Cheap Grocery Shopping – Saving Money on Groceries

Friday, January 8th, 2010

I think the only thing higher than unemployment this year, is the cost of food. I am reeling from sticker shock over here. Food is just so expensive, particularly if you want to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

So I thought it would be a good time to share strategies for cheap grocery shopping. I’ll tell you what I do, you tell me what you do, okay?

1. Make my own. I make my own pizza, my own bread, my own yogurt etc… ad nauseum. The yogurt making is a new thing and should be a huge cost savings.My next post will talk in more detail about making your own yogurt, so stay tuned!

2.Meal planning is the other big way to save money on groceries. You have plan the work and work the plan. As I mentioned in my meal planning post, look at sales and what recipes you like to make and concoct a meal plan between those two data points.

If you aren’t making a meal plan, you are spending too much money at the grocery store.

3.Net price versus purchase price. I have only just started looking at net price the last six months or so. It has been a revelation. Buying in bulk is sometimes more expensive than buying in smaller quantities. The world of  food pricing turns upside down and inside out the second you start looking at net price instead of purchase price.

Find the net price on the shelf tag in very small print. As if they don’t want you to know. Which I’m sure they don’t. Laws should be passed making that font bigger and requiring neon ink.

4. Keep your eyes on the ground. I’m serious. Do not even look at things at eye level. That is all the expensive stuff. The really good stuff–the stuff you can afford– is on the very bottom shelf.  For years, I have bought the shredded cheese at eye level. Just this year, as a result of financial desperation, have I figured out that the cheap cheese is in the bin below the eye level stuff.

If you have to get on your knees to see what is on the bottom shelf, then do it. You can’t afford not to.

5. Go to more than one store. Now this is one I have resisted tooth and nail for a looooong time. In fact, I am just now caving in. The fact is, food is such a significant portion of our budget that the cost of gas is not an issue. I need to get my food receipts down. Period. If I have to go to three stores, so be it.

That being said I do google all the stores and look at their ads to see what the big deals are. This way I’m not guessing and going someplace without knowing what I’ll find.

6. Calculate the cost of meals. This is why I started this blog. I want to track what things are actually costing us and see what is really cheap. I haven’t yet started a price book, but I keep saving my receipts with the intent of doing so. At some point, a formal price book will be done. I procrastinate because that really isn’t how I want to spend my time. But it needs to happen. We are buying stuff at Sam’s Club, getting it home and running the numbers to find we saved less than a dollar on something. A price book will tell us if we should even bother to renew the Sam’s Club membership. Right now I’m unimpressed with bulk buying clubs in our area.

7.Explore alternatives such as the Dollar Store. I keep hearing good things about the Dollar Store so I’m hoping to stop in with the toddler sometime when I’m not swamped with Stuff To Do. I’m happy with our Farmer’s Market–the produce is cheaper than the grocery store, but I would love to find a truly cheap source of staples like spaghetti sauce in glass jars (to avoid chemicals leached from metal cans).

So that’s my advice. What’s yours?

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