The Secret to Saving Money on Groceries

One of the most lucrative places to save money is at the grocery store. In most families the monthly amount spent on groceries is their second largest expense, exceeded only by their mortgage payment. Unlike many of our monthly expenses we have some control over how much or how little we spend on groceries. There is not a lot you can do to change your monthly car payment or electric bill, but with a little effort the amount you spend on groceries can be drastically reduced!

To be effective at saving money on groceries it is important to know what constitutes a good price for the items you routinely buy. Just because an item is on sale does not insure that it is a good price. Even items that are on sale for buy one get one free are not always a good deal. For example, in my area a good price for my favorite potato chips is $1.50 for a 12 oz. bag. Often these chips will be on sale for BOGO but the price for the first bag is usually $3.99 which works out to be almost $1.99 per bag, or $ .49 more than my target price. Paying $ .49 more for all the items on your grocery list adds up to a lot of money over time.

The best way to know a good price when you see one is to keep a price book. A price book is a record of the items you buy and the prices you pay for them. Any small notebook can be used as a price book. Label the top of each page with the letters of the alphabet. A on the first page, B on the second, etc. Then list the items that you normally buy on the appropriate page, like apples on the A page. Then record the lowest price you have ever paid for that item. You may start out with apples for $ .99 per pound. Later, if you find apples for $ .49 per pound simply change the price in your notebook to reflect you new lowest price. The prices in this notebook become your target prices. Ideally you will never pay more than your lowest recorded price.

In order to always puchase items at the lowest price you need to buy in bulk. When you find an item that you use routinely at your target price, stock up. Buy as much of the item as you will be able to use before it will expire. If it is a non perishable item such as paper towels, buy as much as you are able to store. In my house you will find up to fifty boxes of dry pasta at any given time. Dry pasta lasts a long time and my family eats pasta about twice a week. So for us, fifty boxes of pasta is about a six month supply. Why would I buy so much pasta at once? Because I found it at my target price. Pasta is often on sale for $ .99 a pound or even two pounds for $1. Sometimes you can even find it for three pounds for $1. But my target price for pasta is four pounds for $1, or $ .25 a pound. When I find it at this price, I stock up. It may be months before it is on sale for such a good price again. But don't buy fifty boxes of pasta for your family if it will expire before your family eats it.

Be creative in finding places to store your bulk purchases. A garage or basement are obvious starting places. Don't overlook unconventional places though. Think under the bed or on the top shelf of a clothes closet. Look around and you can find some space. It will be money in your pocket if you do!

Using your price book and buying items in bulk at your target price will cut your grocery bill dramatically and will change they way you shop. Most people buy only the items they will need for the week. Perhaps they buy a roll or two of paper towels, a box of cereal, some pasta and a jar of spaghetti sauce, and whatever else they might need during the week. This old way of shopping costs you too much money! In shopping this way you are buying items at whatever price the grocery store decides to charge. By knowing your target prices from keeping a price book, and by buying in bulk, your whole way of grocery shopping will be different. You will no longer be thinking about what items you need to buy for the week, you will be thinking about what items that I use are available this week at my target price. You might be all set with toilet paper and soda from finding them at a great price last week. This week you might be stocking up on butter and frozen vegetables. You are no longer shopping for supplies for the week, you are shopping to keep your pantry stocked with items your family uses at their lowest prices. You become in control of the prices you pay. No longer will you blindly give the grocery store two to three times more than your target price. Suddenly you will find it almost impossible to pay $2.99 for cream cheese when you know that in the past you have bought it for $ .69!

Saving a lot of money on groceries really is possible. Start a price book today and you can decide how much you will pay for groceries!