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Grocery Shopping Savvy - Little Ways to Save Big
Categories: In The News, Mealtime, Shopping
My grocery-shopping strategy is pretty simple: plan menus, stick to a list and shop on Tuesday mornings. Fewer people shop on Tuesdays (shorter lines) and the food is usually fresher. Shelves get restocked with fresh goods on Mondays after weekend plundering.
Like you, I'm constantly looking for ways to cut food costs. But I've never been much of a coupon clipper -- until two weeks ago. That's when I met Ashley Nuzzo, the Frugal Coupon Mom. Ashley, a new mom, wanted to stay home, so she and her husband decided to scale back to one income. She treats saving money like a job -- using Web sites, reading blogs, printing online coupons and scouring the newspaper for discounts. Last month U.S. News & World Report reported on her savings of -- brace yourself -- about $1,500 a month!
While you may not be up for a program like Ashley's, here some simple ways to whittle away at your grocery bill:
Select items from the top and bottom shelves on aisles. More expensive merchandise is usually placed at eye level. Costly children's cereals and candy are at their eye level, for example.
Don't buy health and beauty items at the grocery store. Usually prices are lower at a discount store or drugstore.
Try less-expensive store brands. Many are made by national brands you know, and they have the same quality the name brands offer.
Buy bread and baked goods in bulk at bakery outlets and freeze. In its original wrapper, frozen bread will last two to three months.
Buy bagged fruit and vegetables instead of loose and save about a dollar a pound. No two bags weigh exactly the same, so use the produce scale to weigh a few bags before you choose one. You could get a few apples for free.
Buy canned fruits and vegetables in smaller pieces. For example, pineapple chunks and diced tomatoes typically cost less than pineapple rings and whole tomatoes.
Buy a beef or pork tenderloin and cut it into fillets and stew meat yourself. You'll save 25 to 30 percent over the cost of pre-cut fillets or cubes.
Expect about 45 percent waste if you discard the skin on chicken breasts. Boneless and skinless breasts may be a better buy.
Don't let marketing phrases fool you. "New and improved" might mean only a new color or formula. Before you buy a product labeled "10% More Free," compare it to other packages of the same product to be sure it's really economical.
Be cautious of companion foods displayed together. The chips may be discounted, but the salsa could be premium priced.
Ask for a rain check. In some states, you have a legal right to one if the store doesn't have the advertised special you want. When the item is back in stock, you can buy it for the sale price.
Your turn: How are you cutting your grocery bill?
Kathy Peel is CEO of Family Manager Coaching and the author of 20 books. Her latest, The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy, Organized Home, won the 2009 Mom's Choice Award for Best Family and Parenting Resource. You can find her on line at www.familymanager.com
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Baron 3-04-2009 @ 11:47AM
She must be cooking for a huge family. For the three of us (granted, one is a baby, so she only eats baby food and bottles), spending 300 a month at the grocery store would be at the high end and if we spend another 300 on going to dinner, I would be say that is at the high end too.
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Kelly 3-04-2009 @ 3:35PM
We save money when I completely plan our meals for the month. It takes time to pull it all together but it keeps us from "running" to the store to get one thing and returning with items that weren't planned and it also keeps us out of the fast food/restaurant trap. I try to make large recipes so we can eat on it at least twice (family of four).
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valencio 3-04-2009 @ 3:05PM
I will recommend using DesktopBudget.com to manage personal finances. Its the best offline personal finance manager I have seen so far.
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kate 3-04-2009 @ 3:24PM
For me, I've resorted to what seems like a more wasteful method, but in the end I'm saving a ton - I go to the store every day. I used to try to plan meals weekly and do my shopping weekly. But as work and family demands would shift day to day, I'd find myself throwing away produce we didn't eat at the end of the week because I didn't feel up to cooking X that night or husband didn't want Y the next . . . I thought about how Europeans do it, with their smaller refrigerators, smaller corner markets. Now, I plan what's for dinner that day and pick up whatever fresh food I need that night between leaving work and picking up the kids. Because I am not wasting so much food, I'm actually saving a ton, and I find myself cooking more often and getting take-out less. I still get the "staples" once a week (bread, milk, stuff for lunches), but this is working for us.
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Pavlina 3-05-2009 @ 4:38PM
I don't buy processed food or snacks. Well, sometimes I buy cookies and crackers, but I don't buy any "boxed" dinners and only the only frozen food I buy are frozen veggies (very occasionally ice cream). I spend maybe 120 a week for 3 adults and two children. Not bad, I think.
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Cooking and Serving Maine Lobster 3-16-2009 @ 4:04AM
Fill a large pot with 1 quart of water. Add 2 tbsp. sale and bring to a boil. Put lobster (s) in head first. Bring water back to boil. Lower heat, cover,and simmer.
Cooking Times
1 1/4 lb. Lobster (feeds 1) 12 minutes
1 1/2-2 lb. lobster (feeds 1) 16 minutes
2 1/2 - 31/2 lb. lobsters (feeds 1-2) 20 minutes
4-5 lb. lobster (feeds 2) 24 minutes
Large lobsters aren't tough..they're superb!
Place lobster in sink until cook enough to handle. Then put it on it's back..using a heavy,sharp pointed knife, cut thru entire length of body and tail. Remove stomach, (in back of head) and intestinal vein that runs from stomach to end of tail. Spread open. Seve with mallet or crackers to break the large claws. The tail section and claws offer the largest pieces of meat, but don't let anyone overlook the good meat to be found in the body section. Unhinge the shell from the body, then crack the body apart sideways, to get at the meat. This section contains the "tomalley," or green liver, and the red coral roe (only found in females)..both are delicious. The little claws and tail-piece flippers hold rewarding morsels too. Hot lobster always tastes best dipped in melted butter with lemon juice. Cold lobster is good with either melted butter or mayonnaise.
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