How to Save on Groceries?

[Anonymous]

I shop at Safeway, WF, and TJ's and looking to save more on our family's groceries. I never see any double coupon days at these places. I saw a tv segment on a woman who saves so much on her groceries but I can't figure out how to do it her in DC. What am I missing? Any tips?

[Anonymous]

Stop shopping at WFs, that will save you money.

[Anonymous]

Never go to the Whole Foods - everything is pretty expensive there...

[Anonymous]

OP, my strategy is to avoid coupons. They make you buy what you don't really need. I do use WF, but if I need cheese, I get the cheese on sale, with meat, same thing. I do that with almost all the items, and save a bunch. I use Trader Joe's for frozen food and cakes, which are cheaper than WF.

[Anonymous]

Okay, even if I totally eliminate WF, I don't see how you can save 50% like I see on tv.

[Anonymous]

I cut out WF but found I was still spending a fortune at Trader Joe's and even Shopper's. So now I'm doing a bit of everything. Today i went to WF and Trader Joe's. A bag of oranges is cheaper at WF today than a bag of oranges was at Trader Joe's. Also bagged avocados were cheaper at WF, as was their vanilla sandwich cream cookies. But things like raisins are stupidly expensive at WF. And Trader Joe's organic broccoli is cheaper than WF's.

[Anonymous]

People who manage to save 50% on their food budget in one shopping trip by using coupons and shoping the sales usually are paying way too much to begin with if that makes any sense. Like, they might be paying for overpriced products to begin with, and buying all the finer cuts of meat and so on.

Coupons are usually issued for items you don't really need, or ones that are seriously overpriced (like sodas and snacks).

If a family of 2 adults and 2 small kids is spending $1400 a month on groceries, it would be relatively easy to cut that by 50%, by coupons, shopping the sales, meal planning, and shopping at cheaper stores.

If the same family were spending $800 a month in groceries, all the coupons in the world would not help cut that down by 50%. To get to $400 would take a lot of buying in bulk and repackaging, use of freezer to store bulk items, lots more beans and low - cost meals, baking bread and pizza dough from scrtahc; and buying produce on sale and preserving it for the winter.

[Anonymous]

Harris Teeter doubles coupons up to .99 Every once in a while they do triple coupons. The last time was Feb. 5th-9th. They would accept up to 20 coupons and triple the value. I disagree with the poster that you buy things you don't need when using coupons. I only cut coupons for items I use. I have a cheap coupon organizer that I bought at Target for $1.00

To keep it simple I organize into 5 categories: cleaning products, bathroom (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.), food, dog, baby (diapers, flinstones). Before going to Target or HT I quickly go through and pull the coupons I can use. I have had several times at Target where I have saved over $20.00 in coupons just on my essentials. There are always coupons for brands I use (Pantene, Crest, Pampers, Pedigree Dog Food, Kleenex, Tylenol). Why wouldn't I use a coupon on something I'm going to buy anyway?

Same with HT. I receive their weekly circular via email each Wed. It is easy to review and I can see what is on sale. The triple coupons are fabulous. For example I bought a 14 oz. can of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes which I would typically buy. The can was regularly $2.49 I had a .75 coupon which was tripled to $2.25 so I ended up paying .24

I have seen some people post that they find HT more expensive than Safeway or Giant but I do not. There are several items I have consistently found at HT to be cheaper (organic milk). The selection is ten times better. The stores are better organized at least in Arlington where I live and the customer service can't be beat.

OP, I would recommend clipping coupons for a few month and see if it is worth it for you. This is the way I grew up so it something I have just always done. I have never totaled up the amount I save but I am sure it is several hundred dollars each year so in my mind it is totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

From what I can tell, people who save ridiculous amounts of money on their groceries are also spending ridiculous amounts of time getting and sorting coupons, reading sales fliers, and driving from store to store. If you have the time and energy for it, there are websites to tell you how. I read sales fliers for three stores and shop according to sales, stocking up when there's a good sale so I won't have to buy that item until the next time it's on sale. If I have a coupon, so much the better, but I don't let that determine what I'm going to get. I would say I save maybe 20% doing that, but I don't really keep track.

[Anonymous]

i do a lot of shopping at costo, and cooking and freezing in bulk, meal size portions.

No cupons, they are a waste, we don't eat Kraft and Nabisco products.

If you are shopping at WFs, you don't need to be thrifty. Thrifty people do not do their shopping at WFs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i do a lot of shopping at costo, and cooking and freezing in bulk, meal size portions.

No cupons, they are a waste, we don't eat Kraft and Nabisco products.

If you are shopping at WFs, you don't need to be thrifty. Thrifty people do not do their shopping at WFs.

I do....

[Anonymous]

I buy a lot of the store brand items. You'll see that most items have the exact same ingredients as the name brand items and are often made by the same company. This saves a lot of money.

Some people think this is very downscale. Whatever. Spending more money for the exact same thing is silly in my book.

[Anonymous]

1. I don't do coupons. I tell myself it is because it would make me buy stuff I don't use, but honestly I usually just forget. I do try to look at the ones I get at Safeway with the reciept though. Every once in a while there is a "$X off your next trip" coupon.

2. I don't go to several stores each week (who has the time). But I try to stock up on things when I am at store I know they are normally cheaper at (Safeway near us tends to have good cheese and milk sales). I find if you don't open it, a lot of cheeses last forever so you can stock up (if you have room in your fridge).

3. Look for chicken sales, buy in bulk if possible and freeze. The trick for me is pre-cutting some into stir-fry and chicken tender chunks. Then I freeze some in 1 pound increments for crockpot things.

4. Ok - this falls into the "I was spoiled' category, but I've learned when I can cook with a lower chicken cut than chicken breast. I still prefer the no-skin, no bone chicken
breast, but I can use chicken thighs and even whole chicken or chicken parts for some crock-pot recipes (I'm really grossed out by chicken parts, so this is a big step for me).

5. Stock up, stock up, stock up on sales. I've had cashiers actually laugh at me because I have a cart full of pasta and pasta sauce.

6. I plan meals for a week in advance. This helps to buy only what you need, not what you may or may not want. I also plan to use leftovers of meals that make a lot (plan for lunches or plan 2 dinners of the same thing).

7. I use rice and plain couscous as side dishes a lot. Having a rice cooker with a timer made a world of difference for me.

8. I don't eat meat at every meal. I could go almost meatless myself, but I feel like my son should have a variety of foods. So I try to do a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes.

9. I try to use produce that is in season and avoid out of season items (only eat red pepper in the summer). I've even just ommitted an ingredient in a recipe if it is too expensive. I also used frozen fruits and veggies and some canned fruits.

I'd say these things cut my grocery bill signficantly, but I'll admit I spent way too much before. I was a "if I want it, I'll buy it" person before I had kids. I am still not one of those people you could do a news show on - with shopping carts full of food for $12.

[Anonymous]

It's ok to use coupons, just make sure you only clip the ones for things you already use. I will often wait until something is on sale, and then use the coupon on top of that for a maximum savings. I saw something in a news segment where they said the best way to save money on groceries is to review a particular store's weekly flier, and plan your week's menu around what is on sale, supplementing with coupons when possible.

[Anonymous]

I agree that many coupons are counterproductive, because they're for items I don't use or that are much more expensive than the generic.

However, I've noticed that stores often have sales on particular items the same week coupons for them come out, and I'm sure it's not an accident but a marketing push! So if I read through the store flyers and cut coupons within a few days, I'll often note things to buy that week. The other day I got two bags of pita chips and two containers of hummous for a total of $4.50 or something. They wouldn't have been on my shopping list usually, but the sales and coupons together made them a very cheap "splurge".