Groceries on a Budget

[shinyhappypeople]

Where do you go for inspiration when you need to slash your grocery bill?  I need optimism, inspiration, resources (blogs, videos, whatever) and ideas.  Got any for me?

 

June's going to be tight for us, though not unmanageable.  I'm feeling a wee bit panicky because I haven't had a budget this tight in quite a while.  I know it can be done; I did it for YEARS -- actually, I did it on LESS for years.  Geez, I've become such a wimp and have gotten way out of practice.  I'm telling myself my tight budget is only for June but it would be good if I can find a way to sustain it over the longer term so we can build up savings and pay off some debt.

 

When we were really, really poor we ate a lot of potatoes, pasta, rice, and beans.  We still eat them, just not as much and not every meal, every day, kwim?  Those "lean" years of a starch/bread centered diet contributed to 2 out of the 4 of us becoming overweight.   So, I don't want to go back to eating like that.

 

We don't have Aldi's, but we do have our version of it (a store with prices much, much cheaper than other places).  I seriously need to not step foot in Costco at all.  It'll be okay.  I have an I-love-you/I-hate-you relationship with Costco.

 

 

 

 

[Melon]

Well I'm kind of in the same boat, but fortunately I only have to pay for myself. The thing I do is meal prepping. It's not fun at all.  I can make 1lb of meat, a jar of sauce, and a box of pasta last me 8 meals. Instead of eating a sandwich every day I've decided to switch to Pitas. They aren't as heavy and you can stuff them with a bunch of not so expensive veggies!

 

Tuna fish is also quite affordable, throw some spinach in it, eat it on cucumber slices or crackers.

 

For a while I did grilled chicken, veg, brown rice every day for weeks. IT got old real quick. You could try that with cooking it fresh every day if time is not an issue.

 I simply don't like cooking every day because my roommates are gross and I don't like being in the kitchen lol.

 

My advice is to make a menu for yourself and whoever else you're feeding. Try to keep it simple. Leftovers are life.

[HomeAgain]

Well, for me, it started with the Tightwad Gazette.  I started realizing that so many of the things we get boxed could be made cheaper at home (I have bought taco seasoning only once in the past year, and that's because it was technically free).  That, and their price book, and loss leader purchases...it cut our grocery bill quite a bit. 

We're a bit past that season of our life (much more is made straight at home) so I needed to find other ways to save money on basic ingredients.  Bountiful Baskets is a weekly/biweekly surprise basket of fruits and veggies. You can do add-ons, and I often do when it's a couple of pounds of berries.  I buy them at peak season and then freeze whatever we don't eat.  It means instead of paying $4 for 4 large blueberry muffins in September I can make a dozen for $1.25.  I do the same with other seldom used fresh things (ginger, celery, zucchini..) so that when we need a handful I can grab it without having to buy again.  Much less waste. 

Sam's club here often has good deals on hamburger/chicken, but for cuts of beef or pork I go elsewhere.  We have smaller markets that cater to other cultures but will usually have better meat prices (and a butcher you can talk to).  I make a great sandwich bread using this recipe, but buy my french loaves in bulk for $.79/loaf instead of the $1.20 for one.  They go in the freezer and get added to dinners about once a week.

We do keep rice, beans, pasta, and potatoes in our pantry.  They are great staples for stretching.  Even better is the 4 course meal.  Dh or I make a main dish, 2 fruit/veggie sides, and one starch.  Water to drink, unless I've made sun tea.  The extra variety lets us make less of the main (more expensive) dish and more of the things we should be eating. Plus we get to stretch everything just a bit.  

I try to make a weekly menu that rotates through ingredients and uses up everything.  Not always possible, but we try!  Saturdays are usually one-bite meals, where we take out various leftovers that are not enough to make full meals, heat them all up and have a smorgasbord. 

[Lanny]

I don't know what to suggest for "inspiration", but I do most of our grocery shopping and my belief is that THE most difficult and confusing things to buy in a supermarket are paper products, like Toilet Paper and Napkins.  There are so many different sizes of packages, how much paper is on the toilet paper roll, etc, it is  very confusing and the prices can vary enormously.   The majority of the shopping I  do is in a store where I buy the store brand of  toilet paper and another brand for napkins. At this time, I believe those are the best bang for the buck, regarding those 2 items.  Other cuts you can make may involve dietary changes. To my astonishment, my wife converted us to Vegetarians, last June, after she watched a video showing how beef cattle/pigs/chickens are slaughtered for humans to eat.  We occasionally eat meat and chicken (we did on a very rare outing to a restaurant last night), but I believe we are saving huge amounts of money, not buying the Meat and Chicken that we previously purchased routinely, almost every time one of us was in a supermarket.  Spaghetti is inexpensive and we like that dish, so occasionally we eat that and the cost of the meal is very low.  Lasagna, which I ate last night in the restaurant, as I recall, was one of the most expensive meals my wife cooked, before she converted us to Vegetarians last year.  The meat, the chicken, the cheese, etc. So, I suspect if you modify what you cook, you can save money. My wife is VERY brand conscious, with regard to Detergent for the Washing Machine (FAB Powder detergent for many years, FRUCO brand for Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, etc ) so I cannot change brands on those products, but they do go on sale and when they are on sale, I try to buy more than I would when they are at the normal price.   I've just been advised that we will be eating "Arroz con Pollo" (Rice with Chicken) this afternoon, which DIL will prepare.  I think that's a pretty inexpensive dish to make, but one must be VERY careful that it is kept at the proper temperature. Frequently, in the news, there is a Banquet or something where they serve it and a lot of people get sick, because it wasn't at the correct temperature in a Buffet.  I rarely eat that in a restaurant.

[Garga]

I don't know about meat vs not-meat. We used to eat mostly pasta/veggie dishes and I recently moved us to eating chicken and fish and beef and my grocery bills stayed the same. So I don't know what to say about that. How could the pasta dishes be the same as the meat dishes? I dunno! It's a mystery to me.

[kwickimom]

Listening in- I'm having to do the same thing without an aldi or cheap grocery store- here in south Texas we only have Walmart and HEB and neither is cheap. 

 

I hate coupons and I don't find them helpful for actual food we buy (I am on Paleo AIP right now and I cook mostly from scratch) 

 

Truly EXACT meal planning and keeping a good 'ole fashioned price book has been helping a little. I literally plan out breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack for everyone for everyday. I bake 1 dessert on the weekend for everyone and we dont eat after dinner on the weekdays. We only drink water and cheap coffee. I shop once a week with cash and thats it. 

 

I watch a lot of youtube videos and follow a lot of bloggers, but its the same old stuff- cook from scratch, plan, grow a garden, eat leftovers or coupon. 

Edited May 28, 2016 by kwickimom

[Lanny]

There are certain days in supermarkets where some things are discounted. For example, where I do most of our shopping, on Wednesdays, they discount Fruits and Vegetables 10%       I bought a bag of Grapes this week that I thought would cost about USD$3, but after I paid, when I looked at the receipt, I saw that there was a promotion I didn't know about and the Grapes were discounted approximately 50%    The same thing applies to the pharmacy.  Every Wednesday, there is a 10% discount in the pharmacy.   Sometimes (we live in Colombia) the same product is on the shelf in 2 different packages, with very different prices, because one of them is a promotion and the other is at regular price. I try to look, very carefully, before selecting things on  the shelf. Never go to a supermarket if you are hungry! Eat before you shop! That almost guarantees people will buy more.  I always have a list, and that's usually what I bring home, but sometimes my wife gets surprises.  She makes Burritos which all of us like.  I buy the Shell in a package and she does the rest.  

[Ottakee]

If your food budget is very tight you can see if you qualify good stamps...even for the short term. In our area you can use the food card at the farmers market and for every dollar you spend you get an equal amount to spend on fruits and veggies.....which makes fresh local produce 1/2 price.

 

Food pantries and food trucks are also options. In our area there are several that offer a lot of fresh fruits and veggies and there are no rules about who can come. There is also 4 times a year food commodities which is a box of food based on family size. It is income based but very helpful if you qualify.

[gingersmom]

Coupons will help you save on toothpaste, shampoo, laundry detergent, deodorant, tampons, razors,etc.

 

I get coupons for eggs all the time, ziplock bags, garbage bags.

 

Meal planning definitely helps me stay closer to budget.

 

I have a teenage son who eats endless amounts of food and a gluten free child (everything gluten free costs more)

[pinkmint]

One of the best tools in my belt for saving on groceries is salvage grocery stores. Otherwise known as "bent and dent" stores.

 

They sell items they get dirt cheap from various sources, mostly regular grocery stores that have overstock, beat up packages, and almost or slightly expired.

 

Most people don't know these places even exist (or they're scared of them). They don't advertise bc they don't have the $ to. Its worth seeing if there's one in your area, they can be a gold mine. I've been going to these type of stores for years. Some are better than others. One local one near me has probably half its stock in organic natural items. Often they're in run down neighborhoods.

Edited May 28, 2016 by pinkmint

[Jane in NC]

Do you have a farmer's market near you?  Seasonal produce at the market is a good value for me.  Also, at the end of the day you might be able to strike a bargain with a farmer.

[texasmama]

One of the best tools in my belt for saving on groceries is salvage grocery stores. Otherwise known as "bent and dent" stores.

 

They sell items they get dirt cheap from various sources, mostly regular grocery stores that have overstock, beat up packages, and almost or slightly expired.

 

Most people don't know these places even exist (or they're scared of them). They don't advertise bc they don't have the $ to. Its worth seeing if there's one in your area, they can be a gold mine. I've been going to these type of stores for years. Some are better than others. One local one near me has probably half its stock in organic natural items. Often they're in run down neighborhoods.

This is what I was going to suggest.  I buy good quality, organic and/or gluten free items for one fourth or one fifth of the price in the grocery store.  It helps us eat lavishly on a budget.  

[Butter]

I shop very early in the morning every Friday.  I get there at 6 when the store opens.  Ground beef that they packaged the previous day is marked down 25%.  Generally by 6:30 all the reduced ground beef is bought.  That saves me a lot.

 

Only use coupons if you were going to buy the item anyway.  It's not savings if you buy something you don't normally.

 

If your store has a bulk section, that often saves a lot, especially on herbs and spices.

[Hypatia.]

I love this blog for some budget friendly recipes.  

 

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

[SparklyUnicorn]

I love this blog for some budget friendly recipes.  

 

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

 

Yum...that stuff looks good.

[J-rap]

For years we were off and on on a tight budget.  I didn't shop anywhere in particular, but a standard week of meals was:  Legume stew one night (lentils, navy beans, etc. with whatever vegetables) with homemade bread; pasta one night (with tomato sauce only) and veggies on the side, or in the summer it might be a cold tuna pasta salad; homemade pizza with pizza sauce and cheese, veggies on the side; omelets with cheese, salsa and broccoli; pancakes or waffles with fruit; popcorn, cheese and apples with V8 juice to drink (that was with our movie night); and one more.  

 

I made my own bread (well, the bread machine did), and we always had plenty of home-cooked black beans or pinto beans in a big pot in the fridge to be used in a multitude of ways and which our children thankfully loved, usually for lunch.  It was often bean burritos, beans over rice, etc.   Oatmeal for breakfast.

 

As you can see, we were mostly vegetarians, though sometimes I'd get meat and stretch it thin.  For example, I might use 1/2 pound of sausage in the stew.

 

We always had cheese, PB, carrot sticks, apples, and frozen veggies on hand.  Also, we always had ingredients for baking (brownies, etc.  :D)

 

My goal was to spend no more than $50/week on food, not including milk and eggs because we got those separately, and not including other kitchen or household products.  But that was 15 years ago.  I wonder how much prices have changed since then...

[frogger]

I don't know about meat vs not-meat. We used to eat mostly pasta/veggie dishes and I recently moved us to eating chicken and fish and beef and my grocery bills stayed the same. So I don't know what to say about that. How could the pasta dishes be the same as the meat dishes? I dunno! It's a mystery to me.

Maybe meat is more filling?

[Callie]

One of the best tools in my belt for saving on groceries is salvage grocery stores. Otherwise known as "bent and dent" stores.

 

They sell items they get dirt cheap from various sources, mostly regular grocery stores that have overstock, beat up packages, and almost or slightly expired.

 

Most people don't know these places even exist (or they're scared of them). They don't advertise bc they don't have the $ to. Its worth seeing if there's one in your area, they can be a gold mine. I've been going to these type of stores for years. Some are better than others. One local one near me has probably half its stock in organic natural items. Often they're in run down neighborhoods.

The items at my discount grocery are rarely even out of date.  It actually has more higher end organic items than anywhere in town.  I was pleasantly surprised when they opened a couple of years ago.

[Callie]

This is what I was going to suggest.  I buy good quality, organic and/or gluten free items for one fourth or one fifth of the price in the grocery store.  It helps us eat lavishly on a budget.  

Me too!

[Callie]

I love this blog for some budget friendly recipes.  

 

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

We've had quite a few of her recipes and they are really good.

[TammyinTN]

I really love The Prudent Homemakers blog.  It motivates me to use everything wisely. 

 

[Kalmia]

Amy Dacyzyn's Pantry Principle. Stock up on the items you use regularly at the lowest possible prices by buying in bulk, finding the cheapest supplier, using a price book, or growing and preserving it yourself. It really helps if you are in an area that has enough supermarkets that they compete with excellent sales. We have two supermarkets. Sales are pathetic. When I lived in an area that had five, the sales were amazing. Gardening or making arrangements at the farm market to get fresh food to preserve is also a real help.

 

http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-save-gobs-of-time-cooking-for-your-family-part-1/

http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-what-youll-need-to-get-started-part-2/

http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-what-youll-need-as-raw-ingredients-for-real-food-recipes-part-3/

http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-get-the-ball-rolling-within-your-budget-part-4/

http://grannysvitalvittles.com/the-pantry-principle-how-to-maintain-your-pantry-part-5/

[Kalmia]

Here are a couple of references on making a price book.

 

http://organizedhome.com/kitchen-tips/make-price-book-save-money

 

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-save-the-most-money-on-your-grocery-budget-with-1518202640

 

http://dontwastethecrumbs.com/2014/06/grocery-budget-basics-creating-a-price-book/

[Noreen Claire]

It won't really help much for one month, but I use a price book app called 'price cruncher' (android) that has helped me figure out which stores sell my twenty or so most frequently purchased foods the cheapest. Has helped me cut about $100/month from my grocery bill.

 

Also, here's a great PDF resource for living on $4/day per person: Good and Cheap.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2016 by Noreen Claire

[knoxinsox]

If you search Pinterest for frugal grocery budgeting, you will find a ton of information.  Otherwise, my favorite inspiration is The Non-Consumer Advocate...Katy has a blog and an active Facebook group...I am always challenged by the ideas people come up with to avoid spending money.

We try to make each dollar count.  I shop primarily at Aldi, with occasional forays to the Winco bulk section, and sometimes a salvage grocery.  I make my list and put prices beside them and then do a quick meal plan for 2 weeks.  Our budget is pretty pared down right now, but there is always room for improvement. I also try to keep a full pantry, and just replace a few things each month--so plan to eat from your pantry first. Not eating out will be your best money saver.

We don't buy ziplocs, paper towels, paper plates, etc--thats the first quick thing to reduce.  If you are long term hard core into saving money, you can do reusable cloth menstrual pads and cloth TP.  

Next is snack foods, pop, anything in individual packs--its always going to be more expensive.  

Often frozen veggies and fruit can be cheaper than fresh, and sometimes more nutritious. 

So you end up with just your basic foods- for us, thats eggs, milk, butter, meat, fruits and veggies. I look for meat thats on sale or clearance and buy enough to put in the freezer.   I add flour and sugar, cocoa and chocolate chips.  If there is still $$, I add a treat such as a bag of BBQ chips or some banana chips and maybe some chocolate. Coffee and coffee creamer for me, but if I was super tight, I woiuld forgo them.  We drink sweet tea or mint tea instead.  

Built your meals around the cheap meats or eggs, add veggies and starches.  If you bake, now is a great time to make your own bread and treats.  I get a 50 lb bag of flour at Winco and I make bread for 2 months for $16.  Otherwise, we would spend at least $15 per week on bread--since we don't eat cheap dollar loaves. We make cookies or cake for desserts instead of buying.  I know you are trying to not eat a lot of carbs, but fill in with the healthiest ones you can--the goal is to fill the bellies.  :-) 

I can get by on $50 a week for a family of 4 if things area really tight, but not tight at all would be $100/week.  Generally, we are right around $75 per week with plenty of food.  We do not eat out.

[Laurel]

I love this blog for some budget friendly recipes.

 

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

This is what I was going to suggest for inspiration.

[SamanthaCarter]

We are a family of five with food budget about $25 per day (that includes paper goods and cleaning supplies - I don't have the data to split that out), no major allergies or intolerances. I don't know if that is good in a moderate cost of living area like ours. I think I do pretty well, but DH always seems to be in sticker shock. I shop mainly Kroger, with some Fresh Market and our new Aldi thrown in. Farmer's market is too expensive for our budget. 

Edited May 28, 2016 by SamanthaCarter

[Georgiana Daniels]

 

I watch a lot of youtube videos and follow a lot of bloggers, but its the same old stuff- cook from scratch, plan, grow a garden, eat leftovers or coupon. 

 

Exactly!

 

It's not hard to know what to do because the info is so available and proven out over the years, but actually DOING it is so, so hard. At least for me. Knowing the right thing to do and finding/making the time to do it are totally different things. Ugh.

 

I guess I need the inspiration too.

 

[Ali in OR]

Our church runs a garden with produce going to soup kitchens, food banks, etc. Anyone who works in the garden can also take home produce for their family. Maybe you have some option like that. Soon it will be u-pick season at local farms--I focus on berries, but I know there are also places with veggies. There are a few fruit and veggie stands in our local area (but a little out of town--does take some gas). All of these options are way cheaper than our farmer's market which has premium prices.

 

We used to have a bread outlet--next town over still does I think. Things were always so cheap there. We have a canned foods outlet that has more than canned foods and definitely cheaper than the grocery store. Another outlet has one aisle of food stuff from Costco--packages that got dented or cases with an item or two missing--all marked down from regular Costco prices but not completely dirt cheap.

 

I do think trying to use up whatever you have already, making everything from scratch, and not going to the store too often helps most.

[Entropymama]

One way I've made eating cheap fun is to pick an ethnicity and learn to cook that way. Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian... Even 'traditional' French and Italian cuisines are filled with grains and vegetables and so can be cooked on the cheap. I'll get a cookbook from the library and we'll splurge on some spices, then load up on beans, grains and cheap veggies and we'll try a bunch of new things. I will say that while my family isn't particularly adventurous about their food, they do like spice. I'll alternate our fun, new recipes with things that are sure winners like spaghetti and tacos. 

[Jane in NC]

One way I've made eating cheap fun is to pick an ethnicity and learn to cook that way. Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian... Even 'traditional' French and Italian cuisines are filled with grains and vegetables and so can be cooked on the cheap. I'll get a cookbook from the library and we'll splurge on some spices, then load up on beans, grains and cheap veggies and we'll try a bunch of new things. I will say that while my family isn't particularly adventurous about their food, they do like spice. I'll alternate our fun, new recipes with things that are sure winners like spaghetti and tacos.

Great idea! Sounds like a homeschooling project!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Probably the biggest money savers for me are planning, making a list, and sticking to it while at the store. 

 

While the warehouse stores are nice, I found I spent way too much money on stuff I really didn't need.

 

Recently started getting coupons again, but now I only cut out coupons for stuff I normally buy and if I use it i use it.  I don't buy something just because I have a coupon.   I'm finding coupons are becoming less and less interesting.  Most of them expire quickly.  I come across fewer and fewer food coupons.  The shampoos and stuff, I just buy the Walmart brands usually. 

 

My store now does loadable coupons.  You go to their site and load them onto your card.  Again with that, I just load them all and if I happen to use them I happen to use them.  I don't try to use them. 

 

I'm intrigued by the dent stores.  Apparently we don't have any around here.

[eternalsummer]

when we were very poor this is what we ate:

beans

some rice

whatever green vegetable was on sale (sometimes frozen if they had a good deal on frozen peas or something)

bread made from scratch (bought flour in bulk)

popcorn made on a stovetop (or later in a popcorn popper) with olive oil (bought that in bulk too, good source of fat)

peanut butter

bananas

eggs (when we were eating eggs)

 

If we were feeling rich that week, we bought apples and sometimes canned tuna and pretzels.

 

We don't eat dairy or factory farmed animal products so that limited our protein choices, but they were already pretty limited by budget anyway.

 

We ate beans (mostly lentils) daily.  No one got fat, because we didn't have extra beans and etc. to go around.  We didn't go hungry, though.

 

It was about the healthiest I've ever eaten.

[Truscifi]

One of the best tools in my belt for saving on groceries is salvage grocery stores. Otherwise known as "bent and dent" stores.

 

They sell items they get dirt cheap from various sources, mostly regular grocery stores that have overstock, beat up packages, and almost or slightly expired.

 

Most people don't know these places even exist (or they're scared of them). They don't advertise bc they don't have the $ to. Its worth seeing if there's one in your area, they can be a gold mine. I've been going to these type of stores for years. Some are better than others. One local one near me has probably half its stock in organic natural items. Often they're in run down neighborhoods.

 

Yes. I work one day at week at a salvage grocery just down the street. We get some really good deals on stuff. Like we got a load of frozen mango chunks - my boys love them, and they are usually so expensive, but we have them for $1.25 a bag right now. I bought a ton.

[hornblower]

I love this blog for some budget friendly recipes.  

 

http://www.budgetbytes.com/

 

 

someone even went through & picked out a selection of 17 vegan recipes from that blog http://www.chooseveg.com/vegan-on-a-budget-17-easy-affordable-recipes-2

Edited May 29, 2016 by hornblower

[abacus2]

For anyone who happens to be in the southeast US, the closeout grocery store in my area is United Grocery Outlet. I've gotten Larabars for $0.40 (next best price is $0.89 at Costco), tons of yogurt at about $0.25 a serving, their regular bread/bagel price at $1.39, healthier branded hot dogs and sausages for $1-$1.50 a package, name brand ketchup for $1 a bottle, and other great deals.

[nd293]

One way I've made eating cheap fun is to pick an ethnicity and learn to cook that way. Mexican, Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian... Even 'traditional' French and Italian cuisines are filled with grains and vegetables and so can be cooked on the cheap.

This relates to what I've noticed: my fruit and veg bill drops dramatically if I forgo the supermarket and shop wherever ethnic minorities are in the majority. At the moment I buy fruit and veg from a Vietnamese owned store (ethnically speaking - I'm sure they're more Australian than me by length of citizenship). Prices are lower overall, and there are often bags of less-than-perfect products at very low prices.

 

I was wondering about people who suggest meal planning: I do that too, mostly as a way of cutting impulse spending (and eating). But does anyone plan meals specifically around what's on sale, and how does that work? I imagine I would have to go to the supermarket, buy what's on special (actually there are two competitors in the same centre, so ... check at both?), go to the fruit and veg shop and get whatever is lowest priced (seasonal, or discounted, usually both). Then I'd need to sit in my car, plan the menu, go back into the fruit and veg shop to fill in the gaps and revisit the supermarket for the same reason (although with a good pantry of staples the latter wouldn't be as necessary). That's how I've theorised I'd get the most for my grocery budget but it does sound like a complicated process - I've never actually tried it.

 

I'll mention another thing that's never mentioned in this sort of thread, so it probably falls into the 'politically incorrect' category, but eating less is actually a viable strategy in some instances. I say this because when I started a weightloss programme that involved some changes to our overall shopping habits I thought our grocery bill would go up, but with eating less our bill actually stayed the same. We opted to use smaller plates, which helped the mental transition. This certainly isn't practical for all families, but it was an interesting observation when applied to ours.

[DawnM]

Listening in- I'm having to do the same thing without an aldi or cheap grocery store- here in south Texas we only have Walmart and HEB and neither is cheap. 

 

I hate coupons and I don't find them helpful for actual food we buy (I am on Paleo AIP right now and I cook mostly from scratch) 

 

Truly EXACT meal planning and keeping a good 'ole fashioned price book has been helping a little. I literally plan out breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack for everyone for everyday. I bake 1 dessert on the weekend for everyone and we dont eat after dinner on the weekdays. We only drink water and cheap coffee. I shop once a week with cash and thats it. 

 

I watch a lot of youtube videos and follow a lot of bloggers, but its the same old stuff- cook from scratch, plan, grow a garden, eat leftovers or coupon. 

 

 

Ok, you lost me at cheap coffee.   :lol:

 

Coffee is the one thing I will spend money on.  If I am trying to be frugal,  I buy Kirkland brand beans because they are about half the cost of the Starbucks brand (not my favorite brand but just as a comparison.)

 

But I do try to find coffee beans on sale.

[DawnM]

Many of the things I have done have already been mentioned.  The Tightwad Gazette says to make lots of the starch (pasta, potatoes, etc...) and only allow 6 ounces of meat per person (about the size of a chicken breast).  If her kids were still hungry, they were welcome to have as much of the starch as they need/wanted, but they only could have 6 ounces of the meat.

 

Her snacks were always leftovers.   Hungry at 3pm?  Heat up the leftover potatoes or pasta or rice.  Add spices or whatever, but no snack type foods.

 

She said once her son was lamenting not being able to have those small .25 bags of chips in his lunch at school.  So, she told him he could earn the .25 and buy it himself.  So he did.  I can't remember what chores she had him do.  In the end, he decided that bag of chips wasn't worth the effort and never complained again.

 

A couple of great resources I have come across:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Family-Guide-Groceries-under-Month-ebook/dp/B00703HTGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464523187&sr=8-1&keywords=family+guide+to+groceries

 

She has a website:

 

http://www.budget101.com/downloads.php?do=cat&id=2

 

 

[DawnM]

I want to thank you for starting this thread.  

 

We aren't on a very strict budget right now, but I want to get back to being more careful.  We have some bills to pay off and I really need to tighten up a bit in order to do that faster.

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

Ok, you lost me at cheap coffee.   :lol:

 

Coffee is the one thing I will spend money on.  If I am trying to be frugal,  I buy Kirkland brand beans because they are about half the cost of the Starbucks brand (not my favorite brand but just as a comparison.)

 

But I do try to find coffee beans on sale.

 

I buy the Aldi coffee, but hey you are still saving money verses going to a coffee shop everyday.  So that's one way to look at it.

 

I drink one or two cups in the morning mostly out of habit so I'm not all that particular. 

[Baseball mom]

I want to thank you for starting this thread.  We really need to cut back at least for awhile.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I totally meal plan based on what is on sale.  I do my grocery list and menu planning at the same time.  I check all the sale papers online.  Meijer, Kroger, Aldi, and Marsh.  Sometimes I check SaveALot too, but despite claiming to be a "discount grocery" they seem to be more expensive most of the time.  Also, if I am planning to be in Indianapolis to visit mom, I check the ad for Fresh Thyme also.  Anyway, I check all the ads online and shop whatever store is the least expensive for the various items.  The bulk of my shopping is usually done at Meijer, but if there's enough on sale at Kroger and Aldi I will hit those up too.  If there's not enough on sale there though, I don't make the extra trip since they are on the opposite side of town from Meijer.  (which, in this small town isn't far really, but I am not going if it's not worth it.)

 

Now, of course there are some things that end up on sale at one store that isn't in the sale paper and sometimes I have ended up paying more for that item as a result.  But that isn't too terribly common. 

 

We have a SaveALot.  I'm not particularly impressed with that store. We have several discount stores around here though so lots to pick from in that category. 

[HomeAgain]

I was wondering about people who suggest meal planning: I do that too, mostly as a way of cutting impulse spending (and eating). But does anyone plan meals specifically around what's on sale, and how does that work? I imagine I would have to go to the supermarket, buy what's on special (actually there are two competitors in the same centre, so ... check at both?), go to the fruit and veg shop and get whatever is lowest priced (seasonal, or discounted, usually both). Then I'd need to sit in my car, plan the menu, go back into the fruit and veg shop to fill in the gaps and revisit the supermarket for the same reason (although with a good pantry of staples the latter wouldn't be as necessary). That's how I've theorised I'd get the most for my grocery budget but it does sound like a complicated process - I've never actually tried it.

 

 

Yes.  Years and years ago we were given a list of what to expect on sale/when and it was the most awesome thing ever.  It means we tend to eat more seasonally.  Each week, our postal worker delivers a set of ads on Wednesday.  I go through them and circle things on the first two pages (sometimes the last page, too) of things we will eat.  Often the stuff in the middle is not on sale, but in the ad to direct your eyes to it.  I then start making a meal plan based on that, picking up the sale items on Friday/Saturday when I'm out.  Saturdays are also Bountiful Basket days, so I'll look through the basket, amend the plan if needed, and finish the shopping.  I pass by one major grocery store on the way to the library and the other on the way to the basket pick up, so no going out of my way.  Once every two weeks I'll go to Sam's and pick up meat and household items as needed: coffee, pasta, tp, bread, detergent..

 

 

I'll mention another thing that's never mentioned in this sort of thread, so it probably falls into the 'politically incorrect' category, but eating less is actually a viable strategy in some instances. I say this because when I started a weightloss programme that involved some changes to our overall shopping habits I thought our grocery bill would go up, but with eating less our bill actually stayed the same. We opted to use smaller plates, which helped the mental transition. This certainly isn't practical for all families, but it was an interesting observation when applied to ours.

 

Oh, yes!  We used to have those big deep plates and bowls that were so popular about 15 years ago.  One box of cereal lasted us a grand total of 3 days with two people eating it. We switched to smaller plates with a decorative border about 1in from the rim, and shallower bowls.  Our consumption went down a little, but we also became more conscious of what we were eating. 

[cjzimmer1]

 

I was wondering about people who suggest meal planning: I do that too, mostly as a way of cutting impulse spending (and eating). But does anyone plan meals specifically around what's on sale, and how does that work? I imagine I would have to go to the supermarket, buy what's on special (actually there are two competitors in the same centre, so ... check at both?), go to the fruit and veg shop and get whatever is lowest priced (seasonal, or discounted, usually both). Then I'd need to sit in my car, plan the menu, go back into the fruit and veg shop to fill in the gaps and revisit the supermarket for the same reason (although with a good pantry of staples the latter wouldn't be as necessary). That's how I've theorised I'd get the most for my grocery budget but it does sound like a complicated process - I've never actually tried it.

 

My house is well stocked on food.  I buy huge quantities of whatever is on sale (for example when spaghetti sauce is 99 cents a jar, I buy 50).  So every time I go to the store I'm just looking for the cheapest things and buy a lot of those.  I still buy a bag of lettuce a week, a gallon of each type of milk we use (4 different kinds due to allergies) etc.  But our meal planning is done after we get home and is based on whatever we have in the house.  So if I found a big bag of overripe bananas, than we will have banana bread for breakfast and/or snacks.  If eggs are cheap we will have them for breakfast and probably for supper once or twice.  If chicken is cheap than we have a lot of chicken.  If brats are on sale, we have those and if the buns are discounted I'll buy them too, otherwise I will just make them from scratch. If nothing is cheap, we eat from the stash in the freezer. The only things I regular shop at the store for are milk, salad ingredients (although in another month I'll have them growing and won't by buying them for a while) and frozen veggies.  But because I stock up when things are on sale, I have a good variety of things to work with.  If something needs a special ingredient that I don't have, I will usually omit ingredient, substitute a similar ingredient or just skip that meal altogether.

 

I buy all my grain in bulk from a food-coop.  Grocery store prices never come close to competing and they keep well.  So keeping 50 pounds of oatmeal, rice and wheat berries on hand and smaller amount of couscous and quinoa means I can round out any meal at low cost.

[Sukale]

In the evening around 8pm our Walmart marks down the rotisserie chicken to 50% off. A couple of those can make a lot of meals. 

[DawnM]

I buy the Aldi coffee, but hey you are still saving money verses going to a coffee shop everyday.  So that's one way to look at it.

 

I drink one or two cups in the morning mostly out of habit so I'm not all that particular. 

 

 

And I am the only one drinking it, so that saves.

 

I spend roughly $10/mo on coffee.  That is roughly .33 per day.  And I drink 2 cups in the am (strong) and I drink a latte most afternoons.

[Ali in OR]

Many of the things I have done have already been mentioned.  The Tightwad Gazette says to make lots of the starch (pasta, potatoes, etc...) and only allow 6 ounces of meat per person (about the size of a chicken breast).  If her kids were still hungry, they were welcome to have as much of the starch as they need/wanted, but they only could have 6 ounces of the meat.

 

 

I get the concept, but 6 oz of meat per person is a huge amount. A quarter pounder hamburger is only 4 oz. We eat probably more like 3 oz. Chicken breasts are so big now that we use 2 breasts for 5 people and still usually have some leftover. I cut each breast into 3 pieces--cut a triangle off the thinner end, then split the other piece into two thinner pieces (all 3 about the same size and thickness for even grilling/cooking).

[DawnM]

I get the concept, but 6 oz of meat per person is a huge amount. A quarter pounder hamburger is only 4 oz. We eat probably more like 3 oz. Chicken breasts are so big now that we use 2 breasts for 5 people and still usually have some leftover. I cut each breast into 3 pieces--cut a triangle off the thinner end, then split the other piece into two thinner pieces (all 3 about the same size and thickness for even grilling/cooking).

 

 

Well, for her, she had teen boys who were in sports, etc....certainly you can adjust it however you wish.

[hornblower]

Just FYI, according to the USDA, a portion of meat is 1 oz. 
 

 

Meat is part of the protein group & a serving is considered 1 ounce of meat, poultry or fish, ¼ cup cooked beans, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter, or ½ ounce of nuts or seeds.

Adult women should have 5 oz of protein TOTAL per day. http://www.choosemyplate.gov/protein-foods