Cutting Your Food Bill
By zieglerzoo | Leave A Comment
By zieglerzoo | Leave A Comment
I am really struggling right now. I am trying so very hard to cut our grocery bill. We have 3 unique dietary needs, and I feel like our food budget is killing us. My husband is a marathon runner, I have to really limit my gluten intake, and our son has blood sugar issues which require him to have a balance of carbs, fats, and protein. As usual, I went seeking advice. Here were some tips from my fabulous Twitter friends:
- Buy in Bulk: We do belong to the local wholesale club, but I am always afraid I am going to by a year’s supply of something and not use it. So I decided to start with something I knew we would use, ground beef. I bought a 7 lbs package and divided it into 1 lb individual baggies. That simple thing saved us over $8.00. I think this works as long as you buy things you need.
- Go Meatless: My daddy works in the meat industry and would disown me if he knew this, but I have been planning a couple of meals each week that are meat free, and it is saving us about $6.00 a week.
- Buy the Store Brand: This should be a no brainier. I always opt for the store brand, unless I have a coupon for the National Brand. One thing I have learned, it is always important to do the math (I bring a calculator) to calculate the cost per unit.
- Buy Local or Grow Your Own: I can see where buying local should be cheaper, but since we are in a suburb of a metro area, the local is actually more expensive. Maybe I am just looking in the wrong places. We are growing our own veggies this year, so hopefully that will save us some money.
I would love to hear your ideas! Please leave a comment telling us how you save money on your groceries.
photo by: steev-o
FILED UNDER: Money
ABOUT zieglerzoo
Janet is a wife, mom, and teacher. She keeps busy teaching special education, chasing her son, cheri{read more}
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Search out ethnic grocers for better prices on rice, beans, etc.
Watch for special pricing on the close to use-by-date items in the dairy and meat dept. Ask those dept. managers when they put those items out. I can usually deals on milk, cream in the dairy and last week air-cooled whole chickens were .99 a pound (I don’t buy chicken in the store, but it was a great deal.).
In the produce department sometimes you can find slightly damaged items in a special cart or area. Potatoes with a little green tinge, slightly wrinkled peppers, bagged lettuce near the use-by-date, bruised fruit.
If you cook or freeze the meat right away, it’ll be fine. I either cook or process the veggies and fruits right away. Dry or freeze them also.
Also, heads of lettuce last longer than the usual bagged salad and you get much more for your $$. I buy a head of romaine and a head of leaf lettuce, then make a huge bowl of torn salad from the romaine and part of the leaf. I cover the bowl with a wet dish towel and it keeps in the fridge for 2 weeks. (rewet the towel as needed) I seperate the nicer leaf lettuce leaves and store in very damp towels for sandwiches and lettuce wraps.
Recently one of my local stores had a case-lot sale on canned veg & fruits. These will keep for years. I usually buy enough for the next case-lot sale. Usually twice a year.
Watch for good sales on baking items before Thanksgiving. Double bag flour in zip bags and store in the freezer for 2 days to kill any buggies. Then store on the shelf. Double bag sugars to keep pests out.
I get my spices and flavorings for the year then.
Start an herb garden. Use a strawberry pot if you don’t have a garden spot. Put a cherry tomato plant in the top and thyme, small leaf basil, oregano, chives in the side holes. Or another put lettuce in the side holes and plant the herbs in another big pot. (But not mint. It needs its own space, as it’s a pot hog and will take over.)
And finally, ask at the Farmer’s Market or local Natural Foods Market for meat farmers who sell privately. If you have a freezer, you can get good meat for a lower average price for ground beef, steaks, etc. Might be a larger up-front cost, but savings in the long run.