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asplendidtime
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| Posted: June 20 2008 at 10:26am | IP Logged
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Just wondering if you have any tips to offset the growing $ of groceries?
We're saving madly for a house downpayment, so tips would be appreciated.
TIA!
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guitarnan
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| Posted: June 20 2008 at 10:36am | IP Logged
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My friend Toni has a great blog on frugal living. She's not Catholic - she's a very devout Christian - and she's a military mom, so she offers info on military commissary sales, but there's a of great info on her site. It's far easier for me to send you there than to rewrite her tips! 
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marihalojen
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Nancy, thank you!
Wow - it is so cool to check out the commissary sales, that'll help with menu planning! I did pretty well yesterday,  if I have to say so myself! 
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Donna Marie
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I have been checking out the local fruit/veggie stands for their seconds. It does help...you just have to use them in something right away so they don't go bad...
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Donna Marie from NJ
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JodieLyn
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I can check the sales ads for our grocery stores online.. and being west coast I can even sometimes see what the next week sales are before the stores close here and if there's something I need to get I can see if it's a better deal to run to the store that night or wait for hte next day
Also search for Pantry and things like that.. I know there was a lot of tips with the pantry threads.. I save money with a pantry system because I restock when things are on sale and use from the pantry when they're not on sale.. so instead of having to plan from sale items.. I can get it so most of the food in the house was purchased on sale.
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SimplyMom
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Menu planning and maintaining a pantry are the two big tips I have.
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Darcee
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Kristie 4
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I say menu planning has helped me the most- especially having a list of possible simple meals for guests, and unexpected children guests esp.!!(yesterday I had a number of kid guests and I was glad for my big block of cheddar to make mac and cheese and veggies and dip!)
When I don't make a menu I find I am always heading out to the store for more groceries....
Having specified bean, veggie based, leftover, and soup nights are good on the wallet as well.
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mellyrose
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It helps me to plan for every meal -- not just dinners. When I plan a weekly menu, I plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks a day. I post the plan on the refrigerator so everyone knows what the plan is, which also helps my kids take care of their own snacks.
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SimplyMom
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I do menu planning for every meal and snacks as well.
We also try to consolodate shopping trips. We find the more times we go to the store the more we spend. Gas, impulse purchases -- it all adds up quickly.
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Rachel May
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I was recently thinking about this in conjunction with the general problem of overweight in America.
It made me think that maybe as a way of both reducing the grocery bill and the temptation towards gluttony, I should just serve less. I have found that if I ration something, there is always still enough, and no one goes hungry. Leftovers due to cooking too much is our biggest source of waste no matter how hard we try. Could I scale back recipes and help all of us with our eating habits?
This isn't to comment on the weight or habits of anyone here; just a thought that I've been chewing on.
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guitarnan
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Rachel, my friend Toni (blog link above) just wrote about this...they've gone to smaller portions on smaller plates.
My dh likes to take his lunch to work, and I find if I save it before I serve dinner, it actually GETS to work instead of ending up on a plate.
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Molly Smith
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Right now, we've cut down on our grocery bill by staying out of the grocery altogether . We used to do monthly or semi-monthly Costco runs and fill in the gaps with the grocery. But now I just go to Costco each week and we only eat what they have. I plan ahead and do very little impulse buying. No cookies, no goldfish, very little cereal, mostly milk, eggs, cheese, meats, produce, canned goods and breads. It's been over two months now and I definitely see a difference. There's a big Target right next door, so if I need a sack of flour or an unusual item I just run over and pick it up.
Planning ahead works great, and also I find that they will eat what I buy. If I buy goldfish, they'll blow right through it. But if I don't buy it, they don't miss it. I'd rather they just make a peanut butter sandwich or cheese quesadilla or snack on fruits/veggies anyway.
I do try to serve smaller portions without making a big deal out of it--just to sync their eyes with their stomachs and get them out of this super-size mentality of our culture. It's a challenge!
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Erin
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Molly Smith wrote:
| If I buy goldfish, they'll blow right through it. |
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Molly
I just have to know, what do you mean by goldfish? Goldfish here are small gold coloured fish that you buy at the pet shop, you certainly don't eat them 
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Molly Smith
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Erin wrote:
Molly Smith wrote:
| If I buy goldfish, they'll blow right through it. |
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Molly
I just have to know, what do you mean by goldfish? Goldfish here are small gold coloured fish that you buy at the pet shop, you certainly don't eat them |
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Oh, that cracked me up, thanks! Yes, Goldfish are small cheddar crackers in the shape of fish that I'll bet 90% of U.S. households consume. They are strangely addictive to most people, although I can't stand them.
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teachingmyown
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Goldfish!
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Jess
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We don't buy goldfish crackers either because that huge $7 or $8 box would be gone in 2 days. I have to say they are pretty good though
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Sparrow
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I definitely agree that menu planning saves a lot. If I don't have a menu planned for the week and a grocery list written up when I go in, I spend twice as much as I usually do. We also eat a lot of dry beans (well, cooked of course ), which are much, much cheaper than meat. I only buy meat if it's on sale. And I cook basically everything from scratch.
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Sparrow
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Oh, and we don't really buy snack food. Sometimes I buy a big 2lb bag of animal crackers or some Kashi TLC crackers if they're on sale. Otherwise it's just apples and carrot sticks, and I usually will make up a dozen muffins in the morning for the girls to snack on throughout the day.
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Erin
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Molly Smith wrote:
Erin wrote:
Molly Smith wrote:
| If I buy goldfish, they'll blow right through it. |
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Molly
I just have to know, what do you mean by goldfish? Goldfish here are small gold coloured fish that you buy at the pet shop, you certainly don't eat them |
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Oh, that cracked me up, thanks! Yes, Goldfish are small cheddar crackers in the shape of fish that I'll bet 90% of U.S. households consume. They are strangely addictive to most people, although I can't stand them. |
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Thank you for reassuring me, I really couldn't imagine that Americans were eating pet fish but I did want to know just what they were eating. Whew, relief.
I would agree that not buying processed snacks can really cut down the grocery bill (as well as much better for your health) In fact cutting out as much processed foods as possible is the answer to really reducing the bill and I have found for us buying monthly also helps. Maybe its because once the snacks are gone that's it the dc do without or break out the baking tins.
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Topic: Grocery Budget--Tips
