| Good evening all!!
I spend consistently about $40 weekly on the average. Some weeks there are things to stock up on and others there are just perishables to buy, making the total lower.
1) I buy 4 newspapers a week with the best coupons in them. For me, that is the Philadelphia Inquirer at $1.75 each.
2) I belong to the Coupon Swap Club here on FC. You send in the coupons you don't want and in turn I send you coupons you will use from a list previously sent in.
3) I match up sales with the coupons I have. If Tyson frozen chicken in a bag goes on sale, and I have coupons for them, I will probably buy more than one bag. That week I will probably go over budget, but under in the long run.
4) If there is a really good coupon out there (a few years ago, Hefty had $1 coupons on their tall kitchen bags), and my store will sell them at about that price, or lower, I may even go to e-bay, and buy coupons. I have not bought tall kitchen trash bags in several years now, and have sold many, many boxes at yard sales inbetween for $1 box. And still have plenty. The same goes for deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner. I just have not paid for any in several years.
5) You can't be "brand loyal". If Suave shampoo and conditioner are free (or just about free) with coupons, why would you pay $4.59 for Pantene? If there is an allergy, or it makes your hair pasty feeling, you have a point. But, they are all basically made of the same ingredients. Even so, getting free Pantene felt wierd because I had always used the more inexpensive brands.
6) You need to plan your menu within the budget, and match the menu up to the things that are on sale during the time you will be shopping. If pasta and/or sauce is on sale, I will pick up a couple extra, and plan for one meal of pasta and sauce during that week. If corned beef is on sale, chances are that cabbage and potatoes will be also. That is what you plan to have. Buy a bigger corned beef and also plan for sandwiches, and maybe even hash.
7) Plan your leftovers. Google chicken recipes and find out how many there are using cooked, diced/shredded chicken, etc. If nothing else, put a lidded container in your freezer and "feed" it with any leftover veggies that are too small in quantity to be really saved and re-used. Make soup with those and you will not have to buy soup veggies. Don't put in potatoes as they tend to turn brown and get a "fuzzy" texture.
8) Buy in bulk (think whole turkeys, family packs of chicken breasts, a flat of blueberries). Turkeys, chickens, and whole tenderloins of beef or pork can be cut, wrapped and frozen for other meals. Bought with less manpower processing them, they are cheaper than smaller pieces. Every year, there are boxes of sweet potatoes in my store for $1.99. I buy one, nuke the potatoes, scoop out the flesh, and freeze in 2 cup portions.
9) Don't buy more than one new product to try. So the new dried box of sweet potatoes looks like it would taste good, be a quick go-to item for your pantry. If your family doesn't like it, those extra boxes will just sit in your pantry. Try one, with a coupon, and on sale. If you like it, get more, if not, you are not out a lot of money.
10) Take lunch. Pack up that brown bag. And BTW, don't buy paper bags. Get a bag you feel comfortable with at a yard sale, GoodWill stores, etc. You are defeating the purpose by throwing away a bag you had to buy, to take a lunch you made yourself. Not much, if any savings there. On top of everything else, I guarantee the lunch you pack will taste better than anything you buy. If you must "treat" yourself, decide if it needs to be once a week (Fridays are good for this), once a month (an occasion maybe?), or what, and put that money in your budget.
11) Make snacks rather than buying pre-made. You know what is in there, and have better portion control than letting your child have a bag of something. And think fruit, carrot and celery sticks you cleaned yourself, jello, pudding, pretzels. Convenience here is really costly.
12) Don't forget to look in out of the way places for things on your list. Big Lots, Walmart (the WMs here don't have produce, or fresh meat, one cold case for some lunch meat, cheese, and eggs; cereal, snacks, some bread, some canned goods, and some frozen items), Kmart (about the same as WM here), even the dollar stores. Just look at expiration dates and other quality checks (does the package look like it has been through a war?), you might not want to buy it. ACE Hardware sells tp cheap and they take coupons.
That is some of what I do to keep costs down, and be able to enjoy better quality food than I would be able to afford if I weren't always thinking, and planning ahead.
Is it time consuming? Once you get in the habit of writing down things as you run out or are about to run out, spotting and shopping those sales, cutting the coupons weekly (not just when you think about it), and matching them to the sales, the time spent is less, and the savings are greater.
Roberta is the best at it here, I will bow to her any day.
Take care - Norma
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