Grocery Bill Savings?
January 22, 2009 - 4:07 pm 13 Comments
~ I just started taking a class teaching how to save money on groceries. The woman leading the class has cut her monthly grocery budget over half, and many I know who’ve taken her class have done the same. I haven’t learned the “how” yet, as this class has just started, but I am very interested in this, because my monthly bill seems to be growing more and more.
*My question to you is, how do you save money on your groceries?
January 22nd, 2009 at 4:25 pm
I go to Walmart!!!!
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
I would love to hear what you learn. I know as my kids get bigger and eat more we spend more. One thing that I do is make a big pot of beans from dried beans and then use them all week. Soups are usually pretty inexpensive to make. We have cut out meat for the most part and that saves a lot. Hope to hear what more you learn.
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:52 pm
I cheat and live with my parents, who insist on paying for everything. But I know they started shopping at Walmart and have saved a bunch of money.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
My wife just blogged this!
http://amywrotethis.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-new-job.html
Also – here is a cool site (in beta testing now) where you can track your progress. http://www.spendlessgivemore.org
Great topic! Look forward to hearing what you learn.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
Take some notes for me! I wish I could say my bill was going down, but it’s actually going up. With my girls getting older, gone are the days where 1 lb. of ground turkey can make a meal. It now takes two lbs. That’s a lot more $ over the course of a month. I need to take a class like that.
I shop at Aldi to try to keep our food bill low. I don’t know if they’re all over the country or not. I also buy mostly store brand, not name brand, and I clip coupons because sometimes that makes the name brand cheaper.
I’d love to hear what you learn!
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I have found lately that it “saves” to shop around. Now that gas isn’t through the roof, I don’t mind hitting three or four stores when I’m doing a big grocery shopping trip. Some things are cheaper at Target; others at Longs, etc… But I always start at Grocery Outlet; they have a lot of organic stuff and most of their items are way less than regular grocery stores.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I do my “big shop” at the Commissary. That’s the grocery store on the military base. Prices are 30% lower on average. Some things are about the same as in town, but most are cheaper. No sales tax either. Just a 5% surcharge on grocery items that goes toward building new commissaries. Next to healthcare, this is our biggest benefit for families.
January 24th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Aldi http://www.aldifoods.com
&
Walmart
&
Coupons (when I am motivated)
For the four of us on one income.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:31 am
That is NOT a question for a woman with three teen aged boys….
January 24th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
LOL, truevyne! Hang in there!
It’s not so hard here because it’s just me, but since I’m a graduate student, my budget is tight. I usually make a casserole or something once a week and then freeze half of it in individual meal portions. I think sometimes it’s cheaper to double a recipe all at once (eg, buy the big thing of spinach, which costs $2 more rather than buying two little ones for $4 each at separate times).
I love the More-with-Less Cookbooks sold by the Mennonite Central Committee. They’re all about simplicity and feeding large families on a budget. The recipes also all involve fresh, natural ingredients and mostly avoid the use of processed foods. You can buy them at 10,000 Villages, or online.
Also, I stick to a budget without shopping at Wal-Mart. A few years ago I learned about their labor practices and decided that I could do without clothes made by small children in 3rd world sweatshops and food picked by migrant farm workers who are paid very little. The film “Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices” is a good place to learn more about these issues.
January 25th, 2009 at 5:59 am
With a family of 9 & living in HI, our grocery bill is outrageous. We don’t have the great dbl or triple coupon deals here. The best way I’ve found to save money is to STAY AWAY from the store & to know what our meals will be ahead of time. I buy mostly in bulk, & have to get milk every 4 days. If I could get them to quit drinking milk, I’d save so much money, we spend about $140 on milk alone!
January 25th, 2009 at 9:16 am
soup, beans, and pasta… the cheapest meals!
January 26th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
The only way I’m currently saving a bit on groceries is by
!. planning my weekly menu
2. creating a detailed list on my smartphone
I’ve found I often feel compelled to buy more because it doesn’t “seem” like I have enough in the cart. But I’ve learned to “trust the phone.”
I’ve actually also logged the costs of each item (it took about 3 trips to get 90% of my items) into my shopping program (splashshopper).
Now I know how much I’m spending before I even go to the store. That way, I have a better idea of whether or not I can add a few impulse items.
I’d love to hear what you learn!