Saving money at the grocery store.

[The Munster]

Guys,

This has been talked about before and a lot of you are probably already very frugal when it comes to shopping, but I wanted to share this with all ya'll anyway.

We went to the grocery store today and paid $126.59 for $224.44 (standard shelf price) worth of food and household goods.

This was at a grocery store called Kroger and when you get a Kroger Card (free to get) you get their sale price on things (when they are on sale).

Here's the trick.

Collect coupons. Get a little multi-pocket coupon holder and start clipping coupons that come in your Sunday paper or in the mail. Only clip coupons for the items you know you will buy.
Then watch the grocery store flyers that also come in the Sunday paper or the mail.
What usually happens is, you'll see items on sale in the store flyer and you'll have a coupon for that item also that you probably clipped 2-6 weeks ago (most coupons are good for 1-3 months).
So make your list based on, first and foremost the things you absolutely have to get because you are almost out. But then add to the list things that you know you will need in the future (but might have plenty of now) that are both on sale and you have a coupon for.

Most grocery stores (like Kroger) will triple value coupons (face value .01-.30) and double value coupons (face value .31-.50) as well.

So, today there were many items that were on sale and we had a coupons for (which get doubled or tripled) and we actually got them for free.

So the end result was:
$224.44
-10.47 coupon face values
-4.09 double and trippling
-83.29 Kroger card sale savings

= $126.59

Anyway, just some tips.

[american idol]

that's awesome munster. do you & TLM grocery shop together? I find that when hubby & I go together, we can actually debate on whether or not we need that certain brand of whatever it is. We both are able to show more restraint in making those impulse buys when we're together.

Also, a tip that works great for us is to plan your meals out before you actually write your list. That way, you can look at what you need for each meal & work with what you've already got in your fridge or pantry.

We don't have kroger here. I wish we did. I so miss krogering. our cheap store is super1 & we have to sack our own stuff, which makes the price of the groceries cheaper too. I only go when I don't have the kids with me. It's not easy sacking your own stuff with little helpers wanting to throw the bananas on top of the bread

[The Munster]

Yeah, we shop together. For the smaller trips (more milk, bread, eggs, etc) sometimes just one of us will go. But, with the big shopping trips we make (family of 4--2 of which are bodybuilders) it's definitely easier to put in a team effort. We take our kids just about everywhere with us because they are very very well behaved and actually like helping us with the shopping. And, for being good and helping, we usually let them get a little something.

[american idol]

your girls do get along great. unfortunatley my kids don't. soooo... ya'll are very lucky to have helpers who actually help! Now If I have one without the other, the help is great. But together, I'm busy trying to keep them from arguing about EVERYTHING.

[saks]

I love to shop for food. I also love coupons

[bigp3]

I have one word for you,,,, COSTCO

[mobsta]

ill agree with bigp as well. costco , sams club etc,, i buy all my food in bulk,, so much food my fridge doesnt even close right.. also i bought this entertainment book it has well over 300 pages of coupons for restaurants, grocery stores etc.. best thing ive bought this month.. buy one meal get the second free,, 50% of this or that..

[The Munster]

Yeah, forgot to mention that. We get almost all our meats from Sams. Huge bags of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and thighs. Trays of ground beef, steaks, pork chops. Best prices for sure. Bags of frozen vegetables and fruits too.

On a rare occasion one of the local grocery stores will have a sale on some kind of meat that beats Sam's and we'll go there and load up.

The grocery store trips are for all those other things that Sam's and Costco can't beat, even in bulk (if you do the math, you will find that the grocery store or Super Walmart beats the discount clubs on some things).

[Massive G]

I tried clipping coupons ONCE.....Then I realized that I just don't have the patience for it

[ctgblue]

I never find damn coupons for what I like, and when I do find good coupons, even the price WITh the coupons is higer than the other choice I would have made.
Fortunately, Wal Mart matches ad prices

[hachat11]

Does Sam's Club charge for membership? I thought they did, though that was several years ago

[BigBen]

i went to school to find the best supermarket ever... Aldies! everything dirt cheap since they dont keep any food in the back, they dont have shelves either, everything just sits on the floor, stacked on top of eachother. they dont give u bags to carry ur grocery, those cost a nickle, and the only way to get a cart is to "unlock" it with a quarter, and when ur done with it u get ur quarter back.... ahhhh i love it.

so far the best investment ive ever made was buying a 5 cubic feet chest freezer from sams club for the apartment. normal freezers are wayyyy to small

[american idol]

Does Sam's Club charge for membership? I thought they did, though that was several years ago

Yes, sams does charge for a membership. I want to say it's like $30 a year, but I can't remember. Sometimes you can get a corporate membership through your company for a little bit less than that.

Sams is a good place to shop, but you gotta make sure you've got the space in your freezer, or pantry to hold all of it. It's not always cheaper to go to sams either. You still have to look at the prices & see if you are really getting a deal. Just because it's in bulk doesn't necessarily mean it's a better price. You still gotta do your homework.

I get most of my cheesecake stuff at Sams. I can't get everything there because the selection isn't as good. But for some things, it's a good place to go.

[hachat11]

thanks for the help