Hasn’t the price of groceries just astounded you lately? I know I’ve been shocked. Everytime I go in there to get groceries, I come out with a little bit of stuff and it’s at least $40-50 just about every trip. We used to take for granted that bread, milk and eggs were staples that most could afford to have around all the time, but even those items are getting out of sight! The state of our economy is pretty alarming to me, so I thought it would be fun to share some grocery tips with each other. How do you save money on groceries each week? Do you have any great ideas on buying groceries and keeping the costs down?
It definitely pays to shop around. This chili mix that we love is $1.00 cheaper at Walmart than it is at Publix. That adds up!
I used to be pretty good about clipping coupons, but have gotten out of the habit in the last few years, as I have gone to using store brands for so many items now, that cutting coupons for national products just doesn’t seem to be such a great deal anymore. Now, I still buy some name brand products, but I try to buy them on sale. For instance, our main grocery store here in B’ham is Publix. I love this store and have been shopping with them ever since they came to Atlanta in the early 90’s. Great store, great service and the products are wonderful. So, that’s my favorite grocery store to shop in. Unfortunately, their prices are not the lowest all the time and their meat prices are definitely not that great. So, I shop them for weekly specials and meat specials and go to other stores, like Bruno’s and Winn-Dixie to stock up on meat buys for the most part. Wish we had Kroger here, as in Atlanta they have to compete with Publix prices.
I do buy a lot of Publix store brands, whenever I can and I can honestly say their store brands are excellent. Everything from milk, bread, frozen foods, crackers, and even that cheese ravioli you see above. Good stuff! So, that’s one of my ways to save money. Buy store brands whenever possible. 
Frozen veggies
Their milk is fine too, but I will get milk on sale sometimes at Walgreens when they put the local dairy milk, Barber’s, on sale, so I will try to pick it up on sale whenever possible. At over $4.00 a gallon, you have to look at saving money wherever you can, even on milk! Who would have thought we would be paying that much for milk?? It’s crazy!
My hubby likes 1/2 and 1/2 for his coffee, so we get that at Publix too. Now, I do shop at Walmart the rest of the time for staple items, like canned goods, name brand crackers or cheese, paper products, cleaning products, soft drinks, etc. I will pick up a lot of items there and then fill in with Publix specials each week. I look at the weekly grocery sale papers when they come out each Wednesday and make note of meat specials first.
For instance, this week, Publix had sweet potatoes for 49 cents a pound, so I bought some of those. We love sweet potatoes, but when they are about $1.00 a pound, I usually pass on them. Asparagus is another favorite, but I will only buy it on sale too. I think it’s coming in season now, so we should be able to get it reasonably priced for the next few weeks. This week it was $1.99 on sale. I won’t pay $4.00 a lb. for asparagus. I try to work my cooking around what is in season for fresh veggies and fruits. Then stock up on things then. And during the winter, we eat mostly frozen veggies.
Their milk is fine too, but I will get milk on sale sometimes at Walgreens when they put the local dairy milk, Barber’s, on sale, so I will try to pick it up on sale whenever possible. At over $4.00 a gallon, you have to look at saving money wherever you can, even on milk! Who would have thought we would be paying that much for milk?? It’s crazy!
My hubby likes 1/2 and 1/2 for his coffee, so we get that at Publix too. Now, I do shop at Walmart the rest of the time for staple items, like canned goods, name brand crackers or cheese, paper products, cleaning products, soft drinks, etc. I will pick up a lot of items there and then fill in with Publix specials each week. I look at the weekly grocery sale papers when they come out each Wednesday and make note of meat specials first.
For instance, this week, Publix had sweet potatoes for 49 cents a pound, so I bought some of those. We love sweet potatoes, but when they are about $1.00 a pound, I usually pass on them. Asparagus is another favorite, but I will only buy it on sale too. I think it’s coming in season now, so we should be able to get it reasonably priced for the next few weeks. This week it was $1.99 on sale. I won’t pay $4.00 a lb. for asparagus. I try to work my cooking around what is in season for fresh veggies and fruits. Then stock up on things then. And during the winter, we eat mostly frozen veggies. Publix has a lot of items each week, Buy One Get One, so I definitely go for those items that I need when those BOGO’s run. For instance, I was almost out of mayo and they were running BOGO on Kraft mayo, so I got a new one and saved 1/2 that way. That’s how I do most of my shopping at Publix, buying the specials for the most part and then supplementing from Walmart, since they are cheaper overall on everything else. This week they had Kelloggs Raisin Bran BOGO (usually 2 for $4.00 or less), so I stock up on those sales, but otherwise, I’ll buy Publix Raisin Bran which isn’t bad at regular price ($2.69 for 25 oz).
I cook from scratch for the most part and don’t buy a lot of boxed items. The only exception is I keep canned soup (Progresso) around in the pantry for something quick to eat, as well as rice packets and sometimes ravioli, like I showed above. Other than that, I’m a from-scratch cook. What about you? I think buying boxed foods is so much more expensive from what I can tell.
So, what do you do to save money on groceries? This is a topic that many of us are concerned about right now, with the price of everything going up so drastically. We have to do what we can to keep those costs down, but we gotta eat too! Let’s all share ways that we save money on food….chime in, please! Do you all still clip coupons? Let’s hear from you!
My parents are coming today, so I’m going to enjoy a few days with them. Here’s hoping the weather cooperates and we can get outside for a project.
Don't Miss a Post, join my list!
www,madaboutbargains.com is a great site for us in the UK. You can look at all the major supermarkets and see what their deals are for that particular week.
I also like to look for the ‘woops’ aisle where things that are going out of date are offered at knockdown prices, bread, meat, chicken etc can be frozen and used later.
I’m definitely into clipping coupons and shopping on sale days. I try to only buy the bare necessities otherwise. Another thing I do is substitute chopped, frozen zucchini for half the ground beef in some recipes (mostly ones in a tomato-y base, like lasagne or chili, but I also do this when making burgers). I always buy meat that’s marked down because its ‘best before’ date is the same or next day, and I buy as much as I can. I also try to make sure I use all the leftovers in my fridge instead of letting them go bad! (or feeding them to the dog and cats just before they go bad because we’re obviously not getting around to eating them!)
These are all such great ideas and suggestions!
We have Kroger where we live and everyone is correct on what great meat deals they have there! I try to go by there on Friday after work. They put out a bunch of great “manager specials” on meat for the weekend. The good deals will be gone quickly though if you wait till Saturday to shop. I buy what I think we can use and freeze it.
Also, I love my veggie garden and do lots of freezing of veggies for easy dinners on cold winter nights.
Hi Rhoda! Thanks for visiting my blog. My comment doesn’t have anything to do with saving on groceries, because we’re really not very good at it! I wanted to tell you that I linked to your earlier post on your Easter display because it inspired me to do a little rearranging. Hope that’s okay and thanks for sharing your great ideas!
Hi Rhoda,
Yes, the news keeps getting worse…have you caught discovered how much the price of flour has gone up?? It has at least doubled, due to the wheat shortage and thus resultant high cost of it. Apparently, this will lead to a dip in the price of beef, as farmers are struggling to pay for grain to feed them…they are slaughtering them in record numbers!! While this will be a savings to the consumer, we must expect the prices then to soar as they will then have a beef shortage!! Aargh…does it ever end??
Meanwhile, I’m stocking up on flour…when I can still find it at the lower price! I read in the paper that bakeries are seriously hurting as their customers are balking at the increase in prices, yet the flour costs to the baker are exhorbitant!!
Maybe it’s time for all of us to go on one of those low-carb diets…
Interesting post!!
Linda
Hi Rhoda,
I know what you mean. A few things is $50. I am not a coupon shopper. I try to buy on sale though.
Have a fun visit.
Rosemary
You are so right about the price of groceries! I try to go once a week to walmart and buy all my main products there (paper towels, TP, cleaning supplies, milk, cheese, etc) and then I go to the regular stores for meat and produce.
I cook from scratch too, but my sister-in-law cooks from a box and she gets things a lot cheaper that way, but I love to cook, so it’s just not for me.
The biggest thing I can think of to save money on is plastic baggies. The store brand is the same as Ziploc. It’s not much, but it helps 🙂
Rue
Ditto friend!
I love to go to Whole Foods… and look. Publix’s is my mainstay.
Have fun with your family for Easter.
I shop at Costco and Sam’s club for most things. I divide up my meats and freeze them. I purchased what I can from Aldi Foods and then finish up with the rest from Walmart.
Groceries are getting too high. I try to stretch the food bill with such things as homemade soups, chilis, stews, meatloaf, sloppy joes, things like that at least a few times a week.
Blessings,
Sher
The cost of food is absolutely alarming, which makes my canning and freezing all that much more welcome to my family. I’m glad that I enjoy it, too! My next project is to enlarge my pantry…now it’s a must! Thanks for all the tips.
hugs
Sandi
Hi Rhoda:
I agree with you, the price of groceries has gone way over the top. I always shop at the Walmart Superstore for 75% of my food and household items. I find the prices to be much lower than say Vons or Albertsons. I can’t get everything there and some things are cheaper at Trader Joes. Go figure….
Thanks for the tips. Love your blog.
Debbie Kay
My dad used to carry the sales ads around and gather meat on sale then cut up chickens, etc. himself for freezing…with gas prices now that probably wouldn’t float! I don’t even know how to cut up a chicken.
Hi. My first visit to your site and I love it. 😀 The pic of Publix potatoes caught me off guard – that’s my store of choice, LOL. I will also vouch for their store brand – top quality.
For mom’s – I’ve tried their diaper wipes and they are soft and a nice quality (plus they have the soft pack with peel and close opening). Also, Publix offers a baby club where they send coupons (my son is getting close to 2 and i still get the coupons on a regular basis) and they sometimes include coupons for milk, produce, deli, etc.
I coupon and match sales to coupons to try to get the best deals and stock up when I can. Visit my blog @ multitaskingmama.wordpress.com for some of my shopping tales (I share freebies too). :p I find that using coupons + sale together I can get name brand items cheaper than store brand or dollar store items.
We don’t get the penny item sales in Florida – perhaps b/c Publix is based here and they are more settled in.
Thanks for sharing your blog – I’ll be back to check it out more. 🙂
Wandered over from Shabby’s place.
I love to cook and I’m fussy about what ingredients I use and what goes into my food. Boxed/pre-packaged things aren’t part of my menu. I guess I’m really not frugal about groceries.
However, we do have a small garden with something growing almost year round (greens grow here in winter months) and I am a demon when it comes to controlling waste. Some folks waste lots of food. That just makes me sad.
Darla
We were spending nearly $600 a month on a family of 5 and my husband thought that was a little much so I set out to cut costs. Without trying very hard I’ve nearly cut our grocery budget in half. We don’t eat a lot of meat, so that helps. Like you, I find Wal-Mart to be significantly cheaper on many things. I also love Publix private label and buy that if shopping at Publix. Stephanie Nelson, the “Coupon Mom” on Good Morning America is a member of our Sunday School class and she swears by the whole coupon thing, but I don’t clip. Forget them half the time and it was just too much for me. We also have a huge farmer’s market nearby that we love to shop for fresh produce. Finally, I love this site
http://www.southwesternproduce.com/index.html for locally grown produce shipped directly to your door. Great post.
Hi Rhoda, thanks for this great post. The price of groceries has gotten so high that for dh and I at times just doesn’t pay to cook. We’ll do takeout knowing its not healthy for us. We miss Publix terribly since moving to NC from Fl nothing compares to the quality and cleanliness of Publix. We shop Harris Teeter and Wal-Mart. I’m also looking into a Food Saver to store/freeze and perhaps have less waste. Lucy
Hi Rhoda…..It is hard to shop for just 2 people, isn’t it? Sometimes we just eat out & forget the grocery store. Other times, we shop & it is expensive! YOu gotta eat something though, LOL!
Bonnie
Hi Rhoda! I know what you mean about grocery shopping. I am being so conservative with my selections and my eyes pop out at the register. One thing that has helped here in So. Cal. is the opening of Fresh & Easy. They are a British company that specializes in fresh and mostly healthy foods, encouraging shoppers to buy in small quantities, a few days at a time. The stores are touted as Neighborhood stores and are not huge. The prices are very reasonable. It’s kind of like the “Why French Women Don’t Get Fat” concept.
Have a blessed Good Friday!
KJ
For Chili mix – I make my own dry mix using Ground Chili Powder, Garlic Powder, Paprika and Ground Cumin and I like to use “Hot Chili Beans” which is added kick and saves money on spices.
I agree with you ” Publix brands” taste great and they save money and I stock up when things go on sale or are 2 for 1. I buy some things in bulk if I have room in my pantry.
I shop once a week with a LIST to help me stay on buget.
“The Dollar” store is also a great place to shop and my parents shop at “Aldies” which they happen to believe hung the moon and in their opinion the cheapest grocery store around. Here in Aldies is not close so this store really is not an option.
Thanks to everyone for posting so many helpful comments.
Happy Resurrection Week!
There is an Aldi’s here in the Birmingham-Metro area. It is located on Greenspring Hwy in Homewood. You should check it out.