Rising Prices...how to save

Went grocery shopping this past weekend and was in complete shock when i saw the total amount of the few things that I had bought!  

So i was hoping we could all share ideas on how we can save....and also share any good deals that we've found.

my find of the week....diet green tea with citrus - the large bottles are $10 for 10 at Publix!!!  i fill smaller bottles from them to take to work.

anyone else?

you can always save with store brands verus big name brands...when I find a good sale....this week it was my brand of dry cat food(18#bag) for $9.89 so I brought two bags which should mean my next buy will be at a sale price(when I reach the 2nd bag i start looking for it on sale again.. I do this with alot of sales items..

I have stopped buying bottled water.  I was getting whatever in the gallon jugs and then refilling them in vending machines.  I was still having to replace several times a week.  I've put in a water filter for the tap and stopped buying water. 

I buy store brand when I can.  Some store brand foods are lower in sodium, sugars too. 

no sodas, or sports drinks anymore.  water

 

Cooking from scratch is a good money saver.  I made a big pot of brown rice yesterday.  It was enough for 12 servings.  Today I made a pot of red beans and added six of the servings of rice to it.  I only used 3 ounces of ham for flavoring.  There is enough to feed DH and I for probably 4 more meals not to mention the 2 meal leftovers we have in the fridge from last nights dinner.  Both rice and beans are very economical and filling and healthy too.  Using a crock pot to tenderize less expensive cuts of meats are also a saving tool.

The prices of food will continue to rise with the rising costs of gas, I fear.

 

 

even better than buying bottles of tea, get lipton to go packets and mix them into bottles with hot water then refrigerate. when i go to the gas station or something and get a drink with a glass bottle or something i save it to mix my tea in, the lipton packets are about 2 bucks for ten packets. also, i dont know how many walmarts have groceries, but the one by me does and it has THE best prices- i get that tea for two bucks there and everywhere else it is 3 or 4

I eat vegetarian for half the week in order to save money and also keep my weight down.   Beans, lentils, chickpeas and other pulses/legumes are extremely cheap and really nutritious.  I make all kinds of bean casseroles, lentil soups, beanburgers, chillis, curries.... you name it.  

Local/domestic fruit and veg are much cheaper than air-freight or imported.  So I try to shop seasonally and that saves a lot of money.  I never buy food out if I can help it.  I make packed lunches for school/work etc.

Planning ahead is key.  I plan meals at the start of the week, shop for what we need and don't go back into the supermarkets again unless it's absolutely necessary.  Shops are designed to make us spend more than we intend to so the fewer times I pay them a visit, the better.  Planning means spending less and also wasting less.

For UK CC-ers... shopping online makes a lot of sense.  There are websites with voucher codes available for all the major retailers.  If you spend more then £50 in a typical shop the voucher codes will usually give you money-off to the equivalent of the delivery charge.  Again, if you're sat at home, you're less likely to buy things you don't need

Shop at farmer's markets - fresh local stuff for cheaper.

Try discount food stores. In CA, TX, AZ, "99c or Less" (pink, green blue logo) is amazing. Tonight, just got two trunkloads of good food and fresh produce for 80 bucks. Also Aldi food stores farther out east. Trader Joe's isn't bad as long as you don't fall for the impulse buy traps.

Cook at home, rotate dinner parties at friends' houses instead of going out.

Google the "Grocery Game" website. Takes some planning and saving coupon pages from papers but is worth it. You can cut your food spending in half over a month. Stockpile foodstuffs on sale.

I've taken to making as much of my own stuff as possible or using recyclable products. I'm trying to persuade myself about the hygiene products (if its good enough for hippies...j/k). I've seen moms who do 3-4 loads of laundry every other day resort to making their own detergent.

Make good use of crockpots, etc. Helps also with time management - if I can cook in bulk I spend less time each day on food prep.

Check out sites like beingfrugal.net, and hang in there!

I grow my own fruit and veg and have my own chickens, so i don't need to buy any fruits, vegetables, or eggs.

Start a container garden - I've discovered it's amazingly easy.  We'll save a bunch of money on broccoli, peppers, and tomatoes alone.   

I hear you about the food prices!  I have been a diet coke junky all my life.  I recently quit (more or less; I still get it at restaurants) - not because of the caffeine or the phosphorous or anything, but because of the price!  I finally said 'I cannot keep paying almost $5 for a 12-pack of coke that I drink inside of a week.'  I've switched to Diet Rite which is caffeine- and sodium-free, and a heck of a lot cheaper.  I also don't feel bad about buying it in the 2-liters, which for some reason I could never handle with diet coke...made it taste different, somehow.

The best tips I have always found are - buy dry or frozen and cook it yourself.  Frozen veggies, dried beans, and so on, are the easiest ways to get cheap, nutritious food but you have to cook them yourself.  It's almost impossible to eat healthy on a busy schedule and a low budget.

Another thing that's very important is: storing your raw vegetables correctly.  I used to lose loads of veggies because of improper storage, or because I let them sit too long.  (It helps that I eat them more now, so they go bad less often.)  Some things go in the fridge, some things don't, and it's important to know which are which.

One of our favorite dishes recently is yummy, nutritious, quick to prepare, and pretty darn cheap.  Take: a bag of frozen veggies, 3 cups of rice, and 1 cup of your meat of choice (we like chicken, and frozen chicken isn't too horribly expensive yet, but you could use pork, beef, or pretty much anything else you wanted).  Stirfry your meat and your veggies in a bottled marinade (like Mr. Yoshida's teriyaki, a fav of ours) until chicken is cooked and veggies are warm.  Cook the rice normally - we LOVE our rice cooker - and combine in a bowl.  Yum it up!  We did it last night, and the whole meal was about $4.  Additionally, the dish is extremely versatile - you can use pasta or rice-a-roni instead of rice, and any marinade you want, and any veggie mix you want, and pretty much any meat you want, which means you can also adjust the meal to the needs of your wallet.

Meat and dairy has gone up 4%.......
Last year was about 2.5% I think..
Everything is going up.

Good thing I don't eat those things.. haha!

Rice prices are up 50% and grain is at record levels - hence the increase in meat & dairy because the cattle are fed on grain.  And because fuel costs are up, anything that needs transporting will be more expensive.  I don't think many foods will escape.  So unless you don't eat anything, you'll be needing a few of these tips too.

'haha!'

-____- My moms bf buys the groceries.... so haha !

If he wants me to like him.. he must buy my endless grapes.

and anyways Produce is cheap.. only thing "expensive" I get is raw nuts which aren't all that expensive.. I'm just cheap.



I win .

::Does gay dance::

my find of the week....diet green tea with citrus - the large bottles are $10 for 10 at Publix!!!  i fill smaller bottles from them to take to work.

Like someone else said, it's cheaper to just buy the packets of green tea.
Also, you don't get the health benefits from green tea in those pre-made drinks... It's not true green tea.

www.hillbillyhousewife.com has some excellent tips on cheap and nutritious meals - as well as menus and shopping tips.

Original Post by alibuch:

my find of the week....diet green tea with citrus - the large bottles are $10 for 10 at Publix!!!  i fill smaller bottles from them to take to work.

Like someone else said, it's cheaper to just buy the packets of green tea.
Also, you don't get the health benefits from green tea in those pre-made drinks... It's not true green tea.

 I never thought of those little packets!  thanks!

I know that they are not nutritious in any sense and they have aspartame, but i really like it!!  anyone make their own "real" green tea??

Original Post by kathygator:

www.hillbillyhousewife.com has some excellent tips on cheap and nutritious meals - as well as menus and shopping tips.

KG - I love that site too! :)

Original Post by lilreenz:

Original Post by alibuch:

my find of the week....diet green tea with citrus - the large bottles are $10 for 10 at Publix!!!  i fill smaller bottles from them to take to work.

Like someone else said, it's cheaper to just buy the packets of green tea.
Also, you don't get the health benefits from green tea in those pre-made drinks... It's not true green tea.

 I never thought of those little packets!  thanks!

I know that they are not nutritious in any sense and they have aspartame, but i really like it!!  anyone make their own "real" green tea??

This is what i do... It is easy on the pocketbook and the environment, as well as calories.

Buy a box of green tea packets and a reusable bottle like a nalgene or whatever. Brew the tea and put it over the ice in the reusable container.  I have one with a lid and take it everywhere with me .  Then I alternate throughout the day between iced green tea and plain water. 

Box of green tea..approximately $3.00 for ten individual dry tea bags depending on the brand.

I don't know if you have a Kroger in your area, but they have great sales weekly. Make sure you shop the ads, and don't stick to a particular brand of anything.

Oh, also, for each bag you bring yourself, they take $0.05 of your total purchase. Not much, but every little bit helps. And it's a great way to recycle!

Grocery sale is stock up time for me but only if its something I know I eat continuely. 

Our sales start on Wednesdays (dont know if thats country wide) so when the items have relatively shorter shelf life (milk, certain produce, etc) I will buy them Wednesday in a normal quanitity and head out Monday or Tuesday before the sale ends to buy again for the following week. 

It may sound like effort but its natural for me to go when the sales start and then if its ending possibly go back and restock on those shorter life items.

Went grocery shopping this weekend and spent $138 on the exact same stuff that we used to get for about $90.  Wow!