Cut grocery costs
How does saving more than $1,000 per year on groceries sound? With a little planning, it's easy. Trim just $25 per week from your food bill and you'll net $1,300 by the end of the year. Here's how:
1. Eat out of your pantry. Take an inventory of what's lying around and plan meals around those items. You'll not only get rid of lingering groceries, you'll reduce your shopping list for the week.
2. Get in and out quickly. Statistics show that after 30 minutes of shopping, you'll spend 50 cents for each additional minute you're in the store. Stick to your list and you'll save about $60 a month.
3. Know your prices. Keep a list of the items you buy often and their cost. You'll know when you're getting a bargain.
4. Buy sale items. Build your grocery list around sale products. If one of your nonperishable household staples (such as canned goods) is on special, buy extra.
5. Use coupons. Clip coupons in store flyers, newspapers and magazines and at Web sites such as www.coupons.com, www.valpak.com and www.coupons.smartsource.com.
6. Choose generic. Trim 10 percent off your bill with store brands; they're often the same as name brands where it matters--inside the box.
7. Shop less. Shopping monthly, not weekly, at warehouse clubs can save you more than $2,000 a year.
8. Shop seasonally. Fruits and veggies taste better--and are often cheaper--when they're in season. Substitute frozen or canned varieties for out-of-season produce.
9. Find a bakery outlet. Pay $1 for a loaf of bread instead of $3. Outlets generally don't sell outdated goods, so bread won't go bad any sooner than a grocery store loaf would.
10. Check your receipt. Cashiers can make mistakes that cost you money, so look over your receipt before leaving the store.
Bonus tip
Plan your meals: Draw up a weekly menu and grocery list. You'll save time and money by making your shopping more targeted and efficient.
8 comments:
There's a great grocery surplus store at the northeast corner of Maple and Butler. It's called Chili's Warehouse, but there's no sign. It looks like an abandoned building, but the door is open and people are going in and out.
They carry recently out of date foods that are still perfectly good. I get a lot of food there every week (it's on my way to and from school) and is well worth an occasional visit even if you have to go out of your way.
They always have some kind of premium coffee (Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and other name brands) in their original vacuum-sealed packages for $2.99/lb. One of their suppliers is Trader Joe's, so they have a regular supply of their cereals and other products.
I love this place. Check it out sometime.
Well it's nowhere near where I live but it sounds great. I'll have to check it out next time I'm in that area. I am absolutely not driving anywhere I don't have to right now.
As for your original post, unfortunately I find I spend more money on food when I plan meals because I'm not disciplined enough to make those planned meals when it comes time. I feel I'm too busy or tired to make the big meal I had planned and so I always end up throwing away things like fish, potatoes, fruits, roasts, etc. because I pulled stuff out to thaw but then couldn't get myself to make what I had planned. It's a sad situation. :{
Hey Kim, try crockpot cooking. I can make anything in a crockpot and it's easier in the morning when I'm still feeling ambitious rather than later in the day. Try crockpot.com We do meal planning at least a week in advance. When I go shopping I do it based on what I have in the refrigerator so for example if I bought chicken to make something and still have some left over I will make plans for something with chicken. I waste far less food this way and no longer let vegetables rot like I used to. I don't usually shop monthly anymore, although I used to. I find now that my kids are older they will invariably eat something I need for a dinner so weekly works better but I do stick to the list and the meal plan. Some days I feel like cooking like today so I make stuff several days in advance. I have a book on freezer food cooking where you plan the whole thing a month in advance and only spend one day cooking. I haven't been organized enough to do it although I'd like to. I really wanted to do it with a partner where you each do two weeks of stuff and trade, but I never found anyone who wanted to do it with as big a family as mine, so it never worked out. Maybe your planned meals are too ambitious? They sound good but in reality it will take too long when it comes down to it. I plan stuff like hotdogs and macaroni and cheese.
Hot dogs and mac n cheese are Chris' planned meals that I let him serve when I'm not home. I don't care for either very much. (I grew up on spam and mac n cheese. How did my mother feed a family of 4 with one can of spam? I'll never know.) Yeah, if I plan meals, then I get ambitious. I know that's my downfall. I just like to make good food. I like to start with fresh ingredients and feel like I'm giving my family some nutrition. You know, like fish, brown rice, spinach salad, applesauce. Meals like that. But not always. Sometimes it's just pasta and salad.
I just got home from school and I'm wiped out and now I have to go plan dinner. :) I have 2 avocados that need to be eaten. Planning ahead and making easy but healthy meals would be nice. I need to keep trying...
Hey Kim, I don't like it much either but my husband and kids do! When I do meal planning I figure out what days I'm going to cook and what days Ken is going to cook. I mainly cook vegetarian which Ken doesn't like to do, not to mention I cook a lot of my own recipes or modify others which he just cannot do. I have a great 5 ingredient vegetarian cookbook I got on Amazon for $5. Those kinds of cookbooks are great. So what did you do with the avocado?
I pulled out my last pound of organic beef, browned it, took some leftover organic refried black beans out of the fridge, took some organic tortilla chips, and some hormone-free cheese and sour cream, turned my avocados into guacamole, and had a plate of nachos. Not low in fat, but otherwise fairly healthy. :)
Yummy!
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