If you aren't already following the
Eat Well, Spend Less series spearheaded by
Life As Mom, you should. Every week throughout the month of April, seven different bloggers are sharing how they spend their grocery dollars wisely in spite of the rising food prices. All of these ladies approach this topic from a different perspective concerning eating habits, using coupons, cooking from scratch, etc. so there's something for everyone. I've really enjoyed the posts I've read so far. I even tried a new
garlic-herb dressing recipe I found through this series and it is delicious!
I know food prices are going up. To be honest, I haven't noticed too much increase in our area recently but I do know that already grocery prices are a good bit higher than they were 3 years ago.
All this talk about beating the rising prices while still feeding our families good and filling meals has caused me to think about the main ways I am able to save money on groceries! If you've been reading here for any length of time, you'll probably recall seeing these tips mentioned before, because they have been. :-) For the most part, these are tips that I've used for a long time and probably will continue to use as I work to stretch our grocery dollars with or without rising grocery prices.
1) Menu planning. We all know how much I love my menu plans. I love them because they work for me. I make a plan based on what I have on hand and what I will be purchasing at the grocery store. Having a plan helps me to more wisely use my resources. I don't feel bound by my meal plans and I frequently switch up days or even ditch the plan altogether and make something else we're in the mood for. And that's ok. Having a plan in place means that I'm not arriving at 5 pm trying to come up with something for dinner and running out for fast food or to the grocery store to purchase something else. I've also noticed that when I follow my menu plan, we eat much healthier and more balanced meals than the ones I throw together at the last minute!
2) Detailed grocery lists. I make store-specific lists with coupon match-ups clearly marked. I usually have a pretty good idea of prices and try to take the time to figure up my total before I head to the store. With a smaller budget, this is important. If I'm over budget, I can scratch a few things off the list and make substitutions and changes to the week's menu plan.The more detailed my lists, the more successful I am in sticking to my budget!
3) Using basic inexpensive ingredients. The more basic the ingredients the more versatile they are. When I have my freezer and pantry stocked with some kind of meat, canned tomatoes, celery, carrots, onions, potatoes, rice, pasta, frozen veggies, eggs and basic baking supplies (oil, baking powder, cornmeal, flour, sugar, etc.), the sky's the limit on what dishes I can prepare. These type of ingredients are among some of the best bargains you'll find at the store, regardless of sales and coupons.
4) Doing without. To save money, there are items we simply do without sometimes or find other substitutions for. Parmesan cheese, chocolate chips, pepperoni, special baking supplies are among the items that sometimes get scratched off the list if there isn't quite enough moolah to go around. So far we haven't suffered from this and we always have plenty to eat!
5) Cooking from scratch. This saves a lot of money over buying pre-made meals and mixes!
6) Different types of meals. Instead of all "meat as main dish" meals, I try to plan a variety of different types of meals each week. If you look closely at my weekly menus, you'll notice that most weeks I plan one or two meals with meat as the star, a meatless meal or two, often a soup, sometimes breakfast for dinner, then other meals with meat as an ingredient rather than the main dish. This stretches our budget! We've recently changed our eating habits to exclude a lot of carbs so it will be a challenge to continue varying the types of meals.
7) Minimizing waste.While I am not perfect at this, I do my best to keep food waste to a minimum. Making your own chicken and beef broth is easy and makes use of something you would throw away otherwise. Since eating more veggies, I've been saving the scraps (well-washed, of course) in a freezer container and making a pot of broth once a week. If I have chicken bones, I'll add them to the pot, otherwise, just make vegetable broth. I also save water that I've steamed veggies in and either add that directly to soups or put them in my veggie broth. Day-old bread gets turned into
croutons,
stuffing mix and egg casseroles; even bread pudding if you like it (I don't!). Day-old milk can be used in pancakes and waffles or frozen for later use in cooking. I throw a lot of leftover bits and bobs of veggies, meats, pasta and rice into soups and stir-fries. I
freeze veggies for later. In the long run, using almost every bit of your food saves a good bit of money.
8) Watching store sales. My goal is to buy very little that is not on sale. This practice alone saves me 40-50% on my grocery bill almost every shopping trip. We buy most of our meat and produce this way, which shows that you can save a bundle even on these more healthful items! Most store sales come around every 6-8 weeks or so, so you only need to buy enough to last that length of time.
9) Using coupons. I don't coupon as much as I used to and using coupons has never been my primary way of consistently saving money on groceries. But it is a practice that should not be overlooked. I primarily use coupons for non-food purchases such as toiletries and paper products. Our local health food store issues a store coupon booklet once a quarter. Many times there are coupons included for chicken and pork as well as other products they carry. It's always worth a look and I've been able to get healthful products at good prices this way. We don't have a Whole Foods nearby but I've heard they have some store coupons as well. This dispels the myth that you can't save money on healthy foods! A local grocery store mailed me a flier including store coupons for the month of April-one for each week. I wasn't interested in some of them, but the 2- $5 off a minimum of a $10 purchase for meat and dairy products (separate weeks) caught my eye. You bet I will use these on the appropriate weeks, utilizing sales to stock up on some products I don't often see coupons for. By simply keeping my total right about $10, I will automatically save 50% just by using the coupon.
My eyes are trained to spot clearance stickers throughout the store but the main places I look for them is in meat and produce. For my local stores, Food Lion often has excellent meat markdowns and Bi-Lo and Harris Teeter have marked down produce racks. It's hit or miss as to the selection or quality but always worth a look! Generally speaking, I've found mornings to be the best time for these deals. Check these items carefully as they are marked down for a reason. Only buy what you can use within 2-3 days or freeze for later use. Bananas, tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach are items that I often purchase this way. I'm very leery of buying marked down avocados as they are often too soft by this time. But there are good deals to be found if you look for them and ask your produce manager what they do with overripe produce.
To be continued next week...
How are you saving money on groceries these days?
** This post is part of
Frugal Friday!
