Tips for saving while grocery shopping? family of 3

For one, definitely plan ahead what you'll be eating during the week. This is super easy if you always eat the same things week after week like we do with little change.

Next, check all the flyers of stores around you for stuff that you regularly buy and if you have a place that does price match, even better! Mostly I do it for stuff that I buy only once in a while, like shampoo, soap, laundry detergent because they're stuff that you'll have to buy at any cost if you run out before it comes on sale again and usually all those items tend to be fairly pricey. If you can find stuff you regularly buy on sale, then it's even better!

Third, coupons! If the place you normally shop at accepts coupons on top of sales or price match, some items can be way cheap! This is especially true for the items listed on my second point. But whatever you do, don't buy stuff you wouldn't normally buy just because you have a coupon, unless it's something you truly think you'll use!

As for other tips, like people have said, consider store brand products, plenty of things are actually the same, if not very similar that you wouldn't notice it's not your usual brand. Also, I don't know if you have the same as we go, but with all price tags we have the price per 100g or 100 mL, it helps to know whether the little or big package is a better deal! If it's something that doesn't easily go bad, consider the bigger package, usually it's a better deal and you won't have to buy it as often!

In the end, especially with MFP, I have to say that I've been surprised at how little one really has to eat that sometimes I wonder why I used to buy so much stuff before when sometimes I don't even have enough days in a week to eat all the stuff I've bought! Thus it makes the next week's bill a little cheaper

I think all stores have some things that are cheaper than at other stores, including Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.
A tube of TJ tomato paste in a tube (now discontinued item, sigh) was 99 cents; at Kroger/Fred Meyer it was $4.39. So if all you've got is farmers markets and Walmart, compare the prices there.

In the Northwest, we have the opportunity to go directly to farmers and sign up for baskets of food to be delivered each week in the growing season. Getting a friend or your family to join in the membership spreads out the cost, which is very reasonable anyway.

1. Make your adult members join MFP. My budget has cut in two since I'm here. One could not belive how little basic food we really need not just to live, but to live healthy.
2. Pay attention to wasted food. Average househod throws away up to one quarter of food that is still edible! A lot of money!
3. Avoid junk and soda. Potato chip, salt sticks, snacks of all kind, all bottled drinks and Crap Co. What our body needs is water, tea, maybe coffee for treat without sugar.
4. Buy basic food. Uncooked beans are cheaper than canned, whole meat is cheaper than ground meat, milk is cheaper than yoghurt.
5. Use leftovers like old bread.
6. Bake your bread at home. I buy wholegrain like oats, wheat, buckwheat and ground them at home in ground mill to make my own flour. Bread tastes better and I know what is in it.
6. Make friends with local farmers. I go to the local market at the end of workday and pick up fruit and veggies they leave behind or cannot sell, because they are too ripe or simply too ugly and process it. There are literally tons of food and I feed my extended family on it!

Love that hat!

check out southernsavers.com...(it even does Whole Foods)has all the sale papers, what coupons you need and where to find them, and even shows you the items that you stock up due to they are at the lowest price. And It's free. Start saving your coupons but only buy what you need. Products are usually at the lowest price every 12 weeks. So for example if you like Prego and you have watched a 12 week cycle to know which week it will be offered at it's lowest price then stock enough to last you until it gets to the lowest price again. We feed a family of 8 on around 350 a month. I also hit the meat markets early in the morning stock on meat that is marked down and either cook it or freeze it. Also if you have a local produce stand and can hit it a couple of times a week you will never need to by produce at full price or at the grocery. They will have good mark downs as well.

Another idea when we were younger and did not have but 150 a month for groceries (few less people back then) I shopped for the month, I made my meal plan and there was no room for error. I only had cash to spend at the grocery so if I did not have enough I had to put something back.

We still use cash and the extra when I go shopping is a little extra for us else where.

Saving money on anything takes time, planning, and knowing your market. There are alot of great tips on here. So take what seems to work for you.

I am curious when you say groceries are expensive do you cook large meals, are there alot of leftovers when you cook?