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Grocery shopping doesn't have to be expensive. Now, I know that we all have our favorite items and brands, but I have to say that I buy generic whenever possible. I honestly can't tell the difference between generic and name brand for most items. If you have a Save-A-Lot, Aldi's or Big Lots near you, check them out for good food prices. I do have a Save-A-Lot in my town as well as a Big Lots, but because of health issues, I often cannot take advantage of a lot of their items. These stores do not have a lot of lower fat or lower carb items that I need to have in my home. I also try to stay away from a lot of processed foods and these stores often don't have much of a savings on fresh produce or meat. I can often do better by buying items on sale at the regular grocery stores.
Which brings me to another point ... to save money, you have to know the highest amount you are willing to pay for something NOT on sale as well as the lowest amount you have found for each item when on sale. To do this, you will want to start a price book. Here is how to begin - How to Create a Price Book. I have to say that over time, you just know what the lowest prices are and often don't need to refer to the price book as much. However, it often surprises me that an item will go on sale at a lower price than I have in my price book. What I try to do is to stock up on what I can until the next sale should come around. This means that you have to have a place to store stocked-up items. I have a pantry in my kitchen as well as storage room in my garage. I also have a freezer in my garage for storing sale meat and other frozen items.
I found this wonderful online article full of Tips for Cutting Your Grocery Bill. I highly recommend reading this page - you may learn a new tip! Something that is always mentioned to help save money on groceries is to use coupons. Of course, this only works if the reduced price after using the coupon is LOWER than the amount in your price book! It's often cheaper to just buy generic or to wait for a sale, if you can. To make the most of the coupons that I cut out, I try to combine those items that are on sale with the coupons, if possible. There is a service online that will help you save money when buying groceries called The Grocery Game - check it out to see if it will help you!
My best method of saving money at the grocery store - usually 30-50% on a total purchase - is to buy only the "loss leaders" each week. A "loss leader" is the item that is on sale for that week only. The idea is that the store gets you inside by tempting you with a few sale items and then you'll buy other stuff, too. I sit down on Sunday afternoon after getting the sale circulars in my Sunday paper. I then go through to see what sale items I need to stock up on. I plan my weekly menus around the sale items. Now, this isn't rocket science, so I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here (LOL!), but do you know that my mom didn't begin shopping this way until a year ago? She and my dad retired here in town and I told her that she could stretch her grocery dollars by only buying what is on sale. She had a difficult time at first adjusting, I think! I know how much I'm saving each week by doing this because my grocery prints out the savings at the bottom. I typically try to spend only $400/month on groceries. I was up to $600, but that's when I wasn't really watching my extra spending very well. Plus I now make my own yogurt and that's saving us quite a bit! My budget also allows $100/month for paper products and personal hygiene items as well as cat food and litter. Since taking advantage of the rebate programs, I don't spend that much anymore.
It is my hope that you will find something useful here on my site!
I currently enjoy the privilege of being able to stay at home
to homeschool my children and I am always striving to be
the best caretaker for my precious family.
"I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."
~ Philippians 4:13 ~
Website owned and all Content Copyrighted by Kris Price.
All Rights Reserved. © 2006.
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