To put it gently, my husband could eat a horse. Maybe two horses. Okay, okay- I might be exaggerating a little bit, but you see, where most people choose a recipe that feeds five to actually feed five, I choose a recipe that feeds five to feed me and my sweet (but always hungry husband). As you can imagine, this makes the task of grocery shopping daunting, and if you add on the fact that he dislikes beans and I dislike rice (which are two of the cheapest foods to buy in bulk), it makes it seem downright impossible some days. To the ones who cower at grocery shopping and other household chores however, I say “FEAR NOT!”.
There are some simple tricks that I’ve learned, and although I am still a newbie, I am determined to find ways to cut grocery bills down, eat fairly well and healthy, and not spend the rest of my life “couponing”. I am listing a few of the tricks I’ve found to grocery shopping for you. Most experienced wives/mothers will breeze past these ideas since they’ve already put them into practice long ago, but for the ones who are still on more of a beginner stage, or are in a “money-saving” stage of life, this is for you!
*Tips and tricks to help your wallet survive the trip to the grocery store*
- If you’re at Walmart, consider switching to a grocery store like Kroger or Publix. (You can also go to multiple stores, but I find that going to multiple grocery stores unless they are right next to each other is simply not going to happen for me.) Walmart seems like it is cheaper and for certain things it is, but the benefit to other grocery stores are the manager specials, sales on meat (which Walmart never seems to have), and the shoppers cards you can sign up for. These save you WAY more than I ever thought possible, and are totally free.
- Get online. Let me use my own experience as an example. I shop at Kroger and every time I would try to use paper coupons, I would forget them, leave them in my purse as I was checking out, or realize I didn’t really need 5 jars of peanut butter to save 50 cents. Once I went to Kroger.com I found they not only had the ad for their grocery store on there, but they also had the option of digital couponing. This way you chose the coupons you wanted, digitally loaded them onto your card, and you’re done!!! No printing out coupons, no fumbling through your purse with the cashier stomping their foot in impatience. You just scan your card when you check out at the grocery store, and all the coupons you found online are added to your receipt! How convenient is that?!
- Plan out your meals and write out a shopping list. I can’t stress this enough. Every time I go to the grocery store without a list, I think I need everything. If I write it out first, I not only spend less but I shop a lot quicker!
- Budget for incidentals. This one goes along with the previous tip because I for one, KNOW I will spend a few dollars on some fun foods like chips or soda. Instead of planning my shopping trip and then getting through the check out line just to find out *GASP* I’m $10-$20 over-budget, I just plan ahead of time that I will spend a certain amount on those little fun favorites. That way I control myself within that budget without missing out on some delicious treats!
- Sides and fillers are your best friends. This may not make sense at first but stay with me. I used to go for ease, which meant one pot, one or two food items…basically as little fuss and mess as possible while still making a good meal. However, times have changed and now saving money trumps saving effort. Your basic fillers are going to be rice, beans, and pasta. Those are things that taste delicious, fill you up, and really stretch your dollar well! Ideas for sides would be bread, salad (if you’re really needing to save money, buy a head of iceberg or romaine lettuce and tear it up yourself instead of buying it pre-washed and bagged), potatoes, and depending on your taste buds, grits.
Okay… that’s it for my tips. Of course there are many more ways to eat well and save well, but for now those are my main points! Be looking for the next installment on Chronicles Of A Young Wife; I will be posting once a week! Post your own money-saving tricks in the comment section and come back soon! I’m off to cook dinner 😉
Young Wife Chronicles 