Frugal Living Tip: Groceries

The Grocery Store – this is definitely one place where lots of money can be saved. In order to save money on groceries, you need to plan your shopping trip, use coupons, and meal plan. Below is a step-by-step guide to follow to make the most of your grocery shopping and save money!

Create a budget for your grocery shopping.

Whether it’s one hundred dollars of three hundred dollars, it’s important to not go over that amount. Be sure to bring a calculator to the store to keep track of your expenses. A good rule of thumb is just put the price on the tag in the calculator and watch that total then you’ll end up saving more at the end once you use your coupons and special discounts. Be sure to add everything into the calculator so there are no surprises at the checkout counter!

Before you get going into saving money tips at the grocery store, think about how often you like to shop. Do you like to shop each week, daily, twice a month, once a month? Determine this before going forward. If you like to shop once a week, take the total amount for groceries that you have budgeted for the month and divide that by the number of weeks in that month. That is how much you can spend at the store each week.

If you have two hundred dollars a month for groceries, and four weeks in the month, you have fifty dollars a week for groceries. Another tip: if you have fifty dollars to spend and only use forty-five dollars, take the extra five dollars and put that into savings. Don’t save it to buy more groceries or think that you can go get a burger and fries. Be frugal and save it!

The next step is to make an inventory of all the groceries you currently have.

Go through your pantry, freezer and refrigerator and list what you have in stock. If you can do this on the computer, it’ll be helpful to update regularly. Create three columns: Item, Amount, and Purchase.

Put a list of all the products you have in the “Item” column and how many of each item you have in the “Amount” column. The “Purchase” column is where you can place a check mark when you run out of the entire item or you get very close to being out and you need to pick it up the next time you go shopping. Keep this list near the pantry or cabinet where you have all your groceries. Make the same type of list for your refrigerator and freezer as well.

Another step is to clip coupons.

I recommend having the Sunday paper delivered to your house each week. In the long run, you will be saving a lot more than the subscription price is worth. Take the time to clip coupons and create a good system for you for sorting them. Be sure to also check to see if a store doubles coupons. You save even more when stores do that for you.

You can also print coupons on your computer. Sites like Coupons.com and CouponSurfer.com are always updated with the latest coupons that are available. Just be sure to check your store’s policy and see if they accept printed coupons.

Join your grocery store’s frequent shoppers club.

Most are free and you get bonus coupons and deals by having the card when you checkout. With the way stores can keep track of what you purchase each time you visit them, they will begin to send you coupons based on your past purchases and when you checkout, they will print you off extra coupons for you to use on your next trip.

Create a grocery list before leaving the house.

Now that you have a list of deals, clipped coupons, a frequent shopper’s club card and a list of what you need from the store, it’s time to sit down and put it all together. Look over everything on your list, go ahead and get coupons ready and make sure you know exactly what you are going for while at the store. Going to the store without a list is detrimental to the entire process of living frugally.

Now that you are at the store, take your time. Never shop on an empty stomach – this will prevent some impulse purchases.

Read the sale ad and the tags on the shelf carefully- then compare prices to save the most money.

A good rule of thumb is to have a calculator or extra paper to determine what your best deal is. Have the ad from the paper as well to check out any special deals that are going on. Some stores have listed in their ads if you buy ten of these certain products, you will get three dollars off at checkout. The important thing with this is to look at the list carefully. If you need the products listed and they are cheaper than their counterparts, then it is worth it to get all those items.

Another thing to consider deals with the frequent shoppers club card. All over the store there will be signs stating that with your card, this item is “Buy 10 for $10.” So each item is one dollar each. For that particular item, this may be a good buy. But if you take a look at the generic item right beside it that is regularly priced at eighty-nine cents each, that is the better deal to go with. Don’t always be fooled by the signs.

Furthermore, “Buy 10 for $10″ could be misleading. You might not have to purchase 10 to get the sale price. With your card, you might be able to save a certain amount on each, regardless of how many you purchase. This is why you must read carefully to fully understand the sale.

Ever been told it’s better to by the family size of an item?

Don’t be fooled here either. When you see that you can purchase a family size box of granola box where you get thirty-six granola bars for five dollars, you might think that’s a good deal.

But then you see that you can get one box of granola bars with ten bars in each box for one dollar each. If you do the math, you can either get thirty-six granola bars for five dollars or get fifty granola bars for five dollars.

While this might be the case here, in other places, it’s more beneficial to purchase the family size. For example, frozen French fries. For one, these can be frozen so even if you are single, these will last awhile. If you look at the smaller bag of fries, you might get fifteen ounces for $1.99, but you can purchase the family size of forty-five ounces for $2.99 so for one dollar more, you get thirty more ounces.

When buying groceries, in most cases, buying generic is the exact same as buying the name brand product.

Try it and see if you don’t notice a difference or lack thereof. Generic is usually approximately thirty percent cheaper than name brand if not cheaper.

Again, you do have to look at in-store specials and coupons before determining exactly which product to buy. You will probably begin spending longer in the grocery store than before, but if it’s worth it to save twenty percent, thirty percent or more, then it’s worth the extra time.

One other thing to consider is getting a membership to a wholesale club.

At these stores you can buy in larger quantities and save money on the things you purchase the most. You’ll save more than what you pay for the membership. It’s helpful to have a place to be able to store the extra you have on hand and possibly another freezer or refrigerator. You tend to save twenty to thirty percent when you buy in bulk and it is beneficial when you have a large family or only wish to go shopping for certain items a few times a year.

Another part of the grocery scenario is meal planning.

One reason people spend extra money eating out is they fail to plan ahead. Meal planning is key to saving money on your groceries. It eliminates the last-minute trips to the store. It eliminates the dash to the fast food drive-through. When you plan your grocery shopping list, plan your meals too,

A good tip is to pick one day a week and spend it cooking meals for the week. It’s very easy to make several casseroles and freeze them and on any given day, all you need to do is pull the casserole out in the morning and it’ll be thawed out by the time you come home for dinner, ready to pop into the oven and cook while you wind down. Think about using recipes for the crock-pot that cook all day while you’re gone (or even while you’re at home) and it’s ready for dinnertime.

Saving money on groceries can be easy, if you prepare. So let’s recap what you need to do:

1. Create a grocery budget
2. Create an inventory of what you have on hand
3. Clip coupons
4. Join your store’s customer shopping program
5. Carefully read the circular and the tags
6. When you can, buy the family size or in bulk
7. Buy generic
8. Plan your meals

If you’d like more information on how to meal plan, I have a low-cost,  easy-to-read ebook that gives you a step-by-step formula for meal planning. Check out The Household Helper’s Guide to Meal Planning for Busy Moms.

Smarter Spending

At one point in everyone’s life, someone has mentioned to him or her that they didn’t really need to purchase that new computer or video game system. That car wasn’t necessary either. Having dinner out each evening is wasteful as well.

Sound familiar? Money has a tendency to come into the bank account and be gone the same day and the owner doesn’t understand where it is all going.

A frugal person has to become smarter at their spending habits in order to put money into the bank and let it stew there for a while before spending it. A person has to think about what their purchase is going to be and whether or not it’s realistic to make the purchase now or wait until later.

Smarter spending requires thinking and planning ahead. You can’t just go to the grocery store and buy whatever. You need to make a list, find coupons, look at the sales ads and determine exactly what you are going to purchase.

Then, when you go to the store, take the time to look over and find out what your best purchase of a particular item would be. You might want to stock up on something and spend a little bit more today, but over the long run you’ll be saving money.

Smarter spending means creating a budget and allocating money to your bills, groceries, activities, (the movies, clothes, DVDs, etc.) and other things that might come up. Whether you’re paying a mortgage or renting, it’s easier to take a part of the rent or mortgage out of each check and put into savings until you need it. Planning ahead helps to make sure you aren’t spending uncontrollably.

Frugal Living Tip: Clothing

Everyone thinks they need that they need to latest and greatest when it comes to fashion. Most of the time, this just isn’t so. But if you feel that you do need to keep up to date, then be sure to shop sales.

A good tip if you want to buy name brands at well-known stores, is to find ways to get gift cards for that store and sign up for mailings to receive coupons either through the mail or your e-mail. There are many websites on the Internet where you can read e-mails, surf websites and more to earn points that will get you free gift cards for different stores.
If you feel okay with not being on the up and up, shopping at discount stores, consignment stores or Goodwill stores are good places to find good clothes at good prices. Check around and find out when they are having huge sidewalk sales. They usually mark everything fifty percent off or more.

Get a tear in the knee of your pants? Don’t throw them out! You can purchase a pack of iron-on patches for a small amount and fix the hole. If it’s a small hole, sew it up quick before it gets any bigger. Same with buttons or the seam comes undone on a shirt. Don’t throw it away, be proactive and sew it up!

Think you might have too many clothes? Not sure which ones you really wear that often? Take one day to go through your entire closet. Try on all the clothes. If they are too big or too small, put them into a pile. All the clothes that are the right size put them back into the closet.

Hang the hangers all in one direction. Once you wear something, when you go to hang it back up again, turn the hanger in the other direction. If after a month or six months, you still have items that haven’t been turned around, take all those clothes out.

You have three options (at least) when it comes to the piles of clothes you’ve just made. You can donate them, take them to a consignment store or have a garage sale to earn some extra money to save for later. If you have children, you can take the clothes they’ve outgrown and hand them down to others you know. Some moms with large families love hand-me-downs and the kids enjoy new clothes.

Learning How To Save More

Once you’ve done this and taken some time to absorb it all, it is time to learn about valuable money saving tips to help you learn to spend less. Don’t be afraid, nothing discussed here will harm you in any way. These are basically a set of guidelines created to you through the process of spending less money.

Take the list of all the places you have spent money at for the time period you kept a record. Are there any transactions that you can cut? Maybe decide that instead of stopping at the coffee shop each morning, get yourself a coffee maker and make yourself a pot of coffee each morning. Put the coffee into a thermos and take it to work with you.

If you don’t want to do that, have it to where your coffee maker makes you two cups of coffee, enough to put into a cool looking cup with a lid to carry to work. You’ll still get your coffee, but won’t be spending five dollars a day to have it. You can also purchase flavored coffee from the grocery store and flavored creamer as well.

Are you able to take your lunch to work? Instead of spending seven to ten dollars a day on lunch out, grab lunch options at the grocery store. The same can be done for dinnertime. Look at the price of buying a frozen pizza at the store and buying one from the local pizza delivery store.

The difference is at least five to ten dollars each. If you do have to eat out, whether it’s for work or pleasure, don’t be afraid to use coupons for a percentage off or a certain dollar amount off the final price. It is best to save a few dollars than to worry what people will think of you and the coupon you just used. They might even be jealous!

Look back at your list and look at how you paid your bills. Did you mail them or drive to where they needed to be paid? Many companies give you the option of paying your bills through the Internet. Not only will you be saving the money on stamps, but gas as well. Some companies offer discounts on your monthly bill for paying them online as well as some banking institutions if you utilize their bill paying service.

Take a glance at the amount spent on fuel for your vehicle. Gas prices fluctuate often without warning which can cause your expenses to rise and lower at a moments notice. Think amount your travels for a moment. Is it possible to take public transportation to work or the mall? Is carpooling an option? The goal is to cut down on how much gasoline you use and easy ways include public transportation, carpooling and walking, which is good for other reasons.

One final example is looking at how much you are spending on things like renting movies, CD’s and DVD’s. Consider a movie swap night with friends. If five or six of your friends get together and borrow each other’s movies, you get to see several movies for free.

Instead of purchasing movies each month, check out one of the services where you can rent movies online for a flat fee each month, but make sure what your paying each month is less than your usual DVD purchases each month. This is helpful if you like to watch a lot of movies all the time.

The same could be used for CD’s. Feel free to swap with friends or look into the different online services where you can download a CD at a cheaper price than purchasing one brand new. Another resource for CD’s and DVD’s is your local library. Most now offer the ability to checkout the latest movies and CD’s for you to enjoy. Membership to the library is always free.

Hopefully these few pages have given you an opportunity to evaluate where you need to cut back in order to save money and to become more “frugal” without hurting yourself financially in the long run. This is a starting point, a jumpstart to a new life.

Grocery Coupon Q&A

Where do you get your coupons?
Everywhere! I clip from newspapers and magazines, I print them online, I get them from the little machines that spit out coupons at the grocery store, and I get them with my receipt.
Also, I visit or call the manufacturer directly! One time I went to the Wyeth Consumer Products website and got 3 – $1 coupons for Advil! If you have a favorite brand, just visit their site or call their customer support number.

How do you plan to use your coupons?
When i get my grocery store circulars (I shop at 2 stores) I sit with a note pad and my coupons and plan my family meals for the week based on what’s on sale.
For example, if chicken is on sale for $0.99/lb, that will be on this weeks menu. Then, I plan the side dishes. Like if the Lipton Noodle packs are on sale and I have a coupon, you bet that I’ll get them! Once Cherios were on sale and I had coupons so I only paid $1.34 per box. Here’s the math:

* Regular price $3.89 each
* Sale Price $10 for 5 Boxes
* Coupons $3.30 ($0.55 coupons, double coupon week and I had 3 coupons)
* Final Price $6.70 ($1.34 each for 5 boxes)

Do you have any warnings for us?
Yes – read your grocery circular carefully. Remember that just because it’s in the circular, doesn’t mean that it’s on sale. Manufacturers will pay to have their product featured.
Also, read the fine print. If your store has oranges on sale 20 for $10, and you HAVE to buy 20, unless you have an army to feed, you’ll more than likely throw out more than you can consume. That’s wasting money.

What other tips do you have?
~ Sign up for your grocery store’s savings program.
~ Shop when your store does double or even triple coupon weeks. And take advantage of your store’s BOGO deals.
~ Use a coupon organizer to sort your coupons, and keep it with you at all times. I keep mine in my purse so if I make an unplanned stop at a store, I have them with me.
~ Swap coupons with your friends, family and co-workers. Once a week, get together for lunch while sharing coupons.
~ Don’t just use your grocery coupons at the grocery store. I also shop at Walmart and CVS. and they accept grocery coupons! I save alot of money here, especially on diapers and wipes.
~ Take advantage of manufacturers rebates for extra savings.

How do you use your coupons? If you have any tips, please share and leave a comment!