Saving on Groceries

I know a few people who buy $600-$700 of groceries at once and still say they have nothing to eat! My husband and I rarely spend more that $100 at at time, and we find that stocks us up. Why is it that some people get so much for so little, and others have a heart attack every time the cashier reads the total? Here are a few changes we have made to make our money stretch further:

1. Buy what is in season - This might seem really obvious but not a lot of people buy and stock up in season.  One of the things I love doing "in season" is going to pick your own farms.  It's a great way to spend the day together with  my husband and we can freeze things like berries to put in our cereal all year around.  I also love watching for deals at the farmers market.  Last year I bought 20 lbs of red peppers for a good price, sliced them, blanched them and froze them.  I add them to everything, omelettes, pasta, stirfry.

2. Meal plan. - We are working on this one! I try to meal plan from the flyers and use what's on sale. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't - meat can be frozen so I don't have to use it in the same week, but if it's veggies, then I really have to figure out how to use them!

3. Shop with coupons and, very minimum, the flyer. - I like coupons, sales and discounted products.  I find I save a fair amount of money going up and down the aisles and finding the sale items, both what is listed in the flyer and what is not.  I also love to buy meat when it's marked down and through it in the freezer.

4. Know what you can freeze and stock up when you find a good sale.  Note, 20 cents off is not a good sale (unless maybe the item is under a dollar).  When I find a really good sale I like to stock up.  For example, paper towel is really expensive and I hate paying a lot of money for something I'm going to throw out, but at that time I had two puppies and we were in need of paper towels, I bought enough for $20 to last me over a year!  It was a good investment because we needed them, and we were able to store them.  I don't care what people on Extreme Couponing do, cereal under the bed is not good storage! Only stock up on items you would use anyway, don't use sales as excuse to buy things!

What tips and strategies do you use to keep your monthly grocery bill under control?


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