Family Chow Hall

Pinching Pennies at the Grocery

March 4th, 2009

Now I will add my 2 cents to the vast sea of information about saving money that’s going around….

Some of my friends call me their “Practical Friend,” — so I will stick with that and try to offer some practical tips:

First of all, make things from scratch! It is not that hard — yes, it takes a few extra minutes, but there is a cost difference and I believe, a nutritional/health difference when you make things yourself instead of buying all that packaged, preservative-laden crap.

I noticed recently when I was looking for pudding mix that the pudding aisle at the grocery has changed. I can no longer buy store-brand instant pudding mix. I can buy store-brand ready-made pudding packs in every flavor imaginable, but no boxed mixes. (I consider even a boxed mix to be convenient. People used to make pudding my stirring ingredients together on the stove.) Anyway, the boxed-mix portion of the shelves is shrinking and the pudding-pack portion is expanding…. This makes me wonder…. When did people get so lazy/stupid that they can’t whisk pudding mix into milk??!!

So, my first hint is to buy real ingredients instead of pre-packaged food. You are paying for someone else to prepare your food for you. Buy tomato paste and herbs instead of spaghetti sauce.

Second, adjust your diet to fit your budget. In the last couple of years, we’ve begun eating less meat and more beans. At least 2 or 3 days a week, we don’t eat meat at all. Pasta, eggs, and beans are all good main-dish alternatives to meat.

Third, try to cook things that make good leftovers — you’ll stretch your dollars by “recycling” that leftover pork loin into stir-fry or bean soup.

Buy store-brand when you can. Most of the time, there is very little difference in the taste or quality. I understand that with some things, you prefer spending the extra pennies (My husband absolutely has to have Vlasic pickles). As a rule, however, you will save more when you buy store-brand items, than if you clip your coupon and buy the name-brand stuff.

Buy cheap snacks. (Or how ’bout this — no snacks) We eat lots of popcorn. The real stuff that you have to pop all by yourself, not the microwave junk - I’m scared of what they put in that. I buy 50 lb. of popcorn at the wholesale club and pop it with coconut oil (ok, that’s kinda expensive, but better for you than veg. shortening) and then drizzle butter on top. Even with the coconut oil and butter, this is less costly than buying potato chips and cheesy snack crackers. We are off potato chips entirely and I only buy snack crackers occasionally. Heck, you can always make a PBJ if you get hungry in the middle of the day.

Sometimes, buying bulk gets you a real deal, other times - not so much. Check out places you can buy bulk. I go to a warehouse club, but hit the regular grocery pretty hard, too. Things I buy at the warehouse? — Olive oil, butter, lunchmeat, cheese, lettuce and other vegetables, nuts, toilet paper and paper towels, chocolate chips, most meats (I think the quality is better, but the price is about the same).

Things I don’t do to save money at the grocery:

Go around to different groceries and gather the sale items. This is actually a good money-saving technique, but it is a huge consumption of time and gasoline.

Clip coupons. Most coupons are for convenience foods that I don’t buy or for overpriced name-brand items. Shampoo and other hygiene items are the only coupons I ever clip.

Buy cheap meat. Yuck. I was raised on a farm and am a bit particular about meat quality.

Eat out more often. Yes, this will save your grocery bill, but it’s a pretty expensive way to go about it!!

Entry Filed under: Mixed bag, Philosophy, Table talk