Saving Money On Groceries, Part 1
July 25, 2008 – 6:01 am
If your household is anything like mine, a large portion of your budget every week is probably spent on groceries. Some die-hard budgeteers even break out food from cleaning supplies in their budget so they can more accurately track their spending in specific categories. Regardless of whether you do this or not (I don’t separate them), there are several ways you can save on groceries that will make a big difference in your overall budget.
There are three main ways in my opinion to pare down your budget:
1. you can cut out categories entirely
2. you can pare down several categories a little bit each
3. you can make significant changes to budget categories that represent a larger percentage of your overall budget.
Groceries represent a big part of my total budget, and it’s the largest single category for me besides housing costs. If this is the case for you and you’d like to save money, read on.
There are several ways to save on groceries, including:
1. make a grocery list and stick to it!
2. buy private label goods and/or make substitutions
3. keep a price book
4. plan your weekly meals and base your menu on weekly specials
5. shop at multiple stores and keep a price list for each
6. clip coupons (or buy them: http://www.thecouponclippers.com)
7. play the grocery game
I recommend starting at the top of this list and working your way down. Each person has to decide if it’s worth the time an effort needed to save money, and from my personal experience the list above is ordered based on ease and potential value.
Save money on groceries by keeping a price book
Frugal shoppers have been saving money at the grocery store for years by developing and using a price book. A price book can be complicated or simple, but the basic implementation involves keep track of the following information in a notebook:
1. a product description, such as “Corn (15.25oz)”
2. the unit price of the product (you’re choice of pounds, oz, units, etc)
3. the store name
4. the current date
Most people organize their notebook by category, such as: produce, dairy, frozen, canned goods, etc. so they can locate items quickly while shopping. Any set of categories will work, provided they make sense to you.
As you shop, record the product information listed above. Although this can take a little extra time initially, maintaining the list going forward will be much easier. As a quick start method you could simply keep your grocery receipts for a few weeks and then spend 15-30 minutes compiling your initial price book. You’ll probably notice you buy about the same items most weeks.
Once your initial price book is in place, use it while grocery shopping to locate the best deals by comparing the current store price with your price book information. If you find a price in the store that is better than your current price, record it in the book. This is the new “low price” against which all other prices will be compared.
After a few trial runs using a price book the following will occur:
1. you’ll have a clear idea of what you pay for the usual items you purchase
2. you’ll be able to tell if an item is truly on sale, and if it’s a deep discount or just a slightly lower price (i.e. is a $2.59 6-pack of soda on sale for 2 for $4 or 2 for $5?)
3. you’ll be able to determine at a moments notice if a product at a club store, like Sam’s or CostCo, is a good deal or not.
4. You’ll know the best store for your most common purchases if you shop at multiple stores.
Your price book will allow you to buy larger quantities when non-perishables are on sale, determine when products are in season, and remember key times of year when almost everything is on sale (i.e. the weekend before thanksgiving and Easter, for example).
Once I started keeping a price book I was able to reduce our weekly grocery bill from $150 to approximately $100 (feeding 2 adults), and I’m working towards getting that down to $80/wk on average.
As a frugal computer-geek, I actually implemented a price book in excel. This allows me to browse the weekly specials online, determine what from my price book I wish to buy, and calculate an approximate cost. I can then print my shopping list and head off to the store(s).
Save money by purchasing store brands
Do you purchase store brands (sometimes referred to as “private label brands”)? I understand that for some items only a name-brand product will do, but it’s worth considering the following:
- Some private label products are actually produced by brand-name manufactures
- How much added value can their be on “commodity”-type products, like canned vegetables, break, frozen French fries, etc?
Of course if the price is the same or the different is negligible to you, then by all means purchase the name brand product. If you monitor your grocery budget tightly though, and you spend $100/wk, a $1 savings is a full percent of your grocery budget. For me, I’d rather buy private label whole-wheat bread than a small loaf of Sara Lee 7-grain whatever.
Image Credit: KaCey97007
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5 Responses to “Saving Money On Groceries, Part 1”
Another tip to save on groceries that I discovered last week is some food processors will let you buy directly from them in bulk. I bought a lot of chicken last week from a chicken plant very cheaply.
http://www.doubleourmoney.ca
By
doubleourmoney (Who am I?) on Jul 25, 2008
Great idea in the article. My wife and I( actually her) do good in this area. I refer to her as the coupon queen.
By
billy akerman (Who am I?) on Jul 25, 2008
Great post, thanks. Another trick I like to use around my local area is to check my local dollar store. The 99 Cent Only stores in CA, AZ, NV and TX offer deli, dairy, bakery, frozen and name brand produce. It’s a good deal if you are on a really tight budget.
By
Liz (Who am I?) on Jul 26, 2008
Thanks for the post, great ideas.
By
larry (Who am I?) on Jul 28, 2008