Stretching Your Grocery Dollars

Shopping for groceries is an inevitable fact of our ever busy lives. We may imagine that we are saving time by dashing in, roaming the aisles and throwing whatever looks good into the cart. Most often, what we end up with is repetitive, nutritionally unbalanced meals and ballooning grocery bills. Or worse, frequent fast-food stops and pizza calls. Brighten your meals and save time and money by planning ahead – an added bonus you may even save a few calories.

Some money saving tips:

• Before you visit the grocery store each week, check out the Sunday circulars. Clip coupons while you watch television or get your children to lend a hand. Organization is the key to the coupon game, so invest in an accordion coupon file. Trust me, it’s infinitely easier than rifling through small slips of paper or finding yourself without the coupon you need when you get to the store. You can find some very user friendly organizers for around $10.00 at sites such as www.galison.com.

• Look through the food section of your local newspaper. You’ll get some great ideas about bargains to look for as well as what produce, seafood, etc. is in season. The circulars and the food section are two places to begin building a weekly menu, that isn’t boring, on a budget. It’s also a good idea to comb the Internet. There are a wealth of sites offering ideas for budget menus.

• Consider joining a shopping club such as Sam’s or Costco. If you don’t have the storage space, but would like to benefit from the savings and convenience of buying in bulk share the bounty with a friend. You can each take a turn shopping from a list once a month or so.

• Keep your receipts for a month or so and notice the high, low and average prices on the items you buy most. When the price hits its low, buy a few so that you can skip it when it slides into the high range.

• Experiment with 5 ingredient meals. There are a number of books, videos and web sites that help you make great meals with only a few ingredients even on weeknights.

• Check out sites like www.cutouthunger.org/get_coupons!.htm; www.refundsweepers.com; www.refundcents.com; and www.aplusfreestuff.com for information on rebates, refunds, freebies and other savings. If you do take advantage of rebates, complete forms meticulously and keep copies of receipts, UPC, proof of purchase documentation and contact information for the vendor.

• Include your local grocer’s weekly circular in your savings plan. When store sales are coupled with the savings cards now offered by many grocer’s you can save hundreds of dollars each year.

• Pay attention to promotionals. Some grocer’s offer reward if you spend the target amount within a specified period. Rewards generally include a percentage off of your grocery bill at a later date or cash back.

• Curb impulse buying. Grocer’s have developed their floor plans with your dollars in mind; the object, get as many as possible with proper product placement. Learn the layout of your store and make a beeline to your destination. Temptation is especially tough in the check out aisles. Fight the urge to succumb to these powerful marketing practices by making, and sticking to, a list.

• Try not to shop when you are starved. It makes sense that you are more vulnerable to impulse buying when you are hungry.

• Make a budget and take a calculator to the store.

• Compare prices. Store brands are not necessarily least expensive. Take just a moment to scan the shelves for best prices on the items you buy. When comparison shopping, make sure to take note of per unit costs.

• Look below eye level. Bargain priced items are often shelved below eye level and out of your immediate view.

Grocery shopping can take a big chunk out of your budget if you are not careful. With just a small investment of time you will realize savings that you can take to the credit union.

Grocery Savings – Your Kitchen is a Goldmine!

Your food budget is the most flexible area of your household budget. Grocery savings will free up a significant amount of money if you need to balance the budget, or fund your savings accounts.

If you haven’t figured it out already, your kitchen is a Goldmine. There are numerous ways to reduce the grocery budget and free up funds to use in other areas.

How much should you be spending on groceries?

The USDA Food Plans at the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion suggests that a family of four is currently spending about $100 to $116 per week based on the “Thrifty Plan”, depending on the age of children. Anyone trying to reduce the food budget should follow the guidelines for the “thrifty plan.”

This should give you at least some idea what the average family spends.
I recommend you shoot for something less than that figure if at all possible by implementing as many of these grocery saving tips as possible!

Eliminate eating out! Period! – O.K. if you’re family is screaming mad at you then take them out at least once a month.
Make it an occasion. Most of us get caught up in fast paced living and eat out at least one or two times per week. It’s just an insane waste of money.
Your family will appreciate a dinner out much more when it’s not such a regular event. Consider it “quality time out”. And, remember to look for coupons good at local restaurants for additional savings.

Minimize the use of convenience foods. – You can make it yourself for a fraction of the cost, try it! Many of us are so accustomed to convenience foods that we forget we can make it ourselves.
If you already love to cook from scratch then congrats! For the rest, I know this is a scary thought. It’s hard to go back into the kitchen and actually get your hands dirty. However, I must insist you try this. There’s gold in them there hands! Use ‘em.

If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t worry there are literally hundreds of recipe books for the busy lifestyle. There are many that promote frugal living as well.

You’ll find substitute recipes for everything from baking mixes to shake and bake and salad dressing. All it takes is a little extra time. Even if you had to pay yourself for doing the cooking you would come out ahead.

Do your homework! – Know what’s on sale and plan your menu around the weekly sales flyers. Investing a little extra time in planning will help maximize grocery savings and reduce the food budget!
I make it a rule to never buy meat over $2 a pound. Although I allow myself $2, I usually only spend on average 39 cents to $1.69. Occasionally, (rarely) I indulge in something special if it’s a good value.

Eat meatless meals at least twice a week. – Beans and rice are a good example. Egg dishes are a nice change in routine for dinner. Try a vegetable stir fry or casserole.
Don’t use packaged mixes. – Cake, breads, muffins, pastry, pizza dough, pancake, and waffles all come in a variety of pre-packaged mixes. Make your own for not much more effort and a lot less money!
Know what your local stores offer. – Which ones have the lowest prices? Start carrying a little memo book to record prices of items you buy regularly. You can organize trips to save time and money when planning your grocery shopping.
Who accepts coupons and do they double? Do they have a rebate program? Do they have a clearance or bargain area? Which grocery stores accept additional discount programs like ValuPage?

Build your coupon file! – It seems coupons are available everywhere now. Your newspaper is a great starting point. Pay careful attention when looking through magazines. These are easy to miss. I often find coupons in home, ladies, or cooking magazines.
Check out the free grocery coupons on-line. Be sure to do your research, many stores do not accept computer generated coupons due to the high incidence of fraud. Be sure not to waste your valuable time on this one if you don’t have a local store that accepts them.

Be an informed consumer. I can’t stress this enough!

Informed consumer = More grocery savings!

Once you know where to shop, use all your resources. Combine rebates, sales, and coupons whenever possible for maximum grocery savings. This takes a bit more dedication but, you can literally get paid to purchase items if you’re willing to invest the time.

Grocery savings aren’t just for the grocery store. many drugstores now have food sections where you can save on groceries.

Here’s a great tip:

Always check your cash register receipt. Many stores offer a refund of full price policy for items that do not register the correct sale price.
I have cashed in on this one many times. Remember, these price adjustments are usually entered by humans. Human error is always a possibility, so cash in on it!

Because of a simple mistake, you have increased your grocery savings!

If you….

Plan ahead – Use your sale flyers to plan weekly meals.

Use what you have on hand first – Plan meals based on foods you have in your fridge, freezer, and cabinets already

Utilize your savings tips – Get more for your money using a combination of resources listed above

Make it yourself whenever possible
….You will be able to tap into that Goldmine hiding in your very own kitchen!