Money Saving Tips that are Guaranteed to Cut Food Bills

[travisgier]

Make a menu plan and then make your grocery list and you will be sure to cut your grocery bill. Going to the grocery store without a list is a good way to set yourself up for food budget disaster. If you wander around the grocery store aimlessly, you’re more likely to pick up foods that you either don’t need or probably won’t even use, and you will be more likely to forget items, forcing you to make an additional trip to the grocery store on which you will spend more money.

Having an idea of the types of foods you will need to prepare meals for a week or even two weeks will reduce the number of trips you make to the store. Then, when you go grocery shopping with your list in hand, stick to only buying the foods that are on the list and that you know you will be using that week. This is also a great way to reduce food waste and your grocery bills.

[mstrohm]

Here are some more ways (used by permission from Thrifty Times February 2011 Thrifty Times)

# Aim to cook, mix or make food yourself. Avoid “packaged” foods. Not only are they more expensive they contain more chemicals, sugars and salt
# Always eat before you shop. Hunger drives one to make foolish decisions.
# Make a list then be determined to stick to it. This will avoid impulse buying.
# Take advantage of generic brands – especially where it does not matter such as sugar, cinnamon, etc.
# Think in terms of two meals. Baking chicken? Bake a larger one, use leftovers for chicken soup (look in our recipes for home make chicken soup!) or chicken Caesar salad for lunch tomorrow. Packing your own lunch can save huge expenses. With a little planning the night before you won’t feel “cheated” by the sandwich syndrome.
# Stock up during very good sales. With a little thought you can get good at this. Some sales are marginal, others are great! Learn to buy extra when the sale is significant.
# Learn to check price per unit. At times sales make smaller quantity items cheaper!
# Learn to shop at alternative places. We have an Aldi where “staples” are dirt cheap. We get our produce from a produce store that sells in quantity. We checked out several produce stores. Some were higher than the grocery store. The one we patronize sells in quantity but at half the price of our grocery store! Even is we only used half of the produce (which you know we don’t!), the price per pound used was what we would have paid.
# Learn to shop in cycles based on price rather than what you will cook that week. Chickens on sale? Buy two or three weeks worth and freeze them. Next week cereal may be on sale. Instead of buying chicken you buy extra cereal. Buying what is on sale will cut your grocery bill considerably.
# If you use an item often consider buying it in bulk. My family eats oatmeal daily. My wife buys large containers of oatmeal at our club warehouse discount store.
# Keep a mental (or write these down if it helps) cost of items. Since we shop at five stores, Aldi, Produce Junction and three grocery stores, my wife keeps a mental cost of items. She knows where items will be cheapest. The flyers help her know what items are on sale – I buy at the one store near where I work. She buys at the store near her work. We go together to shop at Aldi, Produce Junction and the store by our home.
# Avoid expensive snacks. (Check out Easy and Inexpensive Snacks For After School)
# Use Coupons but be careful. Use of coupons can help if you are buying a brand that you use or will replace what you use at a lower cost. Watch out, we have found that coupons save money less often that we would like to believe, especially the first week they come out. Don’t be fooled, marketers being paid big bucks know your spending patterns. If you feel good having a coupon and won’t check prices – they know it!
# Go shopping with plan A and B. Want to grill this week. See what favorite grilling items are on sale or for a good price. Don’t be hard and fast on an exact item. A little flexibility can save you big!

[mom-from-missouri]

I like to cook in ways that disguise leftovers. For example, left over chili becomes a topping for baked potatoes, left over ground beef becomes taco meat, sloppy joes. Left over spaghetti meat goes into lasagna. Even finicky family that refuses leftovers will eat it, because they don't realize it is left over!

Bake your bread from scratch. If you aren't into that, then buy the frozen bread dough loaves. I can get 5 for $3.79 and then bake them myself (as opposed to a single loaf of bread for $4.09)

[MrPolarZero]

Also, you might want to consider the way you buy food supplies. For instance, there are only a few people living in your house, then you might need to think about the amount of food that you will be stocking up on.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I find NOT making up a week's (or longer) worth of menu's works to our advantage. We are urban with 4 grocery stores within walking distance. As an exercise walker, I stop in one toward the end of my walks to see what unadvertised specials may be present just for the day. I get some great deals that way. Yesterday, for example, I got bread for $0.99. It is my regular bread and usually $1.89 at that store. I also got a quart of mayonnaise for $0.90. That's usually something like $3.89. I often get meat and dairy specials this way, too. One year, the day before Thanksgiving, there was so much chicken for $0.39 a pound that I came back with the car, bought 2/3 of what they had and took it to a homeless shelter.

So I shop frequently for great savings. I am flexible as to what I might cook in the coming days. Many times I leave the store without buying a thing, if there is nothing I need or see a super deal on. In effect I go window shopping at the grocery store.

[Naz56]

Awesome tips everyone! I'll try these out for sure. Thx

[NolaP]

Another way to save is to shop in bulk for things that you use a lot of - paper towels, toilet paper, soap, cereal, soup, whatever. As long as you have room to store it it's totally worth it. I live on an island and grocery shopping is SUPER expensive, but we also have bulk stores and they help cut down on costs immensely.

[YourLifeSolution]

More important than all of this is LEARN TO COOK. Once I learned to cook things I really wanted to eat it definitely decreased my desire to go out for food so much. Yes, buying in bulk and checking cost per unit is a valid advice, but lets face it if you're on this forum you knew it.

Want an amazing reciple I use to live on?

Rigatoni noodles $1 for a pound
Tostito's Con Queso sauce $5 for 16 oz but you only need about 4 oz for this "recipe"
Louisiana hot sauce $3 for 32 oz (no kidding)

cook rigatoni, stir in con queso after noodles are drained, pour some hot sauce on.

It tastes like cajun macaroni and cheese if there were such a thing. No cooking ability necessary and a pound of this entree will run you about $2.50

[Frugal]

I cook on one day, like Saturday, a bunch of meat to feed my husband, and last the whole weekend, and into Monday or Tuesday. I like to make large dishes like stuffed peppers, cabbages, etc. and eat on them for up to four or five days. I use basic ingredients, and add accoutrements to leftovers.

[canada94]

Hi Guys

One ways to save is when you buy branded goods from the supermarket, drop a level from branded to stores own brand, quality is nearly as good, but big difference in the price.



kevin

[Frugal]

I use coupons, coupons, coupons, and try to go to places like Walgreen's to get some food and drink items, where they accept one manufacturer's, and one store coupon per item. This allows me to stock up on a very tight budget.

[jerrycates]

Using coupons is one of the most common things.
Buying less than the branded ones does make a lot of sense too.
Trim down on eat-outs. Cooking at home can be a little much of a work, but is doable and it helps to save much.

[Frugal]

Right now, I am in a personal challenge with myself to see how long I can go between grocery trips. I am sick of seeing myself spend $85-115 per week on groceries, and I am trying to cook more and eat out less, in addition to my usual coupon use and sales-shopping, rebates, etc.

Anyone else trying to stretch out their grocery trips, and use what they have down to the proverbial "last drop"?

[mstrohm]

Originally Posted by Frugal

Right now, I am in a personal challenge with myself to see how long I can go between grocery trips. I am sick of seeing myself spend $85-115 per week on groceries, and I am trying to cook more and eat out less, in addition to my usual coupon use and sales-shopping, rebates, etc.

Anyone else trying to stretch out their grocery trips, and use what they have down to the proverbial "last drop"?

My wife and I have done this on occasion, usually when we have an unexpected expense and don't want to put anything on the credit card. But in the end you have to spend a lot more once you finally have to stock back up!

Instead, we like to concentrate on using "inexpensive" items or sale items as over time this is what really saves and brings down our "per week" cost of eating.

In other words I think it is like delaying paying your bills until the last minute. You don't really save (unless your money is kept in an interest bearing account), you are just holding off the inevitable. You can put off shopping and use up what is on the shelf, but since you have already invested in that food it still "costs" you to eat it - you are just delaying when you have to put out the cash the next time.

[LIllianRose]

Does anyone else out there shop "salvage" grocery stores a way to save big on grocery staples. As a big fan of my local store in NC, I can tell you that the savings can be huge.
While they do not look like typical grocery stores, neither do their prices. While it may not be the place to go to pick up specific items on your shopping list, it can be a fabulous treasure hunt for items you use every day.

I like to stop in my local store at least once a week to see what they have. Some of my best finds have been, Barilla plus pasta for.50 a box, canned beets, peas, corn, string beans and diced tomatoes for.25 a can, IAMS 4lb bags of dog food for $2 a bag,.5 liter bottles of Perrier for.25 each, Kelloggs Smart Start cereal for $1 a box, Ken's salad dressings for.25 a bottle, 10lb red potatoes for $2.

The packaging is most often a little dented or crinkled but the food is sealed and the price is certainly right. If you see a real deal, you need to take advantage of it. Since these are closeouts and one time purchases, you may not find that deal next time you drop in.

One important thing to remember is that just because you are in a salvage store, everything is not automatically cheaper. I have found paper products, cleaning supplies and some frozen foods to be cheaper at my local Walmart.

In addition to canned goods there are deals on organic vegetables, eggs, dairy, frozen foods meats, dog treats, paper products, over the counter medications, shampoos, soaps detergents, snack foods even candy. In short anything you would find at your neighborhood grocer can usually be found there.

When it comes to expired products, "You can probably buy it and use it safely past those expiration dates. If it's something that requires refrigeration, you may want to exercise more caution before you buy and consume something like that," said Susan Parachini, with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. She said dates placed by manufacturers don't imply when something is safe to eat but rather when the quality is best.

Groceries eat up a hefty percentage of American families' budgets. A weekly trip to the salvage grocer can greatly stretch that budget with prices well below 50% off grocery store pricing.

[walker.kenny]

I go grocery shopping on a full stomach armed with a “must have and only if available cheap” list as well as all the coupons I can collect. This has saved me a bunch of dollars in the recent months.

[marvholly]

To keep my driving down (saving on gas & maintenance) I have scheduled only 2 driving days this week: today and Fri. I will visit my Dad and shop/run errands like paying my real estate taxes in person vs. mailing a check or paying the ‘convenience’ fee for paying online. I am going to try to keep to only 2 drive days/week but that may depend on my Dad’s situation and I may allow myself a controlled driving day (no more than 5 mi rt) or 2/week to hit up FREE lectures, concerts and movies in my town.

Since I tend to batch cook and have a TON of homemade ready to reheats in my freezers I have decided that next week I will plan to use these for a number of meals except for fish and maybe a veggie entree. Then I will be ready to go again w/meat loaf, turkey breast and whole chicken. I will probably eat MUCH more red meat than usual since I have several dishes frozen.

I have also decided to avoid stopping at a local natl chain grocer that I pass 2-3x/week for a week or 2. I tend to buy clearance meat there and I am WAAAY overstocked on meats. I do need bagels so I will go to at least 1 of my bread outlet stores this week either Fri.

I changed my Dr. appt from May to July. I go on Medicare in June and as I said there is NO sense in having to pay 2 deductibles this year.

I called my dentist on Mon to dispute my bill. I was billed for 2 exams & 2 cleanings on the SAME date. Office mgr agreed it was an error and fixed it.

I have sent for >30 free samples this month. Some I use, some go into gift baskets and some are stocking stuffers for the grandkids. At the historical rate I receive these I should get 9.

Found out my Dad now has pneumonia. I could not figure out why he was still in the hospital after > a week. Now I know. Suspect it will be another week.

I am SOOO glad it is nearly berry season again. I generally eat plain non-fat yogurt and berries for breakfast 2x/week. I am on the LAST of the bags I froze last summer. Also, I eat cereal & fruit for breakfast 2- 3x/week. I made the bulk oatmeal again today. Changed to using milk instead of water. STILL do NOT like it even after adding sweetener & a BUNCH of cinnamon. I’ll use this container for streusel topping and either return the 2 unopened or just donate them since I did buy w/coupons and my out of pocket was only $0.55 for both.

I almost always have fruit as part of my breakfast. I have kept some canned on the shelf for when all fruit is really $$$. I have not used these in YEARS. I am making a concerted effort to use now and will not replace. If I get desperate I can always hit Aldi for a single can.

I had a coupon for a $1 bagel & cream cheese at Einsteins. They are in the same strip mall as Trader Joe’s & on the way to see my Dad. Have not been there in 8-10 years. Walked thru and found some items that are even better deals than I currently get and some I just want. Sunflower seeds are $1.69/lb. I pay $1/7.25 oz at Dollar Tree. Frozen berries are cheaper than Aldi. Their prepared pizza dough is 0.99 and save SOOO much time it is on my list. My old friend 2 buck chuck is now $3 but still a good deal for the quality, esp for wines I seldom drink (reds).

[Frugal]

Enjoyed reading marvholly's report above. I, too, like to get free samples. I would say I send off for about fifty a month, and get 15-30 in the mail. These help supplement my diet.