.99 for a 2 kg bag of rice that usually costs anywhere from $6.99-$8.99 depending if it is on sale.
Since my kids are such terrible meat eaters we save a lot that way and I am big on cooking once and eating twice.
I've been writing out a weekly menu, and that also helps my stress levels!
Making "real" chicken noodle soup is insanely less expensive than the canned stuff, and on and on in that vein.
two words:
beans
rice
We try to save money by shopping at the super store and getting oversized items (like 17 pound bags of sugar) but we wind up with stuff we don't need because they have these great prices. I know I'll clean the house regularly if I have that huge bottle of cleaner always available ... yeah right:)
having a menu plan & shopping once a week is very helpful because I also "plan" my left overs or use half a chicken one night and half another for two totally different meals.
I used to have a rule that I wouldn't buy any fruit or veg over $1.00 a pound. That's gone right out the window (though it does help one stick to in-season items)!! It was probably several years ago, too.
Not necessarily an option everywhere - shop your local farmer's market - at closing time - I get great deals this way, including giveaways - even expensive stuff like GFCF organic bagels!.
Similarly, make friends with local orchards and take the stuff they can't sell cause of vruising etc and do your own canning with it.
Plant a victory garden for the expensive stuff - peppers, salad fixings, tomatoes.
Plan for vegetarian meal nights - vegan if possible - and don't go exotic on those nights - go for kid friendly stuff.
With meat, down scale your selections - tougher cheaper cuts - and use the slow cooker.
Buy as unprocessed as possible.
for us, the biggest thing is actually eating what we buy. Dave likes to buy broccoli, but does not like to cook broccoli. i only like broccoli in a few things. so we have, in the past, often seen many fine broccolis meet a sorry end in our fridge.
i tried the budget thing. husband said, "silly Bonnie." sigh.
I love the picnic idea.
We have a menu plan now and only go once a week (although have to go mid week for fresh stuff)
I have been trying to cook a few meatless meals to save money.
Pasta, rice. Very little meat, or at least make meat not the 'star' of the meal.
I still spend a ton on food but holding back on meat stuff helps a great deal.
I have been in food manufacturing plants and seen the exact same food come off the line and get several different labels (including store brands). In MANY instances it is EXACTLY the same thing.
I don't buy many snacks. My biggest money saver, though? Leaving my husband at home.
OH Beck! I was thinking about this tonight. It's so sad... many people, I fear, will be suffering.
I can't use coupons because I don't buy brand names and rarely do I back "packages" I just buy the raw materials.
We're eating lots of beans... Cheap, and fills you up. And yes, soups, with the beans, do stretch the dollar.
I wish I liked beans and rice!!
Menu planning, list-making have been my biggest money savers. I don't know if you have CVS pharmacy stores in Canada, but here, the store has a rewards program where you buy certain products and you earn "Extra Care Bucks" to come back and spend. By using them wisely in conjunction with coupons, you can turn them over and over and basically walk into the store and get free stuff each week.
I've been reading this blog for great ideas on saving money:
www.moneysavingmom.com
She's fantastic.
We don't do anything exceptional, but I find when reading articles on how to save money that I'm doing a lot of things already. We buy store brand, I make a list, we don't really do prepackaged stuff but do a lot from scratch, would never buy preshredded cheese, for example, etc. I do coupons but am not militant about them.
Less meat. Fewer packaged foods. (I'd say No packaged foods but I cave in to my son sometimes.) We eat scrambled eggs one night a week when we might otherwise have meat.
THE GROCERY LIST. Which I always forget at home and when I get to the store I am that woman shouting NOOOOOOO! in the parking lot.
We planted a vegetable garden this year. It is on the smallish side, but should still save us a little bit.
My trick is to have a baby and therefore be locked up inside the house during the rising of food prices. Then I don't have a clue what's going on in the outside world and am totally out of it when people talk about stuff like this. ; )
I am queen of the picnic. Everything seems great when eaten outside on a blanket. And breakfast for dinner is always a cheap crowd pleaser around here.
And I just put a new bag of carrots on top of the ones I already had in the fridge...
save money...heh, heh...if that is what you call the $320 I just spent at the grocery store. YIKES!
I send home baked treats in their lunches almost every day, only using store bought in emergencies. This makes my kids covet Dunkaroos all the more. They have character in spades.
I started shopping at Price Chopper (I think we have compared P.C. stories, haven't we?) instead of a more sexy store which, seriously, cut my grocery bill by something like $50-$70 a week.
I shop at the Farmer's Market all spring and summer. Three heads of lettuce for $3 you say? It's salad week. Even the meat counter has deals, especially as it gets close to closing time and the vendors don't want to pack it up. The bonus: it supports the local economy.
i save money on groceries by eating out. a lot. which pretty much defeats the purpose. :)
"buy store brands. They're cheaper. If you're family gets all weepy about eating generic cereal, you're raising a family of babies and it will be a much needed character-building experience for them."
Yes, yes & mo'yes!
I cut back, way, way back. I shop in a local small store. The prices might not per se be as cheap as other stores (or so others say) but I haven't noticed it. The main deal is it's small with less "BUY ME!" stuff and so forth so I only buy the very basics. I walk out with enough for the week, often for $70-$100. They do accept coupons and run lots of specials.
We also keep it simple.
And stick to the list.
Here's our set-up. My 'funny' husband thought we were spending too much money on groceries so I suggested he take over the grocery shopping. He agreed!!! If I want something it had better be on the list because he only buys what's on the list. And lo and behold, it is costing us less and we still have a full fridge and pantry.
I do all of the exact same stuff you listed. I always shop once a week with meals in mind. I always make a list and stick to it. I buy store brands, and I clip coupons like crazy.
Don't shop hungry, make a list, buy store brands, buy in bulk, and I mean bulk real food not bulk candy bars, and cutting back on meat.
I stick to just the 4 walls of the grocery store (meat, produce, dairy, bread) and never go on the aisles if I don't have too. The aisles are disaster waiting to happen and budget busters await there too. Just stick to the perimeter of the store!
Shop the sales. Make good use of your freezer (as in, freezing stuff when it's on sale). That's it. Must try some of the other suggestions here!
I'm so far behind on posts at this point. We do a lot of bulk shopping and keep our basement stocked with vegies and dried goods, and the freezer is always stocked with ground beef and other meats.
Tell you what---if my kids want Lucky Charms they are getting the generic bagged version.
I am going to email you my Rice-A-Roni Casserole recipe which feeds our family of 5 (including FIL) for about $6.
How about don't shop at big grocery stores. Get all fruits and veg from markets, use the butcher and the baker, etc.
I use coupons and buy whatever is on sale that week. I rarely buy things that I don't have coupons for. If chicken is on sale one week, I stock up, people around here suck it up, and we eat chicken til we start clucking! If any store as an awesome sale on something, I buy all I can. For instance, Acme (Albertson's depending on where you live) has an awesome deal on cereal this week. 10 boxes for $15. After I used the coupons I had, I ended up with 20 boxes for 11 bucks!
Oh yeah, and if you do buy generic cereal and the kids complain, put it in a plastic container and they never know the difference!
Dude, I'm a bit behind on blogging but this is funny because I spent a large chunk of the weekend thinking about this very same topic.
The best way we've found to cut costs is to grocery shop only once a week. We plan out all seven dinners on Sunday and then figure out what else we'll need for the week and we only get that. We hardly have anything left on Saturday but we also seldom waste anything, even lettuce.
I still feel like we send a million bucks a week but I know we're saving a lot more than we were before.
Oh, we also have the butcher weigh/cut all of our meat so that we don't end up buying a pound of prepackaged hamburger if we only need half a pound.
Once that excess 190 lbs walked out, I was able to buy generic without hearing all sorts of his food snobbery. I am blown away at how much my grocery bills have shrunk. There are a few things I won't skimp on. And, if I try generic and it tastes like saw dust or poo or anything yicky? I will step up the food ladder. But not top shelf any more. Those days are over. Except on Mother's Day. I will be buying an insanely delicious turkey breast and won't even look at the price tag.
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