saving money?

Question

what's the best way to save money on groceries?

Answer 1

Find a local store that has one of those cards that stores give out anymore. (Kroger here has them) If you have the card you get a discounted price compared to not having the card.

Then check to see if there are double coupon days, etc. Shop on those days with coupons. 50 cent coupon is now $1 and so on.

Stop the name brands and shop around and try the different generic brands. 90% of generic brands are made by name brand companies but just repackaged for that local chain or distributor. Many times you can save up to 30% off and it's the exact same food.

Find a local bulk store, Costco, Sam's Club, etc. If you have a basement, garage, etc stock up on basic items that you can save money on that won't go bad. Like a case of toilet paper over the 4 packs at the normal store. 10 case of pop at once instead of 4.99 for a 12 pack at the store. Even sugar, salt, flour can be bought in 20, 30lb bags and just stored in tupperware as well. Items like chips, dips, mustard, ketcup, etc I would only get in bulk what you know you will use. Remember shelf life of a product is the same whether in a small package or a large.

Certain items like spices, cinnamon, hard candy, etc can be bought at the dollar store. Normal food at Dollar stores is normally right at expiration and is then stale. But spices, hard candy has a shelf life of like 20 years so it won't be bad and you save like 80% of normal store prices.

Don't waste your money on no name brand cleaners, soap powders, etc. If you buy cheap in this department you will only spend more in the long run cause you will use more and not get it as clean. Tide, Clorox, Lysol, Dial, etc....names you can trust. Some off name of Blide's Detergent from Dollar Store is a no no.

Check online as well for coupons as many manufacturers and stores themselves will offer them on their web site or a coupon web site.

Check the weekly flyer for specials and only get what you really need that week. If you want spagatti next week for friends coming over don't buy it now, it might be on sale next week. That and when items like that, that won't go bad, when they are on sale always buy at least 1 extra.

Don't buy shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, etc from grocery store either. Back to the Dollar store for these. Just look for name brand items there and you will save normally at least 1/2 off the store's price. The other day I got a 5 pack of Crest for $4. That night I was at the store...I saved over $6 buying that and tooth paste can sit.

If you like meat, chicken, etc either you can just hit the store daily, bi weekly etc and get it or you can go the route of the vacuum sealer bags at home and buy it in bulk. Some people go as far as a deep freezer but to me that is only needed if a family is involved.

A friend of mine's wife use to go to the store and spend like $183 for a family of four....but after her coupons, double coupons, buy one get one free, online coupons, etc etc all added up....she'd walk out with a total bill of like $47. She was good at it.

Answer 2

Put money into a managed fund, $400 dollars a month. They wait for the payment, so you are forced to save it. Anytime is a good time to start cause it is a Long Term investment (so generally over time you can double it every say around 7 years) and it compounds. So you could get a 30% return in say 4-6 months, if u pick a good one. $100 a week=$400 a month =$4800 a year =$24000 over five years and double this by compound following the rule =$48,000 not bad for 100 bucks a week. Theres always an excuse it will go down or won't work but at least youll have 24 grand. Internet accounts are good also 5% interest and cant get at on weekends, till Monday morning. Just dont ask for a card. Get a timer for your oil heater- I was living in a cold climate (Orange) last year and the timer reduced the bill by like $500 bucks for the quarter. From 900 to 300 and it was still snowing in November. Dont buy books on investment, you could have invested the money. If u do sell it on ebay when finished. Sell anything u dont need on ebay. Its cheap to sell and someone else benefits from something you dont need. If you have Cash pay you credit card off, this is the worst debt you can have.

Answer 3

You really want to save money on groceries???

Do you like to eat healthy? DON'T mess with coupons unless you happen on one for something you normally buy!!

Coupons are one of the biggest rackets in the advertizing/sales game. They intice you buy things you wouldn't normaly get, and the vast majority of them are for the most processed foods in the store!

I used to clip. I stopped doing it twenty years ago and never looked back. I feed a family of five on a single $400 per month trip (that works out to about 88 cents per meal). beat that with coupons!! Get a small freezer and buy all your meat in bulk. Always do the math!!!!! The big packages are VERY OFTEN NOT THE BEST BUY!! The real key is not to run all over town trying to find all the best deals. Your time too valuable. My wife and I spent six months once a month at a different store till we found the one where what we brought home lasted the longest.

The real key is to practice, calculate, and unless you eat a lot of processed stuff and don't care about your health: stay away from coupons!

And no, the $400 trip does not include the occasional trip to get milk, eggs, juice, and beer. So make it $500 and that still makes it $100 per person per month. Which still baffles me. Practice, it took practice. And NO COUPONS!!

Oh, and by the way, forget about sales. The key is to learn what is a good price and what is not. Whether it is on sale or not has nothing to do with that! I worked in retail for fifteen years I have seen base prices raised so they can put stuff on sale and the price is actually HIGHER than it used to be!! No there is no law against it. Learn what a good price is.

Decide how much you want to spend and see what you can get for that. Practice. Practice. Practice. In terms of personal finances and budgeting the most important things are that you have enough healthy food, spending the same amount each month consistantly.

Come to think of it, for us the one thing that had the biggest impact on our bill was switching from once a week trips to once a month. Oh, and NO COUPONS, and ignore the sales! go for what you planned to get at the lowest price you can find it for.
and did I mention PRACTICE?

That's it. I'm done... I'll shut up now.

Answer 4

Clip coupons and shop at places that will double or triple the value of them. You could also buy items that you will use frequently in bulk at places like Sam's Club or Costco. True, it costs money to get a membership to these places but you will save money in the long run when you are able to buy items at wholesale price. Try using store brands of items that will not make a difference in the taste of your food (for example, spices, ice creams, milk, etc.)

Answer 5

Watch your local store flyers for specials and then use coupons. You can double your savings if for example toilet paper is regularly priced at $3.00 and it's on sale for $2.00 and you have a coupon for $1.00 off, you end up saving $2.00.......one for the sale and one for your coupon. If you plan your meals and menus a week ahead of time around what's on sale. Always buy enough to make two meals.....eat one and put the other in the freezer for next week. If you live alone you can usually cook large quantites and then freeze it in meal size dishes. It's a lot cheaper than TV Dinners or eating out and healthier too!

Answer 6

Here is a Tip I haven't seen to save big money on meat.

The big grocery stores take a gamble on how much meat they will need to have prepared for any given weekend.

If the meat doesn't sell, They mark it way down on Monday mornings. So, hit the stores around 7:00 and stock up.

Answer 7

Coupons (of course, but only for stuff you were already planning to buy), make a grocery list and stick to it, look for sales (and know what's REALLY a sale), buy in bulk (IF, and only if, you'll use it all).

Forget the store discount card - if you check, those stores charge more (in general) for their items, then give you a discount to the same price you'd find it for elsewhere without the sale. I use mine only when I know the discounted price is less than my regular store's price.

Also, buy stuff YOU have to make. The less prep YOU do, the more it costs. For example, a whole chicken may be $2 per pound, whereas bonless, skinless chicken breast cutlets may be $5 per pound.

Answer 8

find a store that will double and triple your coupons like Krogers or Randalls (I dont know where you live but if you dont know these stores just find one in your area that doubles and triples coupons) if you get a good coupon book and really pay attention to the prices u can get alot of stuff FREE or really cheap! I can usually buy about 300.00 dollars worth of groceries and with my coupons and kroger card I can leave paying around 60.00 bucks!! It takes some time but its so worth it!
say an item cost 1.00 and you have a 35cent coupon and they triple it you will get it FREE!
if you have an item that cost 1.50 and a coupon for 50cents and they double it you pay 50cents!!!
and so on....
Good luck and God Bless!!!

Answer 9

In addition to the remarks by the answer from the first poster..

Do not shop at typical grocery stores like kingsoopers, safeway or Krogers. . I have found these places to be 30% or more than say walmart or Target.

You should also think about what you really need, buy what you need do not get what you do not.

Answer 10

plant a small vegetable garden, buy other supplies in bulk, use your freezer and (gulp) clip some coupons- be sure to buy things only on sale.