Learn how to keep your kitchen stocked for less $$!

arabianhorselover

You can't save buying real food.. You don't want to be eat things in boxes, bags, or cans.. I yet to see coupons for real foods like vegetables,fruits,lean meats nor nuts. If it's really heathy there's not % off unless it's at it's due date.

But you can buy items in season and check local circulars for specials. My children laugh at me because I have brought home veggies I never tried before because they were on sale.

I forgot this, but farmers markets as well, since this is the season! I absolutely love them.
You can get gigantic produce for around the same price as the grocery store..plus you're supporting local farms!

Around here you always pay more at a farmer's market.

arabianhorselover

I forgot this, but farmers markets as well, since this is the season! I absolutely love them.
You can get gigantic produce for around the same price as the grocery store..plus you're supporting local farms!

i live in a fairly large city, and our farmers markets are much, much more expensive than the grocery store. it's pretty ridiculous seeing as i live in the midwest and we're surrounded by farms. as for the double couponing, that would be great, but i haven't found a single grocery store around here that does that.

i generally buy what's on sale and work my menus around that.

Stores here don't do double coupons, either.

writergeek313

I don't look for coupons online as much as I used to because I don't feel like I save enough money most weeks to make it worth the time I waste going through all the sites. I get the Giant flyer mailed to me every week because it includes four coupons most weeks, including the "good" ones (usually for points toward gas discounts) that the ones in the stores don't. Giant also offers me coupons I can load right onto my store bonus card, and those seem to be tailored toward things I buy. Once every few months I also get a coupon booklet in the mail from them that includes coupons for things like $5 off a $25 produce purchase or meat purchase.

Mostly what helps me to save money is to sit down with the sale flyer and plan my meals based on what's on sale. I'm also making more of an effort these days to make sure I'm using up or freezing my leftovers. I live by myself but never really learned how to cook for one. I need to be mindful of what I need to use up, because otherwise I throw away way too much.

tryett

I use the coupon database at hotcouponworld to find any printable coupons for items on my grocery list. Saves time as the links to them are in one place. I have also found a coupon clipping service for coupons to be cheaper then buying the paper. They are already clipped, sorted and I can get as many of each that I want plus usually reorder if I need more of something.

ren_ascent

You got it! Coordinate coupons with store sales and you've got it made. There's a website specifically dedicated to correlating the two: www.grocerysmarts.com

missiontofitness

More and more organic and fruit coupons are coming out. Recent printable coupons include Driscoll's and Dole. In addition the saving star app has a fruit/veggie each week that you are reimbursed a portion of. Save with checkout 51. Target also offers coupons for meat, fruit and veggies. This week their steak is 20 percent off and hamburger is 15 percent off. In addition there are 5 percent cartwheels for both. There are also cartwheel discounts for berries, apples and oranges. Strawberries are on sale. Plus there is a $10/$50 food coupon you use befe any other coupons you have. For those who like skinny cow candy and ice cream the are 2/$7. There was a $1 coupon in Sunday's paper, a 5 percent cartwheel and if you buy four you get a $5 gift card.

There are tons of ways to save. I pay next to nothing for toothpaste and other toiletries using coupons. That really frees up money for other things. My local Harris Teeter always has boneless skinless chicken breast in the meat case for $1.99 a pound.

Totally agree on the toiletries thing. I recently got five bottles of Pantene shampoo and conditioner from CVS for $1.25 total! It really does free up a ton of money, especially if you're paying next to nothing for your bathroom essentials, or kitchen staples.

I wish my local stores were like that; I always have to buy a ton of bulk packs since the price of chicken is more expensive if I don't do that.

I really have to get my Target game on point. I haven't tried Cartwheel yet, but I do take advantage of their store/manu stacking policy there to get cheaper items. But I've only heard great things about Cartwheel, and I love how you can actually save on produce through Target, and utilize their deals to get good prices on good produce.

missiontofitness

I honestly don't bother with couponing because I never find coupons I can use... I guess I don't use enough packaged food. I could use coupons for steamfresh veggies though, but I've never seen any, and I don't want to buy a paper just to save 75 cents, lol.

I generally get my Steamfresh coupons either in the Sunday paper, and I've also seen $.75/one coupons on the Smartsource website as well. When I can get those, you can get the Steamfresh packages at my local store for only $.50 a package.

Other than that, it's always worth scoping out your local paper if you can find stuff. I often find valuable coupons for toiletries and cleaning supplies as well; which can help you save money for when it's time to buy food!

SteveyBrule

Farmer's market for that produce!

missiontofitness

Farmer's market for that produce!

Yessss!
I still have to wait another month for mine, but I absolutely cannot wait. The produce mine has is gigantic, and is so inexpensive!

bcattoes

You can't save buying real food.. You don't want to be eat things in boxes, bags, or cans.. I yet to see coupons for real foods like vegetables,fruits,lean meats nor nuts. If it's really heathy there's not % off unless it's at it's due date.

We have Kroger in my area. They routinely send store coupons for $ off anything bought in certain departments, including produce, fish and meat. They also send coupons for $ off specific veggies like mushrooms or greens quite often.

But the cheapest way to get food that I've found is to grow/raise/hunt my own.

BarbieAS

I'll flip through the coupons, but far more often than not I find myself buying something that I don't really need or want and that I wouldn't have normally bought just because I had a coupon. Kind of defeats the purpose.

I work in the grocery industry, so I know a thing or two about store brands. If you're buying the "first label" store brands (not the value stuff), it may or may not be the exact same product as the national brand with a different label (as one other poster mentioned...there are companies out there who produce only store brands, plus formulations often need to be different due to various proprietary issues, etc), but the quality standards will be the same as the national brand. If you have a taste preference, that's ok, but if you're worried about quality, no need to avoid store brands.

I also prefer to shop the edge of the store. I have a few bagged/boxed/etc things that I buy, but they're a small portion of my bill. I reduce my bill by stocking up on meat when it's on sale and freezing it, stocking up on pre-packaged staple items (pasta, canned beans, rice, baking staples, etc) when they're on sale, and - and this is the BIGGEST one - basically only buying produce that's in season. It tastes better, first and foremost, but there's no mystery why a pound of strawberries costs $2 in June and $4 in November. For example, fall and winter we eat a lot of citrus, hard squash, apples, etc. Spring and summer we practically become 80/10/10 vegans (haha, not really, but it feels like it) from all the produce I buy. Also, I'm not afraid to spread my shopping around. I do buy a lot at the farmer's market (around here some stuff is cheaper and some isn't), plus (for example) I know that the prices on cheese at Trader Joe's are usually equal to, if not better than, the sales prices on cheese at the chain grocery store, so all my cheese gets bought at TJ's.

SteveyBrule

Farmer's market for that produce!

Yessss!
I still have to wait another month for mine, but I absolutely cannot wait. The produce mine has is gigantic, and is so inexpensive!

I hear ya! Ours opened up just recently but that means all of the produce is from the south, typically. Either way, by cutting out the middle man (i.e. grocery stores) produce goes down to roughly 1/3 of the price.

Annieway987

Here in Southern California we have 99 cent only Stores. I live about 2 blocks from one and I think I lived here for a whole year before I visited for the first time. Where I came from on the East Coast, 99 Cent or Dollar stores only ever had junk. This one has food (and junk, too) - real bargains. Some of the things I've purchased 99 cents:
1 lb container of Breakstone cottage cheese
8 oz package Crackerbarrel cheddar
1.5 lb bag of organic baby Kale - we now know we don't like Kale, no matter how it is prepared
bag of 4 large yellow and orange peppers
8 oz packages of Oscar Meyer deli meats
1 quart containers of vanilla Almond Breeze
32 oz containers of plain greek yogurt
3.5 oz bars of Lindt 85% dark chocolate
An entire carton (12 bars I think) of Luna bars - they were close to expiration date, but still good

I could go on and on. This is a list of some of the best bargains I have gotten there. You can never count on getting any particular item. It's a total crapshoot. You do have to be careful to inspect things like strawberries to make sure they aren't getting a little furry, some of the vegetables look a little sad and need to be used promptly, but others are fresh and just as good as what I see in the supermarket, and you have to look at expiration dates.

We shop here first on our Saturday shopping trip, then we go to Costco or one of the supermarkets for the things we couldn't find elsewhere. It makes menu planning a bit of an adventure and we have been trying new things, some of which we will not buy again (kale and chayote)

arabianhorselover

Farmer's market for that produce!

Yessss!
I still have to wait another month for mine, but I absolutely cannot wait. The produce mine has is gigantic, and is so inexpensive!

You are lucky. That is not the case here.

healthforlife11

Thanks for the great post! Budgeting, buying in bulk and couponing are all great methods to save on groceries. If you have the time and patience it's amazing how much money you can save. I was weary about it at first but have seen a big difference in spending since I've started. Thanks for the input!

missiontofitness

Thanks for the great post! Budgeting, buying in bulk and couponing are all great methods to save on groceries. If you have the time and patience it's amazing how much money you can save. I was weary about it at first but have seen a big difference in spending since I've started. Thanks for the input!

You're very welcome! I always love hearing about people who have found success with saving money. Everyone can benefit from it!

writer4him

As other people have mentioned, the coupons many times are for processed food.

However, there is one great way you can save money on fresh produce, and that is by price matching. Some stores (like WalMart, for example) will honor the sale prices in competitor's ads. I get the Sunday paper ads for all of our local grocery stores, and I find their sales on fresh fruit, veggies & meat. I save quite a bit by getting all the sale prices on these items. Granted, Walmart's quality on these items isn't always the best, and I also am not buying "certified organic," so if that is what is important to you, it's not going to work. But it is what my family can afford, and I am always happy when I can walk out of the store, having met my budget, with a large variety of different kinds of fresh fruit & veggies for an entire week that I was able to purchase for relatively low prices.

missiontofitness

As other people have mentioned, the coupons many times are for processed food.

However, there is one great way you can save money on fresh produce, and that is by price matching. Some stores (like WalMart, for example) will honor the sale prices in competitor's ads. I get the Sunday paper ads for all of our local grocery stores, and I find their sales on fresh fruit, veggies & meat. I save quite a bit by getting all the sale prices on these items. Granted, Walmart's quality on these items isn't always the best, and I also am not buying "certified organic," so if that is what is important to you, it's not going to work. But it is what my family can afford, and I am always happy when I can walk out of the store, having met my budget, with a large variety of different kinds of fresh fruit & veggies for an entire week that I was able to purchase for relatively low prices.

I do know a lot of them are for processed foods. But I try to focus on staple items, and not basing my food plan on what I can buy only with coupons. When I save on staples, I can pump that money into produce at my local store.

I personally don't like Walmart's quality, even with their price matching. I actually stopped buying from them because my blueberries grew fuzz after only two days, and a bell pepper I had bought had liquefied on the inside, and exploded in my hand, and all over the rest of my produce I had just bought from them! With my local store, I can store produce up to a week with no problems. So I switched back to them, and have avoided Walmart's produce section since.

bcattoes

As other people have mentioned, the coupons many times are for processed food.

However, there is one great way you can save money on fresh produce, and that is by price matching. Some stores (like WalMart, for example) will honor the sale prices in competitor's ads. I get the Sunday paper ads for all of our local grocery stores, and I find their sales on fresh fruit, veggies & meat. I save quite a bit by getting all the sale prices on these items. Granted, Walmart's quality on these items isn't always the best, and I also am not buying "certified organic," so if that is what is important to you, it's not going to work. But it is what my family can afford, and I am always happy when I can walk out of the store, having met my budget, with a large variety of different kinds of fresh fruit & veggies for an entire week that I was able to purchase for relatively low prices.

I've never really cared for the price matching thing at Wal-Mart. I'd rather just go to the store that is offering the lower prices and give them my money. They are the ones offering affordable food to everyone, and the quality of what I buy is generally better there.