Terrific Tuesday: shopping

The obvious next step on our groceries on the cheap journey is shopping.  We have already talked about choosing your stores based in the ads and what staples you need to fill in and what meat is on a super sale that week.  We talked about getting on the store with your coupon book, your list of specials and the ads.  Get in and get out.  The longer you stay on a store, the longer they have to tempt you with their impulse buy strategies and the more you will spend.

If you spend less for real food all month, you won't have to count your pennies at the end of the month, you should have food leftover in the pantry.  This is a whole lot less stressful and you are covered if it snows or you are sick and don't feel like going to the store.

On to stores.  We go to 2 chain stores a week.  If they are close together I may go to them one after the other.  I keep a cooler in my car to store perishables.  If they aren't close I cluster them with other errands.  I usually hit  Rite- Aid after the Sunday ads come out.   We go to the warehouse store on a need to basis-- usually for the necessary paper product.  The alternative stores are hit when we are in the area for other reasons.  About once every eight weeks, we go to the bakery outlet and I stock bread.  The other alternative if you don't have freezer space is to make your own bread.  There are simple cheap sources out there.

It seems like a lot of shopping, but it really isn't.  I spend little time on the stores.  I know where everything is and I get what I came for and get out.

The stores spend a lot of time and money researching our shopping habits to get us to spend more.  Seventy  percent of their sales are from impulse buys.  Beat them at their own game!
 Keep your eyes open.  I systematically go through the store, skipping the isles that are of no interest to me.  I always hit the meat and dairy department.  A few weeks ago, I found chicken for .50 a pound.  It wasn't advertised.  I took it home and my husband cooked it the next day.  ( I would have, but I am nursing a cracked elbow.   ).

Take your monthly budget, divide it by 4.2 and get your weekly budget.  Try to stay at or under it.
Some weeks there will be none of your target items on sale, then I generally buy only my dairy and produce and my meat or protein item.  That week I will spend less so that the next week I can spend more.

Don't buy cold cereal.  It's one of the most expensive items in the supermarket.  I only buy it as a treat when I can get it for free or nearly free.  Oatmeal has more food value and costs less.  Obviously you need to get it on sale on the cardboard drum cartons.  It takes very little more effort to make oatmeal from the drum than it does from the pouch.  The savings are remarkable.

1 cup water
1/2 cup oatmeal
1-1/2 minutes.  In the microwave.
I split the minutes and cook it for a minute and then a! 30 seconds.  It seems to keep it from boiling over.  Using a bigger bowl will help too.


Starting out strategies.

• Cut out all junk food....chips, ready made anything.  
• When something on you target list is on sale, buy twice as much as you would normally buy,effectively spending the same, but getting twice the product.  

• Over  time, the snowball effect happens.  The money you saved this week, becomes the seed money to buy more for 1/2 price and pretty soon you have a pantry built.  

Over time, there will come a point where you can almost skip a week, or coast on your stock-- that's a very good feeling to know you have a stock and if something happens, you are covered..  I hate living on the edge, it's not good for your nerves.  A study said that you can actually loose iq points from the stress of being poor.  Groceries on the cheap can reduce that stress by cooking from scratch the smart way and distressing some of the hectic dinner hour and having food in the pantry and not wondering where the next meal is coming from.  We all know that certain legislators are cutting food stamps and food costs are on the rise. This is a way to beat it.

You can be a minimalist with your stuff and your wardrobe, but it doesn't make sense to be a minimalist with your food.  I am  not talking about hoarding.  I am talking about a sensible approach to buying food.  Why waste money to pay full or more than full price to have just enough food to last you for a day and have to waste gas going to the store and buying more over priced food.  That doesn't make sense to me, especially of you are short  of money in the first place.

The most important thing to do is to know your RBP. My mother used to have the expression, some people could have a bargain get up and bite them on the butt and wouldn't see it.  Don't be that person.  LOL

Next time: quick takes

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Jane