Share your tips for lowering grocery bills here! :D

[Okiemommy]

I posted part of this post on another thread called "How did you save $$ today?" here on SS, and as I was writing it, I thought that it would make a great thread all it's own. The idea is to share your tips and ideas for lowering your grocery bills every month, week, every two weeks etc. So how do you save money on your groceries?

(please feel free to add toiletries etc if you consider it part of your groceries, or even if you don't and you buy those items at the same time you buy your groceries. )

Ill go first:

DH and I have decided to get rid of all of our debt, so along with that comes trimming down our expenses, and taking a realistic look at what we are spending every month, including on groceries. The light bulb came on a while back that I should try to plan my meals because everyone says that it saves money

Since I am easily overwhelmed by change, I decided to just get some 3x5 cards and list the day of the week at the upper left hand corner, the date next to that, and a little lower and on the right the name of the meal or dish with and underline so it would stand out. You can do it any way you would like, this was just an easy way for me to do it. Then I just thought of all the meals that my family likes. I kept going until I had the first two weeks worth of meals! It was that easy! I wish I had tried this before

Then I went back to the cards and listed all of the ingredients needed to make the meal to make sure that I had them, and also so that I could get the ingredients out early that needed it, ie ground turkey needs to be thawed etc. The ones I didn't have, I added to the grocery list. This eliminated the guess work of trying to estimate how much of this or that food that I would need for the next two weeks. That had always been one of the things that stressed me out so much was estimation of what we would need for the week because we always either ran out, or had too much of one thing or another.

I'm sure that's still going to happen, but not on the scale that it did.

This week I also started working on the meals for the next two weeks, and found that I have ingredients left over from the previous two weeks!! I will probably get better at estimation, and won't always end up with things left over for the following two weeks, but this also lets me know that it is cutting down on expenses either way that goes!

It doesn't take long to do, it was unbelievably easy, and we don't have to stress over what we're going to make for dinner every night! It's already planned! And if something doesn't fit into our schedule, we just switch cards and make something else. It doesn't affect us too much because we already have the ingredients for the whole two weeks. It's surprisingly flexible if you need it to be.

edited for spelling and punctuation

 

[miss_thenorth]

Yay! I'm a big believer in planning your meals. Especially now since I have cut breakfast cereal from our list. My big thing is --shop the sales and stock up. Only stock what you will use of course. buy a freezer if you don't have one, so eventually you will be able to shop your pantry and freezer. I plan our suppers mainly, but I somewhat plan our lunches and breakfasts as well. I find it really helps with costs. Also, if you have time, find out what convenience foods you like, and try to find recipes so you can make them from scratch. eg, pancake mix etc. It's really much cheaper, and healthier for you. that's all I have time for right now but if I think of anything else, I'll be back to post it.

 

[Wifezilla]

I don't like planning meals because what I want and what I think I want the day before often don't match

What I do instead is keep a good supply of ingredients that can easily and quickly be turned in to a meal in minutes.

Bags of frozen veggie blends
1 lb tubes of ground beef or turkey
Spices galore including curry powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, black pepper, sage, etc... and I also have an herb garden.
Shredded cheeses (the shredded cheese freezes well)
Sauce basics like butter, cream, coconut milk, parm, soy sauce, etc...

None of this stuff spoils. I can easily make a soup, stir fry, or casserole in less than 20 minutes. I practically fill my whole cart with the bags of veggies when they go on sale. Same for the meat. I buy lots of butter when the prices are good since this also freezes well.

Other things I do are garden, visit farmer's markets, and visit the ethnic markets. The prices are lower on a lot of items there.

 

[freemotion]

I spend time AFTER supper preparing something for a future meal....anything....I just try to do something most days of the week. This actually saves a lot of money here, since we sometimes both come home late and tired and there are so many animal chores to do, without some pre-prep, healthy meals wouldn't be a daily habit.

So washing, peeling, cutting fresh veggies or making a salad the night before. Making devilled eggs. Making fresh pasta.

Freezing ingredients to throw into "instant" soups or sauces, like wz, but a slightly different list. I always have bags of frozen chopped scallions (you don't even need to blanch these) and jars of dried herbs from the garden. I always have canned or frozen homemade broth on hand. I have frozen cubes of herbs, too, when the basil crop is good. I like a mix of basil, oregano, parsley frozen in icecube trays, rolled in wax paper, and put in a ziploc. Perfect for Italian soups, spaghetti or pizza sauce, and salad dressing, and with the garden-fresh taste all winter.

I will cook, crumbled, and freeze flat in gallon ziplocs some hamburger and homemade sausage. This is easy to use, break off a piece to add to eggs, beans, soups, spaghetti sauce, pizza, etc.

And beans....we always have cups of frozen, cooked black beans and jars of home-canned black beans. You can do something like a dozen store-bought cans worth for the price of one store-bought can...on sale! I usually cook up 2-3 pounds at once and am good for a while. The are good to add to soups, chili, by themselves, or mashed with saute'd garlic and onions and s&p for quick re-fried beans for burritoes or nachos.

 

[hennypenny9]

I plan only one week ahead. That's how often I go to the grocery store. I couldn't buy a longer supply than that, because it would all go bad! I stockpile, of course. Like when butter went $1.33 per pound, normally a "sale" is $2.50. Eat before you go, or you'll come out with all sorts of junk.

I shop in the mornings. Less crowds. The more crowded it is, the more likely I am to grab an item just to get out of the over crowed isle. Then later I realize it's the wrong thing, or not the best deal. :/

Buy less processed and pre-packaged stuff. I'm trying to cut down on stuff like granola bars, that I could make myself. And bread! Healthier and cheaper.

Coupons. No stores in Washington double them, but there are still some decent coupons out there.

Don't go to the store often. If I forget something, either I go without, OR if I really need it, I go to the store I hate. It's called Cost Cutter, and I don't like shopping there. This means that I streak in the door and out in RECORD time. Works for me!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Well, for me it just involves staying home more than going out shopping. I am prone to running out and getting that one ingredient that we seem to have run out of, but now I just can't justify the expense of 1. driving to get it, and 2. buying something that can be done without if at all possible.

So, my advice would be: Learn how to make substitutions for missing ingredients or learn to go without.

It also helps, as others have stated, to always have ingredients on hand for a few quick, tasty meals.

 

[Okiemommy]

Yay! I'm a big believer in planning your meals. Especially now since I have cut breakfast cereal from our list. My big thing is --shop the sales and stock up. Only stock what you will use of course. buy a freezer if you don't have one, so eventually you will be able to shop your pantry and freezer. I plan our suppers mainly, but I somewhat plan our lunches and breakfasts as well. I find it really helps with costs. Also, if you have time, find out what convenience foods you like, and try to find recipes so you can make them from scratch. eg, pancake mix etc. It's really much cheaper, and healthier for you. that's all I have time for right now but if I think of anything else, I'll be back to post it.

As I have started this process, I have also thought Hey I can plan our lunches too! We have a few hamburgers in the freezer and other odds and ends things left that I will feed the kids on Fri...which is just in time because we are about out of the rest of our lunch foods, so it works out perfect!!

Do you have any of these replacement recipes posted here on SS or on a blog?

 

[Okiemommy]

I don't like planning meals because what I want and what I think I want the day before often don't match

What I do instead is keep a good supply of ingredients that can easily and quickly be turned in to a meal in minutes.

Bags of frozen veggie blends
1 lb tubes of ground beef or turkey
Spices galore including curry powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, black pepper, sage, etc... and I also have an herb garden.
Shredded cheeses (the shredded cheese freezes well)
Sauce basics like butter, cream, coconut milk, parm, soy sauce, etc...

None of this stuff spoils. I can easily make a soup, stir fry, or casserole in less than 20 minutes. I practically fill my whole cart with the bags of veggies when they go on sale. Same for the meat. I buy lots of butter when the prices are good since this also freezes well.

Other things I do are garden, visit farmer's markets, and visit the ethnic markets. The prices are lower on a lot of items there.

I know whatcha mean! For the longest time I was the same way. I have just come to the point that my driven need to be debt free has overidden my taste buds and cravings It really is a miracle of sorts. Especially since I'm pregnant LOL!

That is an excellent short list of things to have on hand to make a quick skillet meal! I love it!!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Yay! I'm a big believer in planning your meals. Especially now since I have cut breakfast cereal from our list. My big thing is --shop the sales and stock up. Only stock what you will use of course. buy a freezer if you don't have one, so eventually you will be able to shop your pantry and freezer. I plan our suppers mainly, but I somewhat plan our lunches and breakfasts as well. I find it really helps with costs. Also, if you have time, find out what convenience foods you like, and try to find recipes so you can make them from scratch. eg, pancake mix etc. It's really much cheaper, and healthier for you. that's all I have time for right now but if I think of anything else, I'll be back to post it.

As I have started this process, I have also thought Hey I can plan our lunches too! We have a few hamburgers in the freezer and other odds and ends things left that I will feed the kids on Fri...which is just in time because we are about out of the rest of our lunch foods, so it works out perfect!!

Do you have any of these replacement recipes posted here on SS or on a blog?

http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=62&p=2

 

[Okiemommy]

I spend time AFTER supper preparing something for a future meal....anything....I just try to do something most days of the week. This actually saves a lot of money here, since we sometimes both come home late and tired and there are so many animal chores to do, without some pre-prep, healthy meals wouldn't be a daily habit.

So washing, peeling, cutting fresh veggies or making a salad the night before. Making devilled eggs. Making fresh pasta.

Freezing ingredients to throw into "instant" soups or sauces, like wz, but a slightly different list. I always have bags of frozen chopped scallions (you don't even need to blanch these) and jars of dried herbs from the garden. I always have canned or frozen homemade broth on hand. I have frozen cubes of herbs, too, when the basil crop is good. I like a mix of basil, oregano, parsley frozen in icecube trays, rolled in wax paper, and put in a ziploc. Perfect for Italian soups, spaghetti or pizza sauce, and salad dressing, and with the garden-fresh taste all winter.

I will cook, crumbled, and freeze flat in gallon ziplocs some hamburger and homemade sausage. This is easy to use, break off a piece to add to eggs, beans, soups, spaghetti sauce, pizza, etc.

And beans....we always have cups of frozen, cooked black beans and jars of home-canned black beans. You can do something like a dozen store-bought cans worth for the price of one store-bought can...on sale! I usually cook up 2-3 pounds at once and am good for a while. The are good to add to soups, chili, by themselves, or mashed with saute'd garlic and onions and s&p for quick re-fried beans for burritoes or nachos.

I have started preparing extra of stuff also after meals. Might as well! The Pot, dish, etc is already dirty I had always wanted to do that but since I had never planned my meals, something always went to waste which ultimately leads to wasted money. Now that I'm planning my meals, I can look ahead and cook something ahead that needs to be refrigerated with out worry of wasting it.
Not to mention I can freeze it, and label what meal it is going to be used for!

Can ya tell I'm excited about this?

The frozen cubes of spices are an excellent idea!