How to Slash Your Grocery BIll

Everyone wants to know how to save money. Especially, if you could save on something as essential as food. While some people are content to eat dried beans and rice seven days a week, I needed some variety. I began to research and found there are hundreds of sites devoted to teaching you how to save money while grocery shopping. Unfortunately, some of those sites liked to charge to do it. It is actually common sense; however, for years we have been taught the same thing. Make a list and get what is on that list, and only what is on that list. We were wrong! Why pay full price for something just because you do not have it in your pantry?! Because, that is what we were taught. Now, we need to learn a different way to create lists and shop for groceries.

The first and the best way to save money on food is to use coupons. Coupons are like free money that comes in the Sunday paper each week. The entire essence of what I have learned is to use coupons. Clip everything that you know you will use, clip those that you might use, and clip those that you would use if the items were free or pennies. I started out with one paper a week and quickly went to 2 when I discovered the secret to saving money. Start how ever you are comfortable, and progress from there. You would also need to develop some method to organizing them. There is plenty of ways to do it, from the standard coupon sorter to a 3-ring binder with clear inserts to keep the coupons. Do whatever works best for you.

Once you have the coupons, you are ready for the shopping! The best part, in my opinion. Pick up the sales paper and check out what is on sale. Sounds similar to what you are doing now? Do you then add the coupons to the mix to make each item 50 to 75% off? That is the single best way to save money on your grocery bill. If the item is 1.00 and is B1G1 (Buy one, Get one free) and you have a coupon for 50 cents off 2, then you just paid 50 cents for something you would have paid 2.00 for if it was on your list and was full price. That is instant savings of 1.50 or 75%! If you have 2 of those coupons and you purchase 4 of the items, you will have essentially gotten 4 for the price of one! Even better, some stores will automatically double the coupons (every store is different)! So check your stores policy on coupons before you shop! If your store doubles coupons that are under 60 cents, you will have just purchased the items for free!

The next way I have found to save money is not being brand specific. Meaning, do not get the name brand items just because they are name brand. At the same time, check the price difference before always grabbing the store brand. Sometimes, with the sale the store has and the coupons the name brand is cheaper. Pay attention to how your family reacts to the store brand to see if you need to stock up on the store brand when it is on sale.

I only shop places that have B1G1 free specials. That has worked the best for me, and I can see the savings instantly. These types of places will also put meat on special so we stock up. We eat A LOT of chicken, so I buy whole chickens 2 at a time. With a little research, you can butcher them yourself and save up to 65% instantly. Purchase a vacuum sealer to separate out large portions into family-sized ones. Not only will you save money, it will also keep the meat more fresh than if you put the original package in the freezer. Purchase cheaper cuts of meat and tenderize to save on this high-cost item. Your crock pot can be your friend. By cooking the cheaper meats for longer you will make them tender like the expensive ones.

The last way I have learned to save money on my groceries is to stock up! By stock up I mean clean out the hall closet because you will need that too! This was the hardest part of the whole deal to get my husband to understand. Grocery stores follow a pattern for what they put on sale. Every other week is Pepsi products, in between is Coke. Generally, what is one sale this week will be on sale sometime in the next 6 weeks. So you need to stock up on the basics while it is on sale. In our house it is sugar, baking mix, flour, pasta and sauce, Coke, snacks for the baby, diapers, cereal, juice, etc.. you get the picture. So when Coke is on sale we get 4, it is usually four for 11.00. Flour, sugar, baking mix usually go on sale around the holidays. When cereal is B1G1 we get 4 and have a coupon for each one. So, instead of paying $4 for one box we pay $4 for 4 boxes! You can see how that would add up!

The best way I have found to make your spouse to understand the stockpiling is to prove it. When we had wheeled out 2 FULL carts of groceries and filled the car, I had already checked the receipt. When he had loaded the car, and we were leaving, he finally asked ' What was the damage?'. I was delighted to be able to look at him and say '$144.94, with total savings of $95.89'. When his jaw hit the steering wheel, I think he was convinced! We got $240 worth of food for almost half price. That was my first trip. February 9, 2010. As of today, February 26, 2010 we have not been back to the store. We have made short trips to the mini mart for fresh milk and bread.