Grocery strategies

Avatar for sohappilyme
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Grocery strategies
14
Thu, 08-28-2008 - 10:03am

I'm just wondering how you guys handle grocery shopping. Do you buy what's on sale at your regular store or shop around?

We may a monthly trip to Walmart to stock up on canned goods (which are up to 60% off our grocery store prices, but even the ones that are pennies cheaper still represent a savings!)

I go to a butcher for most of the meat. I'm still amazed that it's SO much cheaper yet the quality is incredible! They have 80/20 chuck (my ground meat of choice) for $2.69/lb and it's now $4.99/lb at the grocery store! Boneless, skinless chicken is barely over $2/lb. They have those huge packages available, but for now I'm sticking to smaller purchases. (I don't know that I can really use everything in those big packages anyway, as I'm a bit squeamish about raw meat). They've also got bulk items such as large containers of gravy mix -- for $4 I get the same amount of mix as I would from $15 of those individual packets!

We have a garden and put up a lot of veggies throughout the summer, which amounts to nearly free food.

Then we use the regular grocery store to fill in the blanks and buy sale items and use coupons.

I was just curious as to what the strategy was for everyone else -- it never hurts to learn a new trick! =c)

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Goal: Debt free by January 2010 so we can build our dream home!

Sarah

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Avatar for sohappilyme
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 08-29-2008 - 12:44pm
Meal planning makes an amazing difference. Everything works better when the meals are planned...I'm only half in the habit of it. I need to work on that!
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Goal: Debt free by January 2010 so we can build our dream home!

Sarah
Avatar for sohappilyme
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 08-29-2008 - 12:44pm
Yes, sadly, I just looked and the closest one is nearly 3 hrs away.
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Goal: Debt free by January 2010 so we can build our dream home!

Sarah
Avatar for sohappilyme
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 08-29-2008 - 12:46pm
Dried beans have really gone up! I can't believe that they're $3 a bag or more! I get black-eyed peas a lot and they have DOUBLED since last January, when the regular price was 69c a bag (they were on sale for 25c w/ the holiday).
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Goal: Debt free by January 2010 so we can build our dream home!

Sarah
Avatar for sohappilyme
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Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 08-29-2008 - 12:47pm
Fresh fruit is so expensive, too. My kids love it, but I can blow $20 on it and they'll be finished with it by the end of the day, LOL. At least it's good for them (and thank goodness for bananas!)
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Goal: Debt free by January 2010 so we can build our dream home!

Sarah

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