How to Lower Your Grocery Bill

If you're looking here, chances are, you're stressing over money. So, first things first... lets take a breather... Ahhh. Now, that's better. One of the most important things that you can do to save money is to find a store that normally offers the best deals. Try to do all of your shopping at only one or two stores instead of running all over town burning gas. Personally, I use Kroger. If you have a store that offers a discount membership program... do it! You'd be surprised how much it can help. And cut down on eating out. Only eat out on occasions - maybe once or twice a month tops.

Think about how often you get paid. The best way to save money, is to stay away from places that make you want to spend! Only go shopping once per pay period. For example, I get paid every two weeks, on a Friday. Pay day is shopping day, so, when I get paid I have to buy enough groceries to make 14 dinners for 5 people, 14 breakfasts for 4 (Hubby doesn't eat breakfast), 9 quick lunches for 3 (the oldest two kids are in school) and 5 lunches for 5. Don't just go to the store for whatever looks good. Plan out your meals, this will save you TONS of money!!! You get what you need and you don't have to throw things out that you never fixed... basically doing that is throwing money away! Here is what my planner usually looks like starting with Payday: Key: B-Breakfast, L-Lunch, D-Dinner Friday: D-Tacos Saturday: B- Waffles, Bacon; L- Noodles & Tomatoes; D-Salad, Spaghetti & Garlic Bread Sunday: B-Eggs, Biscuits & Sausage; L- Sandwiches & Chips; D-Mexican Chicken (and so on until the next payday in which I stop after lunch).

Now that I know what I'm going to fix, I can plan out what I need to buy. Take your meal agenda and a piece of paper - break down what it takes to make each thing. For example - To make Mexican Chicken I'm going to need 4 or 5 chicken breasts or 6 or 7 legs/thighs, 1 can cream of chicken, 1 can cream of mushroom, 1 bag of shredded cheese, 1 bag of nacho cheese chips, 1 can of Mexican style diced tomatoes. Do this for every meal, write it down on a sheet of paper. Now, go through your cabinets. If you have it, mark it off of your list. You don't need it!! For example, If I have cream of chicken already - I don't need it... so I mark it off. Whatever youre left with is the start of your grocery list. Add your normal extras. For example, Hubby and I drink soda. We go through about a 24 pack in a week, so I know that I need to buy (2) 24 packs. The kids love goldfish snack crackers - So they each get a bag/box of their favorite flavor. When doing this, also make a note out to the side stating how much you plan on spending on this item... shoot a dollar or so higher on a few items like meats... you'll realize why later on.

*Example - Hot Dogs - 4.00 Spaghetti Sauce - 2.00 Hamburger Meat - 10.00

Add up your totals - Mine for 2 weeks usually runs about 150.00, if yours runs higher than you expected, take your most expensive meal - and bring it down a notch.

Example - If you planned on having steaks - shoot for pork chops instead. Also, make sure that you note out what cleaning supplies, household items that you need - if you have a dollar store, dollar tree, deals, etc - shop for those things here.

Go through the paper and clip coupons. Take the ones you need with you, stash the rest for your next shopping trip. (Its always a good idea to pull out your coupons and see whats on sale when making your meal agenda - work around whats cheap!) You can also go on sites like shortcuts.com that allow you to load coupons onto your shopping card. Now its time to get ready to go to the store!

If at all possible - leave the kids at home or at grandmas. We all know that our kids start begging like homeless folks when they get into a store... which causes you to spend more money on their wants... just eliminate that problem.** Now that you're at the grocery store - focus on what you need and look for the best deals. Name brand doesn't mean its better - you're paying more for the packaging is all!!! Buy the store brand, its just as good - SOMETIMES ITS BETTER!!!! Stay away from frozen dinners and frozen pizzas - if you need a quick meal, try something like chili dogs, tacos, etc... its sooo much cheaper!!! If your store offers hamburger meat in a roll(like sausage) - its usually cheaper, and it stays fresh longer. Need sandwich meat - pick up a cheap boneless ham and carry it over to the in store deli - they'll slice it up for you for free - you can save A LOT of money doing this. Get only what is on your list!!! Now, remember how I told you to write out the price to the side of your items - keep track of how much your saving on your items *Example- Hot Dogs - 4.00 - 3.00 = 1.00 I planned to spend 4.00, but I found a better deal at 3.00, so I saved 1.00. This doesn't seem like much... but it adds up quick!! After your shopping is complete... add up how much you've saved.

When you hit the checkout lane - use your coupons, price match, buy one get ones, shopping card and watch the savings tally up. Take your groceries home and tape the receipt to the fridge. It makes you feel proud to know that you're saving money!!!

A Few Tips:

Make sure to tell your family (kids especially) that what is in the house has to last until the next pay day and when its gone, its gone. You'll find that though it may take a few times of them running out of their favorites - soon, they'll stop wasting - this also leads them to eat their regular meals better (breakfast, lunch and dinner). They'll wait a little longer for supper to be done in order to have goldfish for tomorrow!

At first, my kids had a problem - yours may too - they thought that off brand meant it wasn't as good - take what they normally dig into (cereal) and put it in another container (ziplock bag, plastic pitcher) - they'll never know the difference and if they ask why... just tell them the bag ripped when you were putting it up... you can also take the name brand boxes and bags and put the store brand into them. Use canisters to put cookies into and just tell them they're chips ahoy. It all tastes the same.