Where to Find the Best Cheap Bread Bargains

I'm an Oroweat snob and until a few years ago, didn't think anything of spending $4 for a loaf of healthy wheat bread. With the rising cost of groceries and my husband's ever shrinking paycheck, those $4 loaves were a luxury I couldn't just afford to buy twice a week anymore.

Baking one's own bread is one way to lower the cost of your groceries. However, for those families who don't have the time to bake nor the right equipment, there are other places to go searching for cheap bread bargains.

Watch the specials at your grocery store

If you are a daily shopper such as myself, you'll eventually come to discover that certain bread products go on sale on a fairly regular, predictable cycle. At my local market for example, Oroweat breads usually go on sale every other week at a price of two loaves for $4. When the bread goes on sale, I always buy enough to see me through the next sales cycle.

Watch the discounted bakery racks

For in-house bagels, donuts, cakes, English muffins, and hoagie rolls, these are usually moved to a cart in the rear of the store where they are discounted for a quick sale. These discounted bakery products are set out in the early morning and marked down 50% of the original value.

Dollar stores

My local dollar store sells day old Oroweat breads, English muffins, and bagels for $1 a package, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's worth checking at your local dollar store to learn if they offer the same cheap bread bargains.

Discount food outlets

Most communities have a discounted food outlet or grocery store that sells food nearing the expiration date. These discount food stores are another great place to find cheap bread and bakery products.

Bakery Thrift Stores

My mom used to call these shops the "day old bread" stores and that's exactly what a bakery thrift store is all about. These stores sell cheap bread, bakery goods, and packaged pastry products that have been pulled off the shelf just that morning. Most of these places offer weekly specials and extra discounts on certain days of the week.

To make the most of these cheap bread sales, it helps to have a little bit of freezer space. Bread can be frozen in its original packaging for up to three to four weeks without any change in quality. The only exception to a bread's "freezability" is that bread wrapped in crinkly cellophane wrap or paper sleeves can not be frozen "as is" and must be transferred to a different type of packaging.

When it comes to flavor and texture, there really isn't much difference between a loaf of bread that's one day old versus a loaf that's two days old. When it comes to savings however, the difference is huge.