- Eat Before You Grocery Shop
You've probably heard this before, but it's so true. When you’re hungry, almost everything you see in the store will be tempting for you to purchase, especially junk food. Eating beforehand will help ward off these temptations.
- Grocery List
It's worth repeating. The list is your frugal grocery shopping foundation and by sticking to it, you'll avoid unnecessary spending.
- Milk
Yes, you can freeze milk. At first we didn't believe it, but it's true. By the way, you'll want to use the frozen milk within a couple of months. Basically, just pour a small amount of milk out of the jug to prevent expansion and a broken plastic jug and its ready for the freezer.
When you find milk on sale, stock up and freeze it. You'll find the milk turns a yellowish color when frozen but that's normal. When you thaw it out, it will turn back to its white color.
- Produce
We buy most of our fruits and vegetables in the frozen food section as opposed to produce because it's cheaper. We'll steam or microwave our frozen vegetables and they taste great. Another benefit of buying frozen is your food won't go bad which will save you money by not having to throw out rotten food.
- Generic Food
Many people don't bother with generic products when grocery shopping. What you can do is check the ingredients of the generic foods against the brand-name foods. You'll be pleasantly surprised that many generics have the same ingredients as the brand-name products. And, bottom line, generic foods are cheaper than name brand products.
Examples of some generic foods you can buy on your frugal grocery shopping trip include pasta, cereal, tuna, frozen vegetables, dairy products, milk, hot dogs, rice, frozen products, and the list goes on. You really can save a great deal of money with this tip alone.
- Use What You Have
Did you ever open your refrigerator or cupboard and sometimes find them so stockpiled that you can't find what you're looking for? Or there's food that's been sitting for weeks on end? We use up the groceries we have in our kitchen and you'll find you will as well if you follow the grocery planning we discussed.
We use what we have. If we run out of milk, we don't make a special run to the store to get some more. The family won't suffer from malnutrition going without milk for a few days. If we run out of grapes or apples, we'll go with the frozen fruit. If we run out of juice, we’ll drink more filtered water.
- Beverages
You can save a great deal of money in this category as well. Pop is expensive and unhealthy but it tastes great. If you purchase sodas, you'll usually find that buying the two liter pops are much cheaper then the canned pops.
Our family drinks a lot of water. Compared to buying bottled water, you'll find that you save a great deal of money when you buy an economical water filter that attaches to your kitchen sink. You can do a google search for "water filter ratings" to find a quality, economical filter that best meets your needs.
Other cheap beverages you can add to your frugal grocery shopping list are lemonade and limeade. What we do is purchase a large bottle of concentrated lemon or lime juice, which is inexpensive. Then we mix this juice with filtered water in a large pitcher and add stevia (cheap, healthy sugar substitute) and whaa laa, you have lemonade or limeade that tastes great. Our family loves this, especially the kids.
By the way, stevia is a concentrated and healthy sugar substitute that's been used for centuries. We not only use it for beverages, but when we make pasta sauces and smoothies. We get great deals on stevia at swansonvitamins.com.
Speaking of smoothies, this is another economical beverage your family will love. What you do is get out your blender and fill it about half full with filtered water, add frozen fruit, an apple (apples are economical, cheap and a great smoothie staple), stevia and whey protein powder if you choose (for additional health benefits), and you'll have an economical, delicious smoothie. You'll also get a great burst of energy out of this.
- Snacks And Junk Food
This will eat a hole in your frugal grocery shopping budget fast. It's not only expensive, but also unhealthy. Candy, donuts, coffee cake, chips, you name it. They taste good but aren't healthy for you or your budget.
Our family snacks on fruit, popcorn, string cheese, leftovers or we'll have a smoothie. On occasion we will also buy pudding or cookies. We portion these out however. For example, the kids will get a couple of cookies, not a bowl full.
- Meat
Meat, especially red meat is one of the most expensive items purchased by shoppers. We won't buy meat unless it’s on sale. If you hunt for the meat counter's reduced or clearance items you'll find some great unadvertised deals. When you find one, you can stock up on it using your freezer.
You'll find many stores will cut meat prices significantly when the "sell by" date is near. We have bought chicken, hamburger, you name it for well over 50% off and the meat is still good.
You can also purchase meat in bulk for HUGE savings from a local farm by the whole, half or quarter ranging from $2.25 to $2.50 lb. That is dirt cheap in comparison for what you'll pay for steaks, ribs, etc at the grocery store.
We just recently found a farm selling natural fed black angus beef by doing a search in Craig's list. And we've got to tell you, not only is the cost savings huge, but we've never tasted such good meat. There's really no comparison.
Another great benefit, is you can tell the farm's processor what type of beef cuts you want to customize to your needs. The meat will be processed and packaged for you, ready for your freezer.
A half will have a hanging weight from 300 to 350 lbs on average. So, if you purchase a half at $2.25lb with a weight of 300lbs, you're looking at approx. $700.00. Basically, you've bought yourself enough beef for about a year for a family of four.
- Specials
You can find excellent frugal grocery shopping deals by exploring the clearance sections. You can look for "manager specials" on a whole slew of items. To save some time, take a look at the grocery paper at the front of the store which will advertise these specials many times.
- Non-Food Items
You can purchase your soaps, toiletries, hygiene and medicine products at a discount store, drug store, or warehouse club such as Sams or Costco. These stores usually have much better deals for these items than the grocery stores.
- Basic Foods
You'll find that frugal grocery shopping staple foods such as brown rice, pasta and beans will go a long way for a small amount of money. We use these staples as part of our dinners or as dinner in and of themselves. Another great benefit; these foods are healthy and they fill you up.
- The Checkout Line
It's not a bad idea to keep an eye on the cashier's scanner. We've caught mistakes on several occasions; especially when it comes to ringing up sales items.
