Groceries are expensive. Period. And I never thought I’d be at “that” age to say this kind of stuff, but…I used to pay .98 for a box of generic saltine crackers and now two years later I pay almost $2 for the same box. It’s time for me to make some changes in the way I grocery shop and I’m sharing what I learn with you all. Some of these tips, tricks and principles are tried and true and others are in a test run around here but all of them hopefully show us how to save money at the grocery store.
Let me say, The Littlest Way does not apply only to our spiritual lives, it encompasses every aspect our lives. To me, The Littlest Way means doing something, anything and everything as a means to know, love and serve God. Using The Littlest Way mindset as our guide in grocery shopping can mean saving money and that money can be given to charity. Or, the more money we can save will help relieve some of the burden off the family finances; some of us are single income families with lots of kids at home all day, some are two income families paying school tuition from elementary to college and some are retired and living off less than you may be used to. Throw a medical issue, a major home or car repair into the already delicate balance of family finances and things can get messy quickly. These tips will help out no matter your financial, home or work situation.
To get started, we have to have a plan. Period. We will not be able to save ourselves anything–time or money–if we do not first have a plan. {Click Here to Share!} Our plan should include three things: a grocery shopping plan, a meal plan and a saving money plan. Let’s take each one by itself.
But first things first…let’s have an idea how much we can or want to spend. We all need some type of monetary boundary. This serves a couple of really good reasons. First, if we set a specified dollar amount and stay under it, we suddenly find ourselves with some “extra” money. This “extra” could be used to stock up on a great grocery deal for our family, purchase a couple extra items to donate, make an extra payment or a principle only payment on a loan, invite friends or family out for a special meal, use it for a date night, or open a saving account just for those weeks or months when we have a little overage. We’ll be surprised how quickly a couple dollars here and there can add up. This overage may come in handy during the holidays when we may want to give a little more to charity or need a little more to help our family through the extra expenses of the holiday season.
It’s also fun for some healthy competition between you and you. It keeps you on your toes and makes you bring your “A-Game” each time you shop. No more time and money wasting shopping trips! Let’s get started.
1. A Grocery Shopping Plan
The very first thing we need to do is see what’s on sale for the week. “But wait, I do all my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart and they don’t have weekly sales,” you may say. Hey me too! And you’re right, Walmart does not have a weekly circular that comes out with sales, but they do price match the sale ads from other local stores in our area. So the first thing we do is look over any local sale ads. Sometimes these come in the mail; mine does on Wednesday’s. They are also a part of our local Sunday paper. Start skimming those ads, especially the front and back pages for the best deals.
I’m going to use a recent grocery trip of mine for some examples.
A local grocery store had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 a pound if I bought their family size pack. I thought that sounded like a good deal so I wrote it down on my list, making a note of the sale price and the store. A couple of side notes; first, Walmart now says we do not have to have the competitor sale ad with us. I try to still take my just in case anything is called into question in my mind or the cashier’s mind.
Second, it helps to start keeping a document or a page in a spiral of prices for items we buy; this way we’ll know if something really is a good deal or not. I just started an excel spread sheet where I type in the product, price of the product at different stores based on what they have listed it for in their circular or what I have paid. Looking at my list, I can tell that Walmart usually has their chicken breasts priced $2.98 a pound. $1.99 is a great deal, so I put chicken breasts on my list to price match at Walmart. I’m getting the same sale price but only having to go to one store. I usually can price match from about two to three stores at Walmart. I get the benefit of the sale and only have to drive to one store. Win–Win!
Another example, we have an Aldi’s near by and some of my best price matches can be found there. This particular week, they had avocadoes on sale for .33 cents each!! Walmart’s price for avocadoes was $1.48 each!! So obviously avocadoes went on my list for the week. I already had the chicken on my list…I can already start to see a meal come together, can you?
This post ended up getting pretty long so I’m going to end this one here and have a Part 2 on How to Save Money at the Grocery Store next Friday.
Let me add one more thing to this post. Have you heard of Walmart’s Savings Catcher? Ah.MAA.Zing! I should be their official spokesperson for this. You can use your computer or put the app on your phone. After you shop at Walmart, take a picture of the bar code of your receipt or enter the numbers above it. Their system will search locally to see if there was a better price on something you purchased. If there was, they will give you that money on a Walmart Gift card!! Even though I price match already, I’ve missed $10.47 in the past month. If you shop at Walmart, you need to be taking advantage of their Savings Catcher Program.
Where do you do most of your grocery shopping? Large discount store, local grocery chain…
Read part 2 and part 3 of How to Save Money at the Grocery Store.
Each day there is more encouragement and even some laughs over on my Facebook page. Head over and “Like” me there for more.
Barb V says
I’m going to have to check out the Walmart app. That sounds great.
Gail Akeman says
Great article about saving money. I am going to have to share your article on my blog page on facebook.
Jenny says
So glad you liked it Gail. I can attest to it’s a good plan to have. Tonight my daughter and I shopped after being sick for a while. We didn’t price match and only had 3 little coupons, which still helped, but we did not have the results like we do when we go in there with a plan.
Judith says
I love this, thanks for sharing with us my dear!
Jenny says
So welcome Judith. Happy shopping!
Alyssa says
LOVE The new Savings app. I’ve been using it for about a month now. I use a notebook for my grocery shopping, but I haven’t been good at keeping a document of what things cost. ThANKS for the tips!
Marie says
Jenny, I so agree with the needing a plan! Great post. I enjoyed looking at your site and can’t wait until I have more time to look at more posts.
Barb @ A Life in Balance says
Wow, that Walmart Savings Catcher sounds like a great program!
Jenny says
Like I said, I should be their official mommy blogger spokesperson I love it so much! I even tell my fellow shoppers standing in line about it…and I am an introvert.
Emma says
You definitely need a plan – because if you go in there without one, you’re certain to spend more than you meant to! Looking forward to more tips!
Jenny says
Hi Emma. We have been sick with a respiratory virus for weeks and I have grocery shopped on the fly. I have spent more money for less items and had to make more trips for forgotten items! So frustrating to go in there without a clear plan. The next Grocery Saving post will be next Friday…see you then!
Lysha @ Magnolia Mom says
I am so pinning this! Great things to keep in mind.
Jenny says
Hi Lysha. I appreciate the pin. Come back next Friday for Part 2.
Michelle says
I totally appreciate you doing this for us. I did not know any of this about Walmart. But first, I need to deviate a bit and ask you about your phone. I laughed at your “I used to pay…”, with my old, pay as you go, flip phone with the tape on the back holding in the battery. I do not want a newer phone with apps and GPS, but my husband wants me to get one. Any advice before I dive in?
Jenny says
Hey Michelle. I’ve had my new phone since January and I was hesitant to move beyond my trusty, taped flip phone. I bought a Samsung Note 3 http://amzn.to/1DD8XDj. It’s big. But I also wanted something I could read on as well without having to purchase a Kindle too…plus my eyes–downhill since 40 I tell you!
I really like this phone! You mention GPS…never thought of using one. Now with Veronica playing soccer all over I use the GPS almost every weekend and love it! It’s not that I ever really got lost, just confused and this phone has helped tremendously.
Plus now that I’ve realized the money saving capabilities…hooyah! And it has a nice camera. Oh, and with Chris being gone, we’ve been able to Skype and the picture/video quality is amazing.