Grocery Shopping Advise?

Question

I have 4 kids and a wife. We spend $400 a week on groceries. One family member does Atkins and one does Weight Watchers and the rest eat pretty much what they want. We cut coupons which only results in us saving about $6 to $10 a week. I would like to take $1000 of this $1600 to $2000 a month that we spend on food and invest in a mutual fund or something. I don't want investment advise, I want shopping advise. My parents live in Michigan. When we shop there in a grocery store, I can take each item and place it on the belt and count 2,4,6,8.... and the total I come up with will be roughly my grocery total. In other words, the average price of a grocery item is $2. In Delaware, where I live, I have to use 5,10,15,20... to get the same estimated total. Moving is not an option. We've tried the Save-A-Lot stores and they sell mostly junk food and that is hard to do with the diets. We've tried BJs but the bigger items just mean the two boys not on diets, just eat more. Any ideas?

Answer 1

The truth is this is something girls learn in home economics class. Things like eye level is pricey. Look low on the shelves to get bargains. Never shop hungry. 50% off is the same as 2 for one.

May I suggest stone soup:

1 gallon of water
1 tsp of salt
2 potatoes
2 carrots
1 clove of garlic chopped
1/2 head of cabbage
1 can of italian stewed tomatoes
1 lb of browned italian sausage
1/2 onion diced and cooked with the sausage
1 tsp basil
2 Pepperoncini

You may need to double the recipe for your size of family.

Eat it three meals a day for a week. It's an inexpensive meal that tastes great and is good for you. The difference between what you would normally spend and the cost of the soup goes into the mutual fund. Since the whole family sacrificed you should all benefit so make sure the fund is in everybody's name.

Answer 2

Prefabricated food are soooooooooooo expensive. Do you cook homemade items ??

$400 a week sounds outrageous to me. I spend under that for a month for a family of 4 plus 5 pets. I am super frugal and know how to make a chicken last a whole week.

Always go with a list. Make that list out by having a calender at home with your menu planned out for a month. Figure what you will need to make these meals and check the cupboards to not double up in case you already have that certain ingredient! When shopping you can certainly go for more generic brands..of course some generic brands are horrible but most are sooooooooo close to the top brands and can save you alot of money. Don't be so picky !!! Kids won't know if you keep your mouth shut.

Lay off junk food and snacks for the kids unless fruit. Believe it or not a bag of fruit costs the same as a bag of chips and are 1000 times more healthy for your kids !!! Any thing prefabricated can save you alot of money if you ELIMINATE IT !!

I could go on and on... but then you will have a book to read here. I have taken clients shopping with a clipboard in hand and showed them how to shop but first had them show ME how THEY shop.... they saved an average of over a $100 on just one trip with me,

I am "Super cheap shopper woman" hear me roar !!!!

mew !

Good Luck and DON'T give up !!!!!!

Answer 3

I definitely agree with the simple hint of don't go shopping hungry. Go on a full stomach.

Lateley I've been going to this all recipes website, and learning some more easy, and tastey home-cooked meals, and I had this incredible experience while shopping at cost-co yesterday. I was perusing all of the dinners in one box items (which I usually buy a lot of) and I was thinking to myself, no, I could make that by myself, and it would probably taste better. I didn't buy any, and it was such a liberating feeling!

Diets can also be very expensive, especially with different family members on different diets, I bet that makes meal planning a bit of a pain. Is there anyway those two could at least get on the same diet?

Answer 4

You have a big family so you'll have big bills. The best thing you can do is learn to buy in bulk and cook creatively. For example, when I make meatloaf, I add a can of black beans (rinsed). It adds fiber, flavor and extends the meat for little price.

Use a crock pot so you can get cheaper cuts of meat. Learn to make soup out of the leftovers. Get creative. For about $15 I can make 3 different meals out of almost the same thing. I get a whole chicken and roast it with veggies and have that for dinner. Then I cut off the extra meat and use 1/2 to make BBQ chicken sandwiches and reserve half for chicken soup. Use the whole carcas and all the veggies to make a nice chicken stock that you can add rice/noodles to, along with veggies and the rest of the chicken to make great soup.

Plan your menu in advance based on what's on sale that week. Typically the coupons correspond to the store sales so you can get double off. Take your menu and make a shopping list. Only buy what's on that list. If something that is a staple (canned tomatoes, paper towels, etc.) is on sale cheap, stock up then so the next time you need it you'll have it on hand.

For those who are on picky diets, if they were eating balanced, healty meals, they wouldn't have to be on a trendy diet.

Check at the book store to find cook books that offer great ways to stretch meals and get creative with the basics.

You can do it but it will take some effort and creativity.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Good question!

I buy off-brands and generics whenever possible.

Wal-Mart wil honor other stores flyers. For instance, if Marsh Supermarket has a sale on coffee, Wal-mart will sell it to you for that price. I don't have time to run around to 3 different stores to pick up one item.

I love the Dollar Stretcher website. It has excellent thrifty tips to help save money. www.stretcher.com

The way I grew up, we had a large garden. Almost everything we ate, we grew. We were very healthy & had the satisfaction of knowing it was organic and healthy.

I have a very small yard now and planted potatoes, onions and tomatoes as well as fruit bushes. It didn't take much time and we have enjoyed many meals with these ingredients. Vegetables are SO easy to grow. They are extremely healthy and low fat.

We buy our meat at a local butcher shop. We purchase a quarter of a cow. Purchasing meat this way is much, much cheaper than buying it by the pound at the supermarket. If you have a meat market close by, check into it. Our chest freezer is full of beef steaks and roasts for the price you pay for a week worth of groceries.

Answer 6

1. Join a wholesale store like Costco or Sam's.

2. Always go with a shopping list and stick to the list--no deviating for impulse items.

3. Many grocery stores advertise weekly specials and/or double coupon days. Shop at those times to maximize your savings.

4. Involve the boys. Make them shop with you and bring a calculator and scratch pad to keep track of the total. Make them aware that every extra dollar spent at the grocery store is one less dollar available for entertainment, etc.

Answer 7

$400 doesn't seem that much for a family of six.

Approach this from the other direction.

Draw up a budget, detailing all your outgoings for a month. I mean absolutely everything. From that you may be able to cut costs.

On the shopping front, draw up a detailed list of things to buy every week, and another for things you buy less often, and stick to those lists. Chop out all the stuff that you don't need. This means fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits, etc. Where possible, buy in bulk (loo rolls, washing powder, cleaning materials, dried goods, Tinned stuff, etc), and always shop around for the best price, rather than go to the same place for everything.

Answer 8

Hey Bernie, to cut down expenses, instead of spending money on expensive diet supplements, why dont you just do exercise with your family members.

Also, before you go to the grocery make sure that you have your shopping list with a approximate price listed, those are not important must not include in the list. Bring only enough money to spend based on your shopping list. I think that way, you will avoid buying on things that are not useful.

Hope it helps!

Answer 9

Buy in bulk, shop right after you eat, make a budget for the purchase and don't exceed it. Exercise with the dieters, purchase an entertainment book (which has discounts on supermarket purchases).

Answer 10

Try find a place that sells in BULK!!!

Buying in bulk might cost alot AT THE TIME, but it will save u in the long run