Kitchen

[depglass]

This is a tiny thing, but I'll mention it anyway. Our market grinds their own meat, in packages slightly above one pound by a quarter or a third of a pound. I always just used the entire amount for my recipes, but now I lop off the extra, put it into a sandwhich bag and squish it down to a hamburg patty. I soon accumulate enough for a "free" meal of hamburgers.

[Dawnie]

I take the Publix ad, here in FL, to Walmart for BOGO's. Prices are cheaper than Publix. Walmart allows up to 4 pieces (bogo x 2). I circle it in the ad and show the cashier. Watch the weight, sometimes Pulbix limits to weight. Ex: 10-12 oz box of cereal. Works well for me!

[Beebee2]

I don't know if this will help you or not, house cat, but someone may find it useful! It's new to me because I was given a smart phone for Christmas. I was perfectly happy with my cell phone but the family wanted more for me, and I'm so happy they did because of APPs. One of my favorites is called "Tote Bag" and it's for shopping. I'm still learning how to make the best use of it, but it is changing my way of shopping and making the process much easier and more efficient. It allows me to categorize everything, so I have an entry for everywhere I shop, including my online sites. And on each entry I can have categories of products I buy at that particular place, so that I'm easily reminded of what I get where. As well as a continual list of basic staples I can add one-time or occasional buys to my list as needed,and then edit the list as needed. Because I shop at a variety of places within about a ten mile radius, It is really convenient to check my list whenever I'm in a given neighborhood. We are Prime Subscribers on Amazon, too, and have been enjoying many of those benefits, too, including subscription services for some products we receive at lowered cost and no shipping charges on a regular basis. As long as they continue to be such a good deal, we'll continue to subscribe. The added advantage with the use of a smart phone and the "Tote Bag" App (and there are several shopping APPs available) is that it's easy to forward the info via smart phone to other family members phones so that they, too, can help with the shopping. The Girl Scout motto "Be Prepared" continues to be the best advice for taking the drudgery out of routine work, I think. Whether it's school teachers with their lesson plans, interviewers with their research, salesmen with their info blurbs, or shoppers with their well-planned needs/wants, lists, and places, the same guidelines apply. Be well organized and the going will be much easier. I know because I used to treat it all casually and just kind of make it fit in whenever I could; that worked until the family and the responsibilities grew. And now that I'm in a different stage of life, I find that I appreciate all the help I can get. And there are a lot of good tips in this thread. Sorry about the "no paragraphs" here. I also received an iPAD for Christmas and I'm using it to post. Apparently the PC is the way to go for ideal formatting, not the IPAD.

[curlywhitedog]

On 2/17/2014 gazelle77 said:

On 2/17/2014 curlywhitedog said:

On 2/17/2014 Bungo said:

Lots of good buys at the Dollar Tree.

I so agree. Just before Christmas I walked into my Dollar Tree to find a display of 32 oz containers of College Inn chicken broth. After getting over my initial shock and checking the expiration dates I loaded my cart with everything they had on the display (about 10 I think) and used them all within the 2 months I had them. Went back for more last week and although they no longer had the College Inn brand, they did have another brand, one I never heard of, so I picked one up to try it and it was every bit as good as the College Inn was. My local Stop & Shop wants $1.89 for their 32 oz store brand of chicken brother which is no better than the Dollar Tree brand. I also buy Libby brand veggies at the Dollar Tree which are always .79 a can. It's hit or miss a lot of the times which is why I stock up when I can. Last month they had cans of Progresso Soups and I stocked up then as well. Even on sale you can't get Progresso Soups at a buck a can.

I also shop in bulk at Costco and BJ's. I'm fortunate to have a lot of kitchen pantry storage as well as a standing freezer in the garage and lots of space in the basement too but nothing lasts forever so I'll only buy things in bulk that won't spoil if stored for an extended period of time. The initial cost of bulk buying is high but the long term savings are worth it.

Maria

Maria the sodium content on those can be very high. I would also be concerned with MSG in it( often times disguised under other names other than MSG.) Sometimes a good deal may not be a good deal for your health.

Nice of you to be concerned gazelle. I didn't need the reminder but nice of you to offer it to me anyway. Happy Shopping...

Maria

[piperbay]

All great ideas mentioned but here's one that will help you spend less. Bring cash. I find when I do, I tend to be more selective in what I'm throwing in the cart.

[Lovely]

Shop the perimeter of the store.

[Ibby114]

I have several food stores en route to/from work, so I check the 'loss leaders' in the circulars each week. When an item I use regularly is marked down to a crazy low price I buy !!! A poster mentioned Progresso soups never being $1 a can? Often it is- and not just the vegetarian variety.

The circular sales can be misleading- you still need to check the price per 'unit measured' to make sure it's the best deal. Often it isn't!

Coupons... only for items I use! But the whole coupon 'thing' is really too time consuming. The coupons that spit out when you're paying for your food? They're much more useful since it's based on the current items purchased!

I also concentrate on the perimeter of the store, always checking the bakery reduced area. My stores mark items down 30-50% the day prior to the 'sell by' date. Store baked breads are still yummy fresh and less expensive than the bagged stuff!

Costco is great for items I use regularly- I generally don't buy their produce because half goes to waste. For a period of time my daughter ate 5 or 6 apples each day- then it was okay. We've been on a banana kick lately- so I'll buy them as well. Anytime I bought strawberries or grapes- that's all I ate for 2 days straight!

I'll have to give Aldi's another try! It's about 30 minutes from my house- not in a direction I usually drive. Since they're related to the Trader Joes family I assume the produce is inferior since my Trader Joes has the most beat up looking produce. I guess they each have their own niche!

If I happen to go to the store hungry, I'll buy a pound of unsalted nuts and munch on some while shopping. It's a good protein kick and it keeps me from buying anything impulsive (other than the nuts!).

I won't buy food from dollar stores, 'lot' type stores - etc. You never know how long it's been sitting around. Or why it went to a 'lot' route in the first place!

[magicmoodz]

On 2/17/2014 piperbay said:

All great ideas mentioned but here's one that will help you spend less. Bring cash. I find when I do, I tend to be more selective in what I'm throwing in the cart.

Oh, I just started doing this, too! I have to be much more cognizant of what is going in my cart when I only have a certain amount of cash in my pocket!

[house cat]

On 2/17/2014 Beebee2 said: I don't know if this will help you or not, house cat, but someone may find it useful! It's new to me because I was given a smart phone for Christmas. I was perfectly happy with my cell phone but the family wanted more for me, and I'm so happy they did because of APPs. One of my favorites is called "Tote Bag" and it's for shopping. I'm still learning how to make the best use of it, but it is changing my way of shopping and making the process much easier and more efficient. It allows me to categorize everything, so I have an entry for everywhere I shop, including my online sites. And on each entry I can have categories of products I buy at that particular place, so that I'm easily reminded of what I get where. As well as a continual list of basic staples I can add one-time or occasional buys to my list as needed,and then edit the list as needed. Because I shop at a variety of places within about a ten mile radius, It is really convenient to check my list whenever I'm in a given neighborhood. We are Prime Subscribers on Amazon, too, and have been enjoying many of those benefits, too, including subscription services for some products we receive at lowered cost and no shipping charges on a regular basis. As long as they continue to be such a good deal, we'll continue to subscribe. The added advantage with the use of a smart phone and the "Tote Bag" App (and there are several shopping APPs available) is that it's easy to forward the info via smart phone to other family members phones so that they, too, can help with the shopping. The Girl Scout motto "Be Prepared" continues to be the best advice for taking the drudgery out of routine work, I think. Whether it's school teachers with their lesson plans, interviewers with their research, salesmen with their info blurbs, or shoppers with their well-planned needs/wants, lists, and places, the same guidelines apply. Be well organized and the going will be much easier. I know because I used to treat it all casually and just kind of make it fit in whenever I could; that worked until the family and the responsibilities grew. And now that I'm in a different stage of life, I find that I appreciate all the help I can get. And there are a lot of good tips in this thread. Sorry about the "no paragraphs" here. I also received an iPAD for Christmas and I'm using it to post. Apparently the PC is the way to go for ideal formatting, not the IPAD.

Thanks for recommending the Tote Bag app, BeeBee2. I have apps from the grocery stores I shop at, but I'll download this one. It sounds like my kind of fun.. lol.

[sidsmom]

This isn't a grocery store specific idea, but it might help,in the long run. I downloaded this free PDF to my Kindle...gives some good ideas. I won't link it, but give you the search title for Google. Hope this helps!!

How to feed a family of 4 or more for less than $200 a month