From the article: Save Money on Groceries - Grocery Shopping Tips
Groceries account for a large portion of most budgets, so finding ways to save money can amount to big savings. What are some of the best grocery shopping tips you use to help you save money? Share Your Tip
Know the best price!
- I find that the more you know about the price of the foods you normally buy you'll know when that price is good. For instance, buy a small amount of spices that you need at the bulk barn, minimum cost 10 cents or for nuts buy only the cup you need instead of a large bag. I grow fresh herbs in the kitchen. Stock up on staples (pasta, flour, sugar)buy two or three, when they are on sale. If you need fresh veggies for something you are making today buy off the mark down rack (I often buy peppers for pasta sauce this way). I also buy store brands when possible rather than name brands.
- —Guest Nancy
Caution
- Careful selection at the Sam's/Costco/etc can save money. However, you need to know what the lowest prices are at the other retail stores before you simply assume that you're getting the lower price at these BigBox retailers. You can easily wind up spending too much for "specialty" items there.
- —Guest guest lownotes
the 2 most basic rules
- #1 = don't go shopping when you're hungry. #2 = make a list of what you need so you don't forget something important and don't buy stuff you don't need.
- —Guest michael bash
Shop the cycles
- To really save big, you need to shop the cycles in grocery stores. Many items go on sale every so many weeks in a regular cycle. If you buy enough to last until the next cycle, you will never pay more than the sale price for it. Also, never spend more than $2 per pound for meat. Pathmark stores always have meat for less than $2. Buy enough and freeze it to last until the next meat sale. Be sure to try the store brand of various products. They are usually as good as name brand and are less than the name brand even with a coupon.
- —Guest pbender311
Save money on groceries/childrens lunche
- As well as saving money, why not combine it with eating healthier? Pack school lunches in reuseable containers, using lots of healthy whole grain breads, raw veggies, reusable drink bottles, whole seeds and nuts (if allowed at your school), homemade muffins and cookies. (make batches of muffin and cookie mix, bake some for fresh, freeze some, freeze the mix for baking fresh later. You can freeze the drink (milk or diluted juice) for the freezer pack. Add more brown rice, rice or whole wheat pasta, long cooking oatmeal, whole grains for healthy meals, and stretching your grocery bill. Add fresh or frozen vegetables, small portions of fish, chicken, low fat meats, and meals can be inexpensive. Freeze leftovers, or turn them into the basis of homemade soups and stews. There are many ways to prepare food economically. Hope some of you try a few of these. For free health tips and ideas, www.HealthyGreenandNaturalFreeTips.com You only have one you, take care of it!
- —HealthyGreenandNatural
Grocery Jargon
- When stores have sales that say.. 2 for 5.00 or 10 for 10.00.. some customers believe you have to buy the amount specified to get the deal.. in my area this isn't the case, every now and then they will specify if you have to get it that way or not, but 9 times out of 10, if something is 10 for 10.00 you only have to buy 1 thing..
- —sophisticatedsista06
Left overs
- Left over chicken can be used to make a chicken paste sandwich for the next day.Also cook a large dinner and take the leftovers to work for lunch the next day and just warm it up,you get two meals while spending less time in the kitchen.It is healtier since you have control over the ingredients you put in it and save you money from not having to buy lunch
- —Guest mya
Buy in Bulk - But Only What You Will Use
- Buying in bulk can be a great way to save money, but only if it is something that you will actually use before it spoils. Thiis comes down to knowing what your family eats the most. A 5 pound bag of pre-chopped onions for $4 is probably not a good deal, when whole onions will keep much longer, and are quick and easy to cut up yourself. One of the biggest ways to save buying bulk is meat - buy the 15# top round at Costco for $2.99 a pound and cut it up yourself. This will easily yield a good size roast, several packages woth of steak and at least a package of stew meat for the same price per pound you might pay for stew meat, easily saving you twice what it cost. We recently bought a whole New York strip for $50, which yielded 22 very large steaks (each steak will easily feed 2 people) that would have cost $6 each, for a savings of $82.00. Remember that store specials are not always the best deal, like the $6.99 case of soda "on sale", right next to the $2.99 12 packs.
- —jeffnbev
saving money on food
- I buy what's on sale and then use everything I have at home. I have wasted so much food over the years, but no more. I also stopped going to the store more than once a week.
- —Guest Lisa-Oh
don't blow your savings on gas
- The easiest way to do so is to NOT drive from store to store. I remember my late uncle doing so, in his Lincoln, saving a dime on one item but using $1.00 worth of gas. And that was when gas was cheap!
- —Guest Lynda
Price Matching
- This is one of the the drop-dead, easiest ways to save the most money on groceries (and I'm not sure most people even know/realize you can do it!). Wal-Mart price matches on all non-generic items from any competitor. So my wife gathers the weekly grocery flyers we receive in the mail, and writes her grocery shopping list based on what's on sale at the 4-5 local grocery chains in our area. She then brings the list and the flyers with her to Wal-Mart, fills her cart with these itmes, and shows the cashier the flyers if they ask at the register (the cashier often just rings up the price based on my wife's word). This, coupled with the coupons from the Sunday paper, really saves a LOT of money on our grocery bill!
- —Guest Wayne
saving on milk
- i buy whole milk i split the gallon in 1/2 then i had water to each half.This makes 2 gallons plus less fat. i learned this from a rd while in nursing school.
- —Guest rnell118@yahoo.com
Wholesale Foods
- I find the best way to save money on shopping is going to a 'wholesale' type store. Sam's Club, Costco, etc. If you do the math you can make tons of meals for under $2 (healthy too!) and buy nice dinners like baked ziti or stuffed ravioli for about the same price (~$10 for 6 servings worth,
- —Guest Bryce
Saving Money on Groceries
- I found that I could save money on groceries if I increased the amount of time I spent in the kitchen. I made a rule that if I could make it at home I would not buy it at the store. Example, I use a bread machine and make my own bread. I make my own cookies, pasta sauces, frozen dinners, soups etc. You save so much money buy flour, milk and eggs rather then buying packaged cookies and bread. Also, your overall health is increased. If you read ingredient lists there are a lot of ingredients that are not even food. I started spending more time in the kitchen cause I was a poor student who couldn't afford most packaged and convenience foods, but now i continue it out of personal and financial well being.
- —Guest Shagel
$138 for 2 weeks of food
- I wrote a blog about saving money grocery shopping. http://reneecrabtree.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/13820-for-2-weeks-of-food/
- —Guest Renee Crabtree
