Groceries….How to Save $$!
January 21st, 2007Welcome back! Sorry about the mess of papers on the table - I’m clipping coupons and making my grocery list! Let me grab a cup of coffee for both of us and we’ll sit down and chat!
You’ve never clipped coupons for groceries? Too much work, you say? Well, maybe I can shed some light on some great ideas for you in that area - and you don’t use a list, either? Wow - I think I might be able to give you some pointers on how to save yourself a lot of money on groceries! Maybe you can even use them the next time you shop!
Coupons!
Coupons are a pretty obvious step to saving money on grocery items, but there are some tricks to using them most effectively. Again, my rule of thumb comes into play here: It’s not a bargain if you won’t use it or can’t afford it! Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon for it!
- High Value Coupons
- watch for those $0.50 and higher coupons on things that cost you the most:
Cereals
Dairy Products
Pet Foods
Health & Beauty Products
Coupons are most often found in the Sunday newspapers - the bigger cities have a larger selection of coupons in their Sunday edition of the paper. Also, there are grocery coupon websites that can be found by searching on Google. You’ll often find $1.00 off coupons on cereals - and if you watch the store ads, you’ll find those cereals on sale at the same time - meaning you can sometimes multiply your savings in a big way by using the coupon during the sale! Some stores will routinely double coupons with a face value of up to $0.50, and sometimes, up to $1.00. This can be a great way to save money - when I had a large family at home, I would go once a month, when the store I used was having their double coupons up to $1.00 sale. I’d get up at 3:30 a.m., trundle myself off to the store (open 24 hrs.), load up my cart, using my list and coupons I’d prepared the night before, be out of there in an hour or so, with over $200 worth of groceries in my cart, and having paid less than $100 for them. Unfortunately, that store is no longer around, but maybe you might live in an area that has one!
Live on the Edge - of the STORE!
Here’s a hint many people don’t know: grocery stores are arranged to draw you in to the center of the store, where the higher-priced items are hiding! If you shop around the outside edges of the store first, you’ll find the basics there. Most stores are set up to have the dairy, meat, bread, and produce departments on the outside walls, because they take up the most space. On the endcaps of the aisles, you’ll find the loss leaders and sale items in each store - the items that are priced lower than those that are down the aisle.
So, when you enter your grocery store next time, take a good look around, instead of roaming up and down the aisles. Notice what departments are positioned on the outer edges of the store, and then compare the prices of the items on the endcaps to similar items positioned in the aisle. You might be surprised at what you can save by shopping the outside edges of the store first - then getting whatever else you need from the aisles.
Make a List…Check it Twice…
When you go on a trip, and have many preparations to make, what’s the first thing you do? You make a list to be sure you tie up all the details. When you want to make goals for yourself and your family, what’s the first thing you do? You make a list of things you want to accomplish and the steps you need to take to get there.
So, why not apply the same theory to grocery shopping? It’s a little extra work, but in the end, it’s worth it in the money you’ll save by not buying compulsively.
Take Inventory and Make a List - Make a list of those things you absolutely need to buy. Then, at the bottom of the list, to be purchased last, come the “wants” - the ice cream and things that aren’t absolutely necessary for meals and housekeeping.
Don’t Go to the Store Hungry!
I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, but it’s true! Have you ever gone to the store after work to get milk and bread, maybe something quick to make for supper, and came out with $40 worth of stuff you didn’t intend to buy? Why did you buy it? Because you were hungry and it looked good! Your body’s basic instinct when you are hungry is to devote all it’s energy to looking for the next meal. If you happen to be in a grocery store, where food is all around you, guess what’s going to happen? Try to shop only when you’ve had a snack or something to eat before you enter the store, and your mind has had time to register that you are no longer hungry. There will be times when you still have to stop off for a quick gallon of milk or loaf of bread, but try not to do your major shopping on an empty stomach.
Make a Journal….
Ok, this one is really for the die-hard grocery savers. Make a journal of stores in your area, and keep it for a period of 6 months to a year. Every week, when the sale papers come out, sit down and figure out which store has a particular item on sale, and break down the unit price. Let’s take toilet paper for example. Let’s take a look at the paper. Ok - Store A has our favorite brand of toilet paper on sale, 12 rolls for $5.99. Store B has the same brand for $5.49. Let’s figure the unit price on that - $5.49 is the lowest available price for a pack of 12 rolls, so $5.49 divided by 12 equals approximately $0.46 per roll. Write that down in your journal under Store B’s name and keep it for future reference. Also note the date of the sale - many stores run similar sales at the same time, year after year. They have a formula for what sells best at a certain time of the year, and they follow it, every year. That’s the purpose of your journal - to keep an eye out for upcoming sales to stock your cabinets at the lowest possible price.
But what if you found a similar quality toilet paper in another store’s ad - say Store C, for example, that had 12 rolls for $4.59? That drops your unit price to around $0.38 per roll! That leads to the next thing on my list….
Don’t be Brand-Loyal - Unless It Matters!
This is where it’s time to make some decisions. You’ve found a pretty good price on a similar brand of toilet paper at another store. But are you willing to give up the brand you’ve used for years in favor of saving a little money? That all depends on how much you like that brand!
There are some items we are simply not willing to scrimp on - some of those items might be toilet paper, laundry or dish soap, or canned vegetables. If you’ve used Tide laundry soap for years, despite it being higher priced than anything else on the shelf, you might want to try a couple of the lower priced alternatives. Goodness knows, there’s enough choices! If you try one or two other detergents and don’t like the way they clean your clothing, then by all means, stick with Tide. But if you can find something less expensive that works just as well, why not change and save a few dollars a month? Maybe you can put that savings into a fund for a new washing machine! 
Canned vegetables are another area where quality varies greatly from brand to brand. If you have always eaten Del Monte or a similar, higher-priced brand of canned vegetables, why not give the store brand a try? Buy one or two cans and try them out. If you’re unhappy with the quality, go back to your brand - but this may be another way to save a few cents per can, which can add up over the course of a year.
Dish soap, body wash, shampoo, bar soap and similar items are another area where the store brand may be just as good as the more expensive brands. Many stores, especially the larger discount stores, are really pushing their own store brand - and in many cases, their brand is made in the same factory by the same company as the name brands - it’s just labeled and priced differently!
Well, I’ve got to run and pick up the kids from school, and take the dogs to the park for a run! Would you like to come along? We can talk about next week’s blog entry, and you can help me with ideas - I’m thinking about taking on tax preparation and income tax refunds - and how the Frugal Mom or Dad can save on that and get the refund they’re entitled to! Think that’s a good one? I do too! Let’s go - you can just leave the coffee cup in the sink - I’ll catch the dishes when I come back!
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