Saving Money on Groceries: Tips for Frugal Shoppers

"Getting money is like digging with a needle;
spending it is like water soaking into sand."

Japanese Proverb

Tips for Saving Money on Groceries

Plan all of your meals in advance. Get started by making a chart with four columns at the top for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Then list out along the side of the chart the number of days you want to plan. I try to do one week at a time, but I know some more ambitious families who do a whole month. If you have some picky eaters in the house, have them help with the planning to make sure you are making foods they like.

Don't spend a lot on premium coffee. A study by Consumer Reports found that Eight O'Clock coffee, a relatively inexpensive brand, won their taste test based on cost and price.

If you have the room, stock up on sale goods for non perishable purchases on items you normally buy. It is hard to beat the rate of return you can get on some of the sales the grocery stores have to entice you to do your shopping with them.

For example, if you invest $1 in a money market account, at current interests rates at the end of the year you may have made a total of less than 2 cents, possibly less after taxes. If you buy a $1.00 item and get another one free on a two for one sales, then that is like getting 100 cents worth of goods for free, nontaxable. For goods on sale items at great prices, you can make a much greater return on your money by stocking up than you can by deferring the pruchase and investing the money instead.

A Money Saving Tip from the Past -

"Many a dollar is foolishly spent for delicatessen foods. The retail cost of ready prepared foods includes a fraction of the salary of the cook and the fuel, as well as the regular percentage of profit. The food, also, is not so nourishing or flavorsome as if freshly cooked in the home kitchen."

From Foods That Will Win The War And How To Cook Them (1918), by C. Houston Goudiss and Alberta M. Goudiss.

Join a wholesale warehouse club like Costco or Sam's Club, if you don't already belong to one. Set up a schedule to go warehouse shopping based on your family size and food consumption. I try to stock up on non-perishables foods once a month at a warehouse places. However, for most perishable goods like fruit and vegetables, I find that the package sizes are often just to large for my family to consume before the produce gets old and moldy.

Save both time and money by using Sam's Clubs Point and Click service. You order your groceries online on their web site, and they assemble it for you and send you an email when it is ready to be picked up. At the checkout

I buy some meats at the warehouse places, but again the package sizes are often so large that I usually have to freeze half the packages. I'll use frozen meats and others foods for my family when I'm short on time, but on a regular basis I think there are more vitamins and minerals in fresh meats and produce so I don't get too much that I have to freeze.

You can save money using coupons, but be aware of how much time you take to store, sort and decide which coupons to use.

Compare costs per ounce on packages. Usually smaller and individually wrapped packages cost more per ounce. However, on perishable goods, sometimes I find it is cheaper to buy smaller quantities rather than buying large packages where some of the food will go to waste.

Add some convenience foods to your grocery list, if you know you have some busy days ahead and won't have time for a lot of made from scratch meals. A stir fry meal made with frozen beef strips, frozen broccoli and and canned pineapple chunks with a side of instant rice is still cheaper and healthier than most fast food meals. Plus you can make a meal like this in the time it takes you to drive to McDonalds and back.

Shop when you are not hungry, so you are not enticed to make spur of the moment purchases.

If you have nonperishable food in your house that no one is likely to eat up, donate it to a food bank before it is past its expiration date. It won't save you any money, but you will be doing a good deed by helping out a less fortunate family. Some of the things I buy from Costco or Sam's Club just don't turn out to be winners with my family, so I always donate what is left of any nonperishable items to the food bank bin at a local bank rather than have them go to waste.

Make your grocery list from your plan and shop with your list. Try to avoid buying anything that is not on your list, unless it is something on sale that you can stock up on.