Anyway my point is I finally have a rough figure on the amount we spend on groceries. Everything from Walmart, Target, Costco, and Raley's get categorized in the Grocery column. So not only is that grocery items but also diapers, laundry soap, cleaning products, toothpaste, bath soap, and other personal care items for us and the boys. The amount was a little over $1000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe this is good.......I don't know but to me it seems kinda high for a family of 4, which 2 are just toddlers.
I go to Raley's at least 3 times a week for milk, fruit, vegetables, yogurt, meat, and anything else we might need for dinner. I love using coupons but at the most only end up saving like 5 bucks on a $125.00 grocery bill.
I would to hear any grocery shopping tips you have that might help me out. How do stop from going to the store every couple of days? We go through like 4-5 gallons of milk a week, our refrigerator only has so much space. And your fruits and veggies usually don't last for more than a couple days without going bad. For a few months I was planning out dinner every week {helps out during baseball season} and that helped a little because I knew what I needed on a weekly basis and shopped for the entire week. But haven't done that for a few weeks or so.
I would absolutely love to hear whatever helpful info you can give me;)
Thanks a bunch!
One thing we do is get hearty veggies (like carrots) that take a long time to go bad. Otherwise, we do a lot of frozen veggies and cook them in a steamer in the microwave.
ReplyDeleteDid you know Target as coupons on their website? Scroll to the very bottom, and you'll see "coupons" in tiny letters. Most of them last 2 or 3 weeks.
Do you buy the generic brands? The savings are HUGE.
out of topic but your banner is too cute!
ReplyDeletedita
HiYa! So -- I had to scale down in cost on groceries. Not sure how you break down what you buy, but here's what I did:
ReplyDeleteCostco -- I buy whatever can be stored non-refrigeration: juice boxes, snacks, cereal, oatmeal, rice, etc...That helped tremendously since I was buying the lunch foods at the grocery store
Grocery store: walk the outer aisles only! I buy food only for prepared meals. I started making menus again, and this helped keep costs down tremendously. I bought nothing extra so nothing went to waste or spoiled!
FROZEN!!! Frozen veggies are fantastic! Buy them in bulk and freeze yourself!! If you see anything going bad in the fridge, freeze it or make it into a milkshake:)
I like to shop once a week for me and my boyfriend's foods for the week. I buy enough fresh meat/vegetables for the first few meals of the week. Then I make sure to also get dinner supplies that take longer to go bad for the end of the week. Examples of "end of the week" meals:
ReplyDeletesoup & sandwich: 1 can vegetarian vegetable soup split between us ($1.50) + grilled cheese sandwiches ($1.00?)
peanut butter tofu: tofu ($3.00) + stir fry frozen vegetables ($2.50)
Linguine & clam sauce: 1 can red clam sauce ($3.50) + 1/2 box linguine ($.75) [**the tastiest, easiest dinner out of them all!]
pork tenderloin ($7) + bag o' frozen vegetables ($1.25)
I feel your pain with the grocery bills. Being a SAHM since our 2nd munchkin was born we are feeling our money belt tighten majorly. My budget for groceries (including diapers, baby food, etc.) is $200 every 2 weeks. Ways I do this:
ReplyDelete1. I get 2 Sunday papers and clip coupons like it is my job. I go to coupons.com and print 2 of each coupon I can use, I also go to redplum.com and smartsource.com.
2. I plan my meals for 2 weeks and write my list. I go on shoprite.com and make my grocery list according to their sales. I never use a coupon unless the item is on sale.
3. I check out couponmom.com. it is free and she matches up coupons and sales to particular grocery stores, target, walmart, drugstores. I have gotten a lot of stuff fore free or a few cents by checking her list. Stores do accept store coupon and manufacturer coupon for the same item.
By doing this I usual shave 40% off my total grocery purchase.
I hope this gives you some ideas :)
Kristyn
THank you so much for all your ideas. I think I am going to have to go back to planning our meals out for at least a week. ANd I need to figure out how to get Internet explorer back on our computer (it randomly just stopped connecting one day). We have google chrome and most of the coupon databases don't support it. I do buy generic brands but only for certain things. Thanks again, I appreciate all your thoughts and ideas;)
ReplyDelete