⋄ All About Groceries ⋄
Do you hate grocery shopping? Overwhelmed by coupon clipping? Do you cause the mess to be cleaned up on aisle nine? Intimidated by food storage? Confounded by complicated recipes?
Never fear! We’re here to help!
Explore these handy dandy tips & tricks that will help make your culinary experiences less stressful & all the more pleasurable! From the lists to the aisles, recipes to stoves, leftovers to storage; we have it all covered.
Use the menu to the left to dive right in!
Have a handy tip or suggestion of your own? Click here to share it with us!
- Shopping -
- If at all possible, shop alone. You’ll spend less and have a little bit of quiet time. But, don’t shop for entertainment’s sake.
- Never shop hungry. If you can’t avoid it, eat some store samples or get a roll from the bakery to munch on while shopping.
- Always shop from a list – always! Even if you are stopping off for milk and eggs, write those items down before you go into the store.
- Prepare a ‘master grocery list’ and post it where everyone can see it. The list is easy to prepare from your grocery store’s map. List items you routinely buy by their aisle location. Everyone circles items they know you are out of. When you go to the store, put your list on a clipboard with the coupons and it will sit up nicely in the cart.
- Limit your shopping trips. Smart shoppers only go to the store once or twice a month–with a list!
- Buy generics as much as possible. Many store brands are as good or better than the ‘name brand’. Many are identical as they are made in the same factory.
- Figure out which grocery store in your area is cheaper. You can do your own price comparison by preparing a ‘price notebook’ comparing prices on your normal shopping trip, or you can utilize a local comparison shopping guide. In the Washington, D.C. metro area, ‘Washington Checkbook’ does a yearly survey to determine the least expensive grocery store. It often isn’t who you think it will be! The winner the last several years? Wegman’s (you just have to avoid that luxury deli area). Toward the bottom of the list? Shopper’s Food Warehouse.
- Don’t buy in bulk items you won’t use up. That 20lb bag of french fries is a waste if you don’t eat them up or don’t like them.
- Comparison shop! Many items in ‘warehouse clubs’ are not actually cheaper than buying on sale or even at full price in other stores.
- Understand the psychology of grocery stores. They are laid out to encourage you to spend money! Remember to look up and to look down when comparison shopping. The most expensive choice will probably be at eye level.
- Don’t start buying your children treats everytime they go to the store. This builds an expectation and their tastes expand as they get older. Teach them that grocery shopping is a task, not a process for a reward.
- Standard spices purchased in bulk are almost always a good deal. If you don’t use them quickly, simply store the big container in your freezer.
- When you are in the store, put one of the hand carry baskets in your big cart. When you are tempted by an item that is not on your list, place it in that basket. Look at it as you shop and ask, do I really need that? Can I afford that? What am I going to have to give up to buy that? If in doubt, hand it back to a cashier and tell them you’ve changed your mind.
- QUIT buying prepared foods! They cost a lot more money, have more preservatives and ‘mystery’ ingredients.
- DEVELOP SELF-DISCIPLINE!! Do not be suckered into the psychology of the store. Learn to say NO to yourself!!
- Don’t hesitate to return items that are bad.
- Know which products really matter when buying ‘organic’. For instance, all chicken and pork in the U.S. is not allowed to have added hormones or antibiotics and yet some shoppers pay extra because the marketing folks added this information to the label.
- Don’t buy non-organic foods at the organic food store. As always, compare prices as most major grocery stores carry a good supply of organic items at a cheaper price than the specialty store.
- Coupons, Sales & Savings -
- Set a goal for yourself and then applaud your accomplishments! My favorite is to save so much money that the cashier has to call over a manager to over ride the cash register – that’s when you know you’ve done well!!
- Find out when meat is marked down at your favorite store. Figure out their system and watch for those bargains.
- Collect coupons for items you routinely purchase. Clip them to your master list and put a small ‘c’ by the item that you will use the coupon for. When you are at the store, you can quickly make sure the coupon item is a good deal.
- Stock up on items you use frequently when they are deeply discounted. Store in an organized manner so that you know what you have.
- Always consider the portion cost of any food you purchase.
- Look for discontinued items at the grocery store. Huge discounts can often apply and most will also accept coupons so you can double your savings. This also applies to lightly damaged goods.
- Couponing can save you significant money, especially if you are well organized, use self-discipline and combine those coupons with sales & promotions.
- Speaking of coupons, always look on boxes for ‘instant use’ coupons. I recently purchased name brand cereal for less than 50 cents a box due to a sale and ‘instant use’ coupons on the boxes.
- If you like a product, write to the manufacturer. They will often reward you with freebies.
- Check out sites online that guide you to the best coupons and pair those coupons with weekly sale items.
- Watch the cashier. The percentage of coding errors in grocery stores can border on the criminal in some stores. Most stores offer incentives (such as a free item) if you are charged the wrong amount.
- If roasts are cheaper than ground beef, ask the butcher to grind up the roast for you.
- If a store is out of an item you want, make certain you get a rain check. I do this on purpose sometimes when meat is a loss leader. That way, I can purchase more in 30 or 60 days. I also don’t have to process as much at one time.
- If you are going to purchase a large quantity of one item, ask if there is an additional discount.
- Be open to looking for groceries in other stores. Many stores such as Target, T.J. Maxx, department stores and Ross carry holiday food gift sets. After the holiday, the price on these seasonal items will be slashed dramatically.
- Look for holiday-themed packaged items to go on sale after the holiday. It may just be a cake mix, but it will be 75% off after Easter because the sprinkles are shaped like rabbits. Will your 3 year old really care if there are rabbits in his cupcake in May? He’ll probably love it!
- If you are good about paying off your credit cards, you might get a higher cashback reward using your card at the grocery store.
- Check online for items you use a lot of! You can purchase many items at wholesale and many online food distributors offer periodic sales.
- Sign up for the grocery store ‘club’. If you are antsy about giving them your name, address, etc–just give them a fake one. This won’t work so well if you want to write checks at the store.
- Subscribe to email notifications of store flyers. You can easily take advantage of ‘loss leaders’ on a weekly basis. Use these to plan your meals.
- Shop farmer’s markets towards the end of the day. Farmers will often discount items, especially if you are buying a quantity, rather than haul them back and risk spoilage.
- Check for local suppliers of fruits and vegetables.
- Always, always compare the price per pound/ounce/etc. between items. Packaging can be deceptive!
- Avoid buying nonfood items at the grocery store. Always check discount stores to price items you purchase routinely from the health and beauty section. The discounter is often cheaper than the grocery store! This is also true of vitamins and over-the-counter medications.
- Tools & Appliances -
- Buy a crockpot. You don’t need one with a zillion different bells and whistles–just one that cooks the food slow while you are gone. Now, learn to use it and use it often!
- A freezer is a worthwhile investment and every family should have one. Not only can you purchase items on sale for later use, you can fill it with your own homemade fast food!
- If you think you need a new kitchen gadget, see if you can borrow one from a friend before buying. Ask yourself how much you will really use that fondue pot. Check freecycle for someone giving one away.
- Cooking -
- LEARN TO COOK ! ! ! Seriously, people, it isn’t brain surgery but it will cut out the diseases of “fast foodosis” and “budgetary diarrhea”. The long term financial and health benefits could probably fund your child’s college education.
- Cook double or triple, then freeze the rest. Most casseroles, spaghetti sauces, ground beef dishes and baked goods freeze well. You’ll make one big mess and have multiple meals from that one mess!
- Learn to cook soup. Your crockpot will be your friend and soup can suck every ounce of nutrition from your food dollar. You can roast potato peels, carrot peels, onion skins, chunks of left over veggies of nearly any kind (remember you are hoarding them in your freezer), a chicken carcass in your oven. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and roast for a couple of hours. When everything is all nice a browned, cover it with water, some salt, pepper and a few green herbs. When that liquid is browned, dump it all in the crockpot over night or all day. Strain out the chunks and you have amazing stock. Use it with some beans, recognizable pieces of veggies, some rice and you have soup! Add spices to provide zest or zing and freeze the excess for fast meals. If you prefer, just freeze the stock to use as the liquid for cooking rice or pasta. You just turned trash into treasure!!
- Plan your menus! Know what you have on hand to cook and have a plan.
- Plan for unexpected events. Have foods that are easy and fast to prepare by everyone old enough to safely manage a stove. Some wise home managers even package up the simple ingredients for these meals and have them in a bag for those days when dinner isn’t an after thought.
- Learn to google for ingredients. For instance, you have a recipe that calls for Green Eyed Sauce (I made that up, so don’t google it), but it costs $4.95 for a 3 ounce bottle. Google for the recipe and you might find that the sauce is just as easy to make at home–for a dime.
- Food For Little Ones -
- Make your own baby food. Unless there is a medical reason prohibiting it, you can grind up green beans for a fraction of the cost of purchasing those cute little containers of food. Baby oatmeal is simply oatmeal that has been put through a blender to break up the grain more. As soon as baby can eat finger foods, skip those ‘junior meals’ that look like dog food. Just cut up some pasta, cheese, and whatever you are having for junior. He’ll like it better.
- Breastfeed your baby–it is cheaper than formula and better for baby (unless your doctor says differently for some specific reason)
- Skip most foods packaged with cartoon characters or especially for children. Most of these iems are merely ‘downsized’ in packaging and ‘upsized’ in price & often sugar! Instead, buy regular juice, water it down and put it in a sippy cup. Buy some cheese in a chunk, cube it and give junior a few. Be creative and cut some in rectangles, some in squares, some in triangles–he’ll learn his shapes and you’ll save money.
- Teach your children to eat a variety of foods.
- Storage & Making Food Last -
- Use the ‘two deep’ inventory control on basic items. For instance, you don’t want to run out of laundry soap. Restock your supply when you have one left, not when you open the last one. This will prevent you from those last minute ‘just running to the store’ adventures that always lead to a bigger bill.
- Plan your leftovers. NO food should be thrown away. Teach your family to eat up those leftovers for lunches, snacks or even an entire dinner. Check your frig often and utilize items before they go bad. If you have a selection of leftovers, plan a ‘cafeteria’ night to heat up everything and let the family choose their own entree.
- Freeze what you won’t eat right away. A single portion of lasagna? Great! Wrap it tightly and store in the freezer. You now have an instant ‘fast food’ dinner.
- Freeze vegetable bits. When you have a bag full, you have the makings of a great pot of soup stock.
- Freeze those last few grapes, strawberries, etc. and make fruit smoothies out of them.
- Extend the life of fresh meat and those ‘club’ packages by pre-cooking meat. You can brown up 5lb of hamburger in a minimal amount of time and divide into dinner portion bags for the freezer.
- Store your food carefully so that it does not go to waste.
- Understand the difference between ‘best by’ and ‘use by’ dates. On many items, the date means little and if stored carefully (especially canned goods), the shelf life is limitless. Even soured milk can be used for baking in any recipe that calls for buttermilk. Of course, you really don’t want to eat anything that has stuff growing on it (except some hard cheeses when you can cut the green stuff off and eat away).
- Grow a garden. If you don’t want to grow a big garden, which can be expensive, time consuming, etc, etc, grow an herb garden and use those herbs to provide variety to your meals.
- Learn to safely preserve food. Can, dehydrate and freeze your way to healthier meals and lower bills. The best resource of all is free at: http://uga.edu/nchfp/
- Use your basic commodity food storage items everyday. If you shopped smartly for them, you will continually save money.
- Health & Weight Loss -
- CUT OUT EATING OUT AND CARRY OUT! ! !
- Eat less meat. This is not only good for your wallet, but good for your body.
- Take your food with you! When you are going out to do errands, going on a day adventure or to work–pack some food with you!
- Drink more water and make it from the tap. Juice, sodas & specialty drinks all run up the grocery bill.
- Eat simply. You really don’t need to cook like the chefs on TV with a zillion different sauces and ingredients. Remember, those TV chefs are often paid sizable fees for product placement – just so you’ll think you HAVE to have that special imported Wasabi sauce.
- Cut out the junk. Chips, cookies, snack cakes and similar nonsense run up your food bill and your waistline. Instead, pop some popcorn at home, eat a carrot or learn to bake simple treats (freeze the extra for later).
More grocery tips & tricks will be posted soon! Thanks & happy shopping!