Groceries on the cheap takes a new, or not so new, approach to grocery shopping. I say not so new because it is a variation of how my mother shopped many years ago.
First, some background. I was a single parent on the early seventies when we had double digit inflation. I rarely got child support and childcare took most of one bi weekly paycheck, and my rent took the other. There was little left. I started reading everything I could find on economy groceries. I augmented what I learned from my mother. Through the years, I have continued to read everything I could and came up with a plan that works. I spend 1/2 the national average for food. I also spend about half the USDA stats for our family for thrifty cooking. We still eat well. We are not on SNAP, but of could feed us on the SNAP allotment.
I started this blog when it was brought to my attention that people were running out of money before they ran out of month on snap. Now, with snap cuts and grocery prices rising, it is even more important to get a handle on grocery shopping. I have found that I am not reaching a lot of people on snap, but, rather people that gleam what they want from the blog.
Groceries on the cheap takes a multi-disciplined approach to grocery shopping.
- Planning and organizing
- Smart shopping
- Cooking from scratch
First, planning and organizing.
- Identify the inexpensive sources of protein your family will eat. In our house it is eggs, cheese, beans, rice chicken, beef, and pork. Our choices for beef and pork are limited, but I can still find cuts for around two dollars a pound, my target price.
- List 7-14 main dishes that use these proteins that your family will eat.
- Now, make a list of the shelf ready or freezer ingredients that you will use to prepare your meals. Remember, no boxed meals or ready mades here. In our house that would be pasta, pasta sauce, green beans, beans, canned diced tomatoes, tuna, instant mashed potatoes, some canned chili.
- Now, set up a method to track the prices of these things. Either use a spread sheet or a small notebook. List the name of the product, size of container as a header. Then the date purchased, where purchased, and amount you paid,made a coupon of you used one.
Stores run on a 8-12 week cycle for sales. The object of this exercise is to never pay FULL price for anything. You want to find the RBP ( rock bottom price) for your staples and only buy them when they are that price. I keep a three to six month supply. Now that I am established, I can glance at the shelf in the pantry and tell just how much we need of a particular food. When the shelf is showing white, I start looking for a sale. This is about thrift and being prepared. This is NOT about hoarding.
Its not unlike our grandmothers that put food up for the winter on the farm.
Another way to look at it, is that like people that play the stock market, you are buying low, and eating when food is high prices.
Cooking or eating on a limited or thrifty budget doesn't have a lot of room for ready mades and box kits for meals. You are paying greatly for someone else's labor. My daughter tho rally investigated a hamburger meal box. It was a real eye opener. Since them, they have Re invented the box and I haven't ventured down that road yet. Deli chicken is a big rip off. It takes ten minutes to prep a chicken for the oven. The rest of the cooking is passive cooking where you can do other things.
You can scratch cook in an efficient manner and spend not much more time than you do using the expensive counterparts and eat a lot more healthy. If you spend more time shopping, and less time cooking, your budget will be better off. Now, that being said, if you enjoy spending all day in the kitchen and have the time, good. I love a home cooked meal, cooked with love. But, most of us are time crunched.
Planning your grocery trip is vital. You will save a lot of money. When the grocery ads come out, take a piece of computer paper and divide it in quarters. Head each quarter with the name of a grocery store you have an ad for. Now, write down every meat on your target list that is a good price. You are looking for an average of two dollars a pound. Then wrote the best buys on oeroshables, produce and dairy. Now staples, you are looking for RBP.
Pick the best two stores. Plan your trip. Check the coupon matching site in your area formcoupn match ups. Take the ads, your coupon book, and your list. Shopping two stores gloves you the best produce selection, and the best buys.
Plan the car ride to use the least gas, and or group your trip with other errands. I bring a cooler. With our stores charging for bags, I bring the soft sided cooler onto the store. It's a lot more efficient,
Not having to transfer the frozen or refrigerator items. I also bring sacks in when I can remember.
Get in a store, and get out. Try to shop at the same chain store you are familiar with. It saves time.m the longer you spend in a store , the more money you will spend. We tend to buy the same type of thing. You're not going to change that, you are just going to buy more for the same amount of money.
There is not much difference on your pocket book of you buy sox cans of green beans for three dollars, or if you buy two cans at 1.59 each for the same cans. The difference is that you eat six times, not two.
I shop two chain stores a week, usually. I also shop the warehouse store about once every month to six weeks, and the overstock stores when we are in the area. The bakery outlet and Winco are also on a eight week rotation. Don't overlook the drug stores. With rewards and careful planning, you can get necessities for really good prices. Plan your trip and don't impulse buy. Impulse buys account for about 70 percent of a stores sales. They are also a way to jack up the amount you spend in a hurry. If it's not a real necessity ,don't buy it. Being cute is,not a necessity. LOL. Now, chocolate, maybe LOL. I never pay for toothpaste or deodorant. I hear that you don't have to pay for soap or toilet paper either, but I haven't mastered that.
Use coupons when they make sense. Don't buy anything just because you have a coupon for it. Even of it is free. Of I can't use it, or know somebody that can, I don't buy it. I got baby food for free a couple of weeks ago. I took it to the food bank. I am sure that there is a least one baby out there that needs it.
I buy a Sunday paper from the dollar store. My friend sometimes brings me her inserts. I file them by month in a file. I get the on line printable coupons from coupons.com. Get them at the first of the month. Download the ones that you think you will use. There is a limit of two coupons per computer. Be kind, and only download the ones you will use. The manufacturers set limits on how many can be downloaded. There are coupons for toothpaste, deodorant, toilet paper, yogurt, coffee, and other things that are not junk food or ready made high priced things. I have been downloading HORMEL sirloin tips coupons. With sales, I can get them for less than the cost of the meat at beef prices. I have yet to find a piece of fat in them.
I think what I am staying is to be diligent with your shopping. Avoid ready mades unless they are cheaper than making the product yourself. It is not time consuming to make sirloin tips. But at three dollars a pound for the ready made and 3.50 or higher for the tips, it doesn't make much sense. Especially,when there are times when having dinner ready on six minutes os a real asset and it keeps you away from ordering pizza or going for take out.
That's about all I can do today. Tomorrow, we will get into depth on some area. Please feel free to comment on what you would like more info on. And please share, especially of you know someone that is having a rough time with their budget.
Thanks for stopping by
Jane