Saving Money

TCASMEY

I know that sometimes eating healthier can cost more money so I am hoping we can share tips and ideas how you save money on your grocery bill. Here's my newest way to save bucks.

Buying my milk at Kwik Trip. My family goes through at least 5 gallons per week, usually more. I was buying my milk at Cub for about $2.50 per gallon. I figure this will save me over $156 per year. (I like to look at yearly savings because it is more dramatic.)

Please share your tips on saving money!:flowerforyou:

vanimami

I buy a lot of frozen fruits (blueberries, rasberries, etc.). Fruits can get expensive and go bad if you dont' eat them, so sometimes, I just buy the frozen kinda and they are DELISH. Same thing for veggies.

TheMaidOfAstolat

Wow...that's a lot of milk. (If possible substitute the milk for water at least 1/2 the time)
Eat more fruits and veggies and buy from a farmers market if possible.
Start cutting out the processed foods...they are not that healthy to begin with. Processed foods usually cost more than fresh. Hope this helps. My family of 3 makes it on only $50-$60 a week. No fast food, almost no processed food, and water instead of other drinks.

rsalgado

Wow...that's a lot of milk. (If possible substitute the milk for water at least 1/2 the time)
Eat more fruits and veggies and buy from a farmers market if possible.
Start cutting out the processed foods...they are not that healthy to begin with. Processed foods usually cost more than fresh. Hope this helps. My family of 3 makes it on only $50-$60 a week. No fast food, almost no processed food, and water instead of other drinks.

Wow..that's impressive. If you wouldn't mind...can you give me an idea of a grocery list for your family for a week. I can't get away with anything less than $300 per 2 weeks. I don't really buy a lot of processed foods, but I can't seem to spend less than that. I would LOVE to know how you accomplish this!

msarro

Its actually a bit of a fib that eating healthy costs more. Most of the expense in groceries comes from processed foods. If you stick to the perimeter of a grocery store you'd be surprised how cheap it is. This is especially so if you're willing to shop at numerous stores.

Ethnic food markets are also a great help - they tend to be much cheaper than normal grocery stores (at least in my experience). I get most of my produce at a Lebanese market because they cost a fraction of what the grocery store costs (example: cilantro at wegmans is 1.99/bunch. At the market it's 3/1$ for the same size bunches). I get my tofu at a Chinese market where you get 3lbs of tofu for 1.99 instead of the grocery store's 1lb for the same price.

Also, it helps if you're willing to cook and be patient. For example, instead of canned beans, buy dried beans and let them soak for 24 hours. A can of beans may cost a 1.40, and a bag of dried beans may cost 1.38. However when you soak the beans, they double in size, so you end up getting about 3 cans worth of beans for 1/3rd of the price.

vanimami

Its actually a bit of a fib that eating healthy costs more. Most of the expense in groceries comes from processed foods. If you stick to the perimeter of a grocery store you'd be surprised how cheap it is. This is especially so if you're willing to shop at numerous stores. Ethnic food markets are also a great help - they tend to be much cheaper than normal grocery stores (at least in my experience).

Also, it helps if you're willing to cook and be patient. For example, instead of canned beans, buy dried beans and let them soak for 24 hours. A can of beans may cost a 1.40, and a bag of dried beans may cost 1.38. However when you soak the beans, they double in size, so you end up getting about 3 cans worth of beans for 1/3rd of the price.

Yes, a lot of the Mexican stores have fruits and veggies MUCH cheaper!

TheMaidOfAstolat

Ethnic food markets are also a great help - they tend to be much cheaper than normal grocery stores (at least in my experience). I get most of my produce at a Lebanese market because they cost a fraction of what the grocery store costs (example: cilantro at wegmans is 1.99/bunch. At the market it's 3/1$ for the same size bunches). I get my tofu at a Chinese market where you get 3lbs of tofu for 1.99 instead of the grocery store's 1lb for the same price.

This is how I manage most of my shopping. We have a local Chinese market as well (H-Mart). Also I'm a vegetarian and my hubby and kid are omnivores (we rarely have beef or pork in the house). I do eat seafood and chicken (if there is no other option)...so our bills are fairly cheap.

adopt4

We have 3 growing boys, and our grocery bills just went way up (added 2 boys). We bought a freezer and I buy meat on sale, and freeze it, overall it saves money because we have a choice. Before the freezer I would only buy things for that week and had to have variety, so it was more expensive. I am also going to freeze fresh berries so we have them this summer, get them from the farmers markets. Also my plan is to get a meal sealer thing so I can buy in bulk and then separate them out.

We can't do the water for milk, my boys drink 3 glasses a day (I make them!). But other times they drink other things, so maybe they're not drinking as much as the other family mentioned.

I have a friend who plays the "grocery game" and she saves tons with coupons and shopping who's got what on sale. But it takes a lot of time, plus the game costs money as well, like $5/mo or something. I shop at Winco, it's much cheaper overall than other places, and I only use gas to go to one place instead of 3 or 4.