How to Save Money on Groceries

We're a family of 3; our daughter is almost 10. We budget about $200 per month for groceries.

"What?!? How can you spend only $200 per month on groceries when you can easily drop $50-$75 each time you go to the store? And usually, that does not even cover the entrees," you ask with much skepticism?

For starters, we buy the majority of our groceries once every 4 weeks. I understand this is one of the hardest ideas for the average family to grasp. But other than refills on staples such as bread and milk, we buy all of our groceries once per month. And the bill is about $200. Add in 2 more trips for the above-mentioned bread, milk, and occasional treats. Now the budget is closer to $225. Still not bad for a small family.

Here is how we do it.

Rule #1
Stay away from brand names if possible. Brand names are almost always more expensive than the generics. Most major super market chains now have their own generic brand. For most items, we cannot taste or see a difference. This is especially true once you have been using that item for a while. Look at the prices just to be sure you are getting the better deal, though. Sometimes the brand names are on sale at a lower price than the generics or store brands.

Rule #2
Stay away from prepared meals and pre-cooked entrees. Sure, they're more convenient when you're really busy. But think of the money you are saving when you spend the 30 minutes preparing the meal yourself. If you are buying meat, buy family size packages. Look at the price per pound and the total price. I avoid any package of meat that is much more than $10 total. I can find tasty beef, pork and chicken in family size packages for $5 - $10. Usually that is more than one meal. Our regular freezer will hold this amount when carefully packed. Either divide the meat when you get home and put into meal size portions to freeze, or divide it as you use it.

Rule #3
Eat healthy. Sounds simple but high calorie, fattening, and sweet foods are more expensive than natural foods. We buy a lot of fresh produce and frozen vegetables. As a rule, we do not buy potato chips on every grocery trip. If we are planning a party or an outing, we will get them, but they are not part of the monthly needs.

Rule #4
Prices-constantly look at prices. Don't add everything up as you go, unless you want to really spend a lot of time in the store (not my favorite pastime.) But look at the prices. And buy the item that is cheapest if it is what you need. Cheese is a great example of this. My wife selects the cheese. She says I always get the more expensive ones. Must be some kind of cheese buying gift that she has. That's okay, though. I select all the meat.

Rule #5
Coupons are good only if a) you would buy the item anyway and b) the total price, discount included, is cheaper than the generic brand. True coupon clippers tell me I am missing a bunch of savings. However, coupons are usually not printed by the stores but by the manufacturer. So I would have to buy the brand name item to get the savings in coupons but it usually does not match the savings of buying the store brand.

Rule #6
This rule is actually a bunch of little rules for buying on a family budget. Sodas are usually more expensive than other soft drinks-drink mixes are the best deal for the money. Buy the ingredients to make pancakes instead of the microwave ones-it's cheaper and tastes much better! Do the kids like popcorn? Again, buy the bags of corn that you have to pop on the stove in oil (it's really not difficult) instead of the microwave kind. Make sandwiches for the kids' lunches instead of the pre-packaged kid lunches. A few extra minutes spent on the night before a school day saves money.

Rule #7
Buy what you need, but make sure you need all that you buy. You need coffee. Does it have to be flavored coffee in the annoying little bag? You need dill pickles for hamburgers. Do you need three different shapes-the whole pickles, the hamburger dills and the sandwich slices? You need oranges. Do you need the large oranges that are almost $1 each or could you get by with the smaller ones that are a dozen for $1.50?

Rule #8
Don't buy cleaning supplies at the large super markets. Go to the dollar stores for these items. You could save up to 50%.

See? It's not that difficult once you learn to live within a budget and decide with how much you can be satisfied.