March 1, 2011

How do you save at the grocery store?

As a stay at home mom, I'm painfully aware of the sacrifice our family makes by our choice of me staying at home with the boys. While we are fortunate that my husband as a great job, the budget is still pretty tight at times. I'm always looking for ways to save money, especially when it comes to trips to the grocery store! I like to buy as healthy and organic as possible, which can be pricey at times, so I have to incorporate ways to save, and in honor of the Kroger Cart Buster Savings event (taking place NOW!)  here are  my Top 5 Ways to Save in the Stevens household:

5. Coupons Coupons Coupons!! I've become a coupon clipper. Of course I get the smart source coupons every  Sunday in the paper, but I also check for coupons online! I like to frequent Red Plum and Coupons.com!

4.Scour the ads. Most stores will put out a weekly ad, check it out and pair up your coupons with sale items to save even more! Most coupons don't expire for a few weeks to a few months, so if you don't need the item right away, wait a week and I bet you'll find it on sale then! And don't forget to check the ad for in store coupons to save even more!

3.Meal Plan. I think this is the most important part of saving money for me. I used to go to the store and decide then what I was going to have for dinner. But I never bought everything I needed b/c I would forget an ingredient or I never planned for more than two days so I'd have to go back and spend more money. Meal planning has allowed me to evaluate what I have in my cupboards and make a list of exactly what I need for the week so there is no money being wasted on items I really don't need.

2. Avoid the Drinks. And I mean like the 24 pk of pop, the bucket of coffee, the beer, juice...is it really n necessary? I'm guilty of coffee drinking, but we've eliminated everything else from our weekly list. I'm not saying you should never buy it, but you'll be healthier if you don't :D But I do know some people enjoy the occasional beer on a Saturday night around the fire. But you're weekly budget will stretch a lot farther if you're not spending $30 a week on items you'll finish off in five minutes. Buy it on special occasions, or wait and have a party and ask your guests to BYODrink :D

1. Make too much. Okay, that sounds bad, but hear me out. Make soup one day, and make a big enough batch you can freeze some for dinner later, or have enough for your lunch for the week. Or take out that roast from the freezer you got a good deal on and make Sunday dinner, keeping the left overs for sandwiches or to put in your hubbys lunch bag for work. If you think about the price of buying store bought sandwich meat or canned soup, you're saving money buy making your own, even if you make a big batch to save for later.

There are so many great ways to save if you just do your research! Don't rush off to the store without a plan! You and your Bank Account will be glad you didn't!!

Disclaimer: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms Kroger CartBuster blogging program, for a gift card worth $50. For more information on how you can participate, click here

0 comments: