Saving on Groceries

I'm starting on this topic because I have noted this is what most are complaining about. I'm going to talk about food only in this post and save sundries and household cleaning etc for another day. This is not the place to try and save your budget but often we start here simply because many waste here.

How do we save money over other families at the grocery store?

Vegetables:

We buy canned vegetables at Aldi's (for 45 cents a can) by the flat for the winter season. When produce is fresh we buy at local farms and farm trucks (our country equivalent of a Farmer's Market). Buying "fresh" (and I use that term lightly) produce at the grocery store is not cost effective and the produce offered there was usually picked before ripe and than trucked an average of 1500 miles to get to your store. With the price of gas is it any wonder it's so expensive. This produce is also less nutritive because of being picked before fully ripe.

Fruit:

Here we eat canned most of the year with an occasional fresh item. We do have fresh apples early every fall and Blueberries late every summer because my parents have apple trees and blueberry bushes. Fresh local fruit is our treat.

Meat:

There are several strategies we use in saving money on meat. First, we try to eat at least one day a week with alternative protein such as beans. Second, we buy most of our meat at a local meat market (if you can consider 50 miles local) where we can get lean ground beef for $1.99 a pound as long as I buy at least 10 pounds at a time. We also get other meat there cheaper than local grocery stores such as our pork, roasts, bacon, and sausage. We only go once a month due to distance and have a freezer to store our meat. Our Last strategy is to buy cheaper. Chicken and dumplings doesn't require chicken breast meat so I buy leg quarters on sale, boil in the Crockpot and separate from the bones using the stock created to make the gravy (be sure to save the rest of the stock in your freezer for future meals). Another way to buy cheaper is to keep an eye on local stores sales and buy what ever is drastically cheaper than it's normal price. Meat is where we work the hardest to save money.

Grains:

Forget the cold cereals whenever possible as old fashioned oatmeal, rice with milk, corn meal much etc are much cheaper and healthier. If you must have cereal buy the generic or only buy things that are on sale that you have a coupon for as well.

For other grains we buy in bulk. I get flour in 50 pound bags and put the flour in the freezer in gallon bags. I also buy Rice in 10 to 25 pound bags. We put our rice in empty canning jars with unused rings and lids (as opposed to ones that had been used to seal a can). You can still save some by buying generics in this area if you don't have the space to buy in bulk.

Canned Goods:

We buy many of our canned goods at Aldi's. It's a discount grocery chain for those unfamiliar with Aldi's. We buy Chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, vegetable soup, and canned vegetables here. We buy other canned goods in larger sizes. I buy the 28 oz can of diced tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce instead of twice as many 14 oz cans. Even if you only use half of one of these larger cans you can store the remainder in a storage container in the refrigerator.

Convenience Foods:

Avoid these at all cost. The only ones we still buy are taco kits and 2 for $5 pizza's and we spend no more than $10 a month in this area.

Drinks:

Forget everything but milk. Occasionally buy some drink mix. Save the OJ for Sunday morning breakfast (or whatever day is you day of rest). Drink water. If your city water tastes bad buy a filtered pitcher. The one time expense of the pitcher and occasional replacement of a filter is still vastly cheaper than bottled water.

Eating out:

Instead of going to Taco Bell make tacos. Have a child shred cheese another drain a can of diced tomatoes and another rip up some lettuce. It's cheaper and if you all pitch in to do one part of the fixing it turns into quality time too. You can do this with almost any fast food you would buy.

Lastly, Eat less:

We, as a culture, eat more than we require for nourishment. Instead of eating while watching tv to keep you fingers busy do a craft like sewing, needle point, counted cross stitch, fold the laundry or play a board game during commercial breaks. There are so many other things you can do besides eat.

Articles for further reading:

How to Reduce Your Grocery Bill

Reduce Your Grocery Bill

10 things to stop Buying at the Grocery Store