I feel like Jerry Seinfeld: “What is with the price of bread?”
Right now, the bread brand I usually buy hovers around $3.00. When money’s tight, that’s a lot for a loaf.
With my bank account whimpering like a little kid facing a tetanus shot every Grocery Day, I decided to look into how I can save a little dough on my food bill.
What things could I swap around to save a few bucks?
First went the bread.
In this instance, I spent a little money to save a little money and bought myself a bread machine. That baby’s paid for itself in the past few months. Instead of spending $3.00 on one loaf of bread I spend that money on a bag of flour and get three or four loaves. I haven’t bought a loaf of bread since October.
And making my own for the kids and husband has the added benefit of being healthier. I know exactly what’s going into that loaf and there are no additives, preservatives or words I can’t pronounce.
After the bread I ditched my “convenience veggies.”
I don’t mind cooking at home (which is a huge money-saver in and of itself) but I’m a lazy cook. The less I have to chop and prep to get dinner ready, the better. But I had an epiphany in the produce aisle not too long ago.
Why spend $2.00 on pre-washed, pre-peeled, pre-cut packages of carrots when I can spend $0.89 on plain old packages of raw carrots?
Needless to say, that rockin’ set of knives my husband got me for Christmas is getting a workout. All my veggies now come “unprepared” and I peel, scrape, and cut them myself.
And I’ll be a big girl admit that it really doesn’t take that much longer to do it myself. Plus I save a few dollars every week.
The next money-saving epiphany came while perusing the cheese selection.
Healthy or not, we’re cheese-eaters in this house. Shredded on chili, sliced in sandwiches, snacked on with rice crackers. But now, instead of buying cheese in bags or wrapped in convenient individual slices it comes in a brick and I slice and shred it myself. I save even more pennies if I get the store brand rather than a name brand.
Those are just a start. I see the fine art of couponing in my future. I’m also tossing around the idea of turning my brown thumb green and starting a small vegetable garden somewhere in the yard. Why buy it if I can grow it myself? Of course, growing it myself might be the problem… I can kill AstroTurf.
Anyway, those are a few of the changes I’ve made on grocery day. What tips and tricks have you come up with to help you save on groceries?
And do you have any tips on couponing? Feel free to share in the comments!
I love those colorful coupoon circulars that come with the Sunday paper and in the mail once a week. Once we are done clipping what we want from our respective circulars, my next-door cubicle mate and I swap and can clip duplicates of the ones we will use. Those last few words are key: Only clip coupons for items you actually use or plan to buy before the expiration date.
I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting at least a weekend subscription to our local paper so I can get the news and the coupons on Sunday. And that’s great advice! Don’t buy something just because you have a coupon for it. Thank you, Auntie Joan!
When I want coupons, I just google to see if a store has anything online. Often they do–especially restaurants and entertainment places (movies, bowling, etc.) There is a lot available online if you just look around a bit.
Hi Ariele! It’s funny. I used to use pizza coupons all the time, but never really thought of Googling other restaurants. What great advice! Thank you!
I’d rather do my own chopping/grating/peeling/slicing and get more food. Bottom line. This is separate from me generally having very little to spend on food in the first place. Anything that can help me from having to farm and slaughter my own lunch and dinner, I’m totally receptive to.
Hi Eli! I agree! I can’t see myself running a cattle farm at any point in my life. Though, with as much milk as my kids drink, I sometimes wish I lived on a dairy farm. Thank you for stopping by and sharing!
Karen – thanks for sharing your ideas for slashing the grocery bill. All of these are great ideas. I find that the whole carrots taste better too. Take it a step further and check out a farmers’ market or fresh produce store/market if you’re lucky enough to have one close by and have the time to go there. (We have a fantastic one in Flagler Beach, FL on Fri and Sat a.m.). I buy California-grown carrots there without the plastic bag @80cents a lb and they are fantastic and so sweet. I think it’s the lack of plastic bag that makes the difference. Or maybe it’s just psychological. Whichever – it’s great.
Cucumbers are 2 or 3 for $1 all year long! (and locally grown in Samsula) I also always can find green peppers at that price – much cheaper and better than at the grocery store.
Great post with good ideas for everyone!
I know there are some great Farmer’s Markets here in town. I need to check their weekend schedules (because that’s a great idea!) And you can always get the freshest stuff, in season, from local growers.
I don’t know, I think maybe the plastic would rub off on the vegetables and change the taste.
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your advice!
I google for coupons too and I’ve considered getting a bread machine (our pastor has one and uses it all the time) just because I love the aroma of bread baking in the oven. I think I’m going to have to stop buying the cute little packages of peeled carrots and go for the larger packages of unpeeled carrots. Thanks for the timely reminders and tips!
Hi Sandra! I love my bread machine. It’s so easy! Sometimes it takes a try or two to get the hang of a bread (like yesterday’s “Wheat Bread Mishap of 2012). But according to the kids and husband, the bread comes out great! (I can’t eat it unless I make a gluten free loaf so I can’t attest to it’s actual taste.)
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment!
Great article. I don’t know about your store’s policy where you live but in my town in Easter Ontario we have a ‘price match’ guarantee. So if something is on sale at the Walmart but not at the grocery store, you can still get that item on sale (+ $0.01 more) as long as you bring the Walmart (or whatever flyer) in with you to prove the item is on sale. It is a great way to save money on your grocery bill.
Also, just a note, you can freeze cheese & if you don’t want to cut up veggies every night, you could (just a thought/suggestion) have a ‘cut up veggies’ fest & then freeze whatever you don’t need right away. That way you have the fresh (frozen) veggies already to go when you need them for cooking, etc.