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Angel
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I know that shopping food sales at different stores is supposed to save money, but... how do you find time to go to more than one grocery store during the week?
I guess part of my problem is I live in the boondocks and since my dh works in the town with the grocery store, it makes far more sense for him to do the grocery shopping after work. (Actually, my other problem is that there's just Price Chopper and Wal-Mart within a 30 mile radius.) There's no way he wants to shop more than one night a week! And if I took the kids out shopping, I'd spend A LOT more than he'd spend on his own.  Plus it takes a lot of time to shop, time we need to spend on chores, school, naps, etc. Twenty minutes or so to the grocery store, and the time adds up.
So, how do you all do it? My budget is much higher than many, and while we can afford it at this point, it would be nice to be frugal.
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Angela
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JodieLyn
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When my kids were all little, we did one afternoon a week for all our errands. we'd go to story time at the library at 10:30, have lunch with others either at the park or McDonald's (the only place with an indoor play area) I often brought my own food and at McDonald's would buy something like a couple of large fries for me and the kids to share with our pb&j's. 
My kids give up naps young.. and the baby sleeps wherever so I just put that one in the sling and they sleep or not and we do our marathon shopping.
Teaching the kids good store manners without going overboard really helps. For instance, the grocery store is not the library, so they could pretend the cart was a boat or such with normal voices and say hi to every one we passed. But we didn't run around or yell. And it helped me to have consequences that could happen on the spot.. and since most often the problem was not staying with mom.. having a harness or extra cart would confine the offender and be a natural consequence of not following the rule BUT I could still finish shopping.
Walking s-l-o-w-l-y past things works better than getting to the item you want to look at and stopping. I could actually comparison shop if you move slowly but if you stop, the kids get restless.
TAKE A LIST.. you can't shop with lots of kids without one unless you want lots of things you don't need and not everything you do need.
Check the sales ads before you go. Know whats on sale at each store.
Price books are wonderful so that you can *know* which store an item is cheaper at.
Now.. kids are older, my sister lives nearby and my dh is gone for extended times less than when the kids were little so I can frequently go shopping by myself and those multiple stops that were such a marathon when the kids were all little and all with me.. is easy.
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MaryM
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Angel wrote:
| I know that shopping food sales at different stores is supposed to save money, but... |
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It only saves money if it is workable for you. It sounds like you have developed saving measures already like not shopping with everyone.
I think in your situation I might just really decide each week which store offers the best sales on most products for that week and still have hubby do one time per week. Then evaluate each week if it would be a different store. Maybe if there are a couple items really good (ones you shouldn't pass up) at a second store it might be an option to stop on an additional evening during the week just for those items. Maybe stopping for a couple things wouldn't be too bad.
I do feel fortunate that within a short distance to have 4 different stores so it is pretty easy to shop the "loss leaders" in the same week. But that won't work for everyone due to location.
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SusanJ
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I used to shop each week but only one store at a time. So I'd buy a month's worth of whatever I needed at a particular store and then hit a different store the next week. That only works if produce is equally good at more than one store or if you get produce elsewhere. Now I basically just take a day to go everywhere at once. But dh is willing to go to one of the stores for me. It saves a lot of money to send him because there is less impulse buying.
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hylabrook1
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We do the shopping a month's worth at a different store each week. Often other errands take me close to one or another store, so I"ll shop there for the specials even if it's *off schedule*. There are 2 stores about 5+ miles from home, and more than that 10-15 miles away. But they are all in places I'll be within the span of a week or two, so I'm driving all over the place for more than one reason at a time. That helps me feel better about all the driving!
Peace,
Nancy
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Willa
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My husband does most of the shopping because we are in a very rural area and he is in town (60 miles away) more than I am. We chose two stores that have good prices for what we want (WinCo and CostCo) and he basically alternates between them, one per week, and maybe once every month or so he hits both in order to stock up our freezer and pantry. We spend about $100 a week for a family of eight at home, most of them with adult-sized bodies to feed.
Sure, there are neat sales sometimes at different places but you have to factor in things like time, energy, the temptation to buy a few extras at each store and thus dilute the value of the sales, especially if your kids are with you and you are distracted. A lot of times it may not be worth it -- better to get into good habits of just stocking up on sales in your regular stores.
Every once in a while we find a great sale in a different outlet than our customary ones-- like last year our local market (20 miles away) had an enormous meat sale -- and we buy big time. That meat lasted for a good quarter year. So it's helpful to reserve a bit in the budget for those great deals.
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MarilynW
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Angela - I am going to put forward a different view from most. I personally think that my time is worth a lot of money - and although our budget is very tight, I will not shop hundreds of places to find the bargains - it destroys our rhythm and routines and peace.
How I DO control the budget is to make a 4 week meal plan including lunches and breakfasts - I then draw up shopping lists from this plan which I stick to - no impulse buys. I shop from 2 main stores - Costco biweekly and Trader Joe's weekly - and neither of these have many specials. Once a month I do Wholefoods for the food allergy products. I have set lists and my husband can easily do any of the shopping.
I am sure that I COULD cut $$s of the grocery budget, but at this moment in time it would not be worth it for our family peace.
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Becky Parker
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Willa,
I don't mean to hijack but can you tell me a bit about how you manage to feed 8 on $100 a week? I only have 5 children with one being a toddler and I spend much more than that.
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Willa
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Becky Parker wrote:
Willa,
I don't mean to hijack but can you tell me a bit about how you manage to feed 8 on $100 a week? I only have 5 children with one being a toddler and I spend much more than that. |
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Hi Becky,
We have eight total at home -- 7 children, one is at college.
These are the main things we do -- probably not original but they seem to keep the costs down:
--Buy generic rather than brand (we don't do much coupon shopping -- we don't subscribe to the newspaper)
---Buy seasonal rather than specialty -- we look for what's a bargain in the meat and produce and dairy sections.
---Stock up on sales and discounts IF we normally use the item -- for example, my husband might buy 5 peanut butter jars on a trip if they are at discount, or several family size packages of chicken. For this, it helps to have a good-sized pantry space and an extra freezer. An extra freezer is well worth the $$$ if you are raising multiple children and/or live out in the boondocks.
--Buy bulk IF (1) you really will use bulk and (2) the prices are really better. My husband finds they sometimes actually have some items cheaper in the smaller sizes. But things like flour and toilet paper etc will last and in our family cheese and such things go fast too, so we buy large sizes.
-- Don't go into stores except for regular scheduled shopping trips. When you run to the store for a couple of things it turns into five or six, most unnecessary. Or at least, that is what happens with me.
--Have an occasional frugal dinner -- leftovers or bits and pieces. It can be fun. If DH is away for dinner we usually eat much more simply. My kids usually enjoy patchwork dinners or "breakfast for dinner".
-- Figure out what your "staples" are -- what you rely on for every day -- and try to buy those far enough ahead so that you can get good prices. Also, try to find good reliable places where you can get those things. Our family's staples are things like bread, cheese, eggs, milk, flour, rice, oatmeal, beans, pasta. We do run out of milk sometimes because it's more perishable.
It is very helpful to have a few basic recipes you can vary according to season or what's available, rather than buy all the ingredients for some specialty dish and have the spices or whatever sit unused otherwise. This reminds me of how it's efficient to have a sort of palette for your wardrobe so you can get maximum mix and match. We make a lot of oriental or Mexican or pasta type dishes where you can put in different things according to what's available. This also saves running out to the store at the last minute.
And this part depends on your preferences -- we tend to avoid convenience food AND organic food. These are more expensive. We buy them occasionally, not regularly. We keep some cans of chili and things like that in the pantry -- just in case I'm sick or gone or one of the teens wants to fix himself something solid, or whatever. Sometimes we buy organic food or convenience food for a treat or if it is relatively nutritious and on sale. We don't often buy packaged treats -- usually just keep chocolate chips and cocoa, etc around to make our own goodies. We buy cereal only occasionally, if there's a good sale.
--We don't go out to eat.
There are some more threads:
Grocery Expenses
Grocery Budget or Household Budget
Oh, and I think your geographical location can be a factor -- see this thread. I don't know for sure. We live in California. We live in the mountains so we can't garden without shipping in dirt and so on, but we do have access to the California fruit and vegetable stands.
Hope this helps! When my kids were little it was hard for me to keep food costs down. We grew into economizing bit by bit. I am sure there are some areas where we could cut even further, judging by some of the frugal blogs and so on that I've seen.
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Willa
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Becky Parker
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Thanks Willa!
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Bookswithtea
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MarilynW wrote:
Angela - I am going to put forward a different view from most. I personally think that my time is worth a lot of money - and although our budget is very tight, I will not shop hundreds of places to find the bargains - it destroys our rhythm and routines and peace.
How I DO control the budget is to make a 4 week meal plan including lunches and breakfasts - I then draw up shopping lists from this plan which I stick to - no impulse buys. I shop from 2 main stores - Costco biweekly and Trader Joe's weekly - and neither of these have many specials. Once a month I do Wholefoods for the food allergy products. I have set lists and my husband can easily do any of the shopping.
I am sure that I COULD cut $$s of the grocery budget, but at this moment in time it would not be worth it for our family peace. |
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Marilyn, would you mind sharing what your average monthly is between Trader's and Costco and how many/ages you are feeding? I am reworking my plans and really like these two particular stores...
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MarilynW
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Books I will get back to you later today or this weekend. We are working on our budget and looking at bills etc later today. I can tell you that our monthly amount is higher than I would like - I don't know how Willa does it because I certainly do not do it in $100 and not on double that. The organic I do buy are a very few items - milk (which we drink very little of), yogurt and a few vegetables and fruits (especially for the new eater - I always start the babies on organic veg purees). I have given up my raw milk, grass fed beef and organic chicken - our budget is too tight. We do not buy junk food except for a big packet of potato chips for my dh from Costco. We do eat A LOT of fruit and vegetables which is not cheap. And I no longer make bread or yogurt - after baby #6 I just cannot get going on these again. But we do not waste any food and our fridge and pantry empty out VERY quickly. I am feeding 2 adults, 13 dd, twin 10 ds, ds5 - ds 2 eats very little and dd (6months) is just starting on organic veg purees. The older children eat well and are always hungry - and are not fussy eaters.
I have made my 4 week plans but have not yet made shopping lists - when I type them out I would be happy to email them to you.
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melanie
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I don't shop at a lot of different stores because I am unable to keep track of most prices in my head. 
I've not been disciplined enough to keep track consistently on paper either. There are a few things...I know what things are worth getting at the warehouse store for example, and so I try only to get those there, and there is a bakery thrift store that is kind of on our way once a week so I try to stop there. But I've also wondered how much we would save if I shopped better. I *cannot* shop for groceries with my kids. I just can't think. Frankly, I'm really overstimulated by shopping and it's all I can do to get through the trip at all...having my kids there just pushes me over the edge, though I will usually take my oldest with me. I don't mind much taking the toddler in a pack either, really. But the boys...even if they behave, they talktalktalk the whole time, . My dh will shop if I ask him too,,,but he is really bad about bringing home lots of extras too.
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Marcia
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Have you read the book Family Feasts for $75 a week by Mary Ostyn? She wrote it when she had 10 kids at home and from the picture they weren't babies. I'd say half are teenagers. I'm finding some new tips...like storing fresh ginger in the freezer.
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Bookswithtea
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MarilynW wrote:
Books I will get back to you later today or this weekend. We are working on our budget and looking at bills etc later today. I can tell you that our monthly amount is higher than I would like - I don't know how Willa does it because I certainly do not do it in $100 and not on double that. The organic I do buy are a very few items - milk (which we drink very little of), yogurt and a few vegetables and fruits (especially for the new eater - I always start the babies on organic veg purees). I have given up my raw milk, grass fed beef and organic chicken - our budget is too tight. We do not buy junk food except for a big packet of potato chips for my dh from Costco. We do eat A LOT of fruit and vegetables which is not cheap. And I no longer make bread or yogurt - after baby #6 I just cannot get going on these again. But we do not waste any food and our fridge and pantry empty out VERY quickly. I am feeding 2 adults, 13 dd, twin 10 ds, ds5 - ds 2 eats very little and dd (6months) is just starting on organic veg purees. The older children eat well and are always hungry - and are not fussy eaters.
I have made my 4 week plans but have not yet made shopping lists - when I type them out I would be happy to email them to you. |
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I'd love to see what you come up with when you are ready to share. I have been having a hard time consistently making yogurt and bread, too...Its hard to stay on top of. The minute one aspect of the schedule goes out of whack, so does my scratch cooking. 
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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JodieLyn
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Books, when I was making bread consistently what helped most was my daughter could do it as well. My mixer could knead the bread which helped.. but she was only 10 when she won 3rd prize at our fair in a bread contest.. against adults. Just with our everyday loaf. If it had to be kneaded by hand she might need some help.. but still if she can manage the rest that frees me up a lot more for dealing with other things.
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melanie
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Hmm...I think you need to share that bread recipe Jodie!
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Melanie
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Bookswithtea
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JodieLyn wrote:
| Books, when I was making bread consistently what helped most was my daughter could do it as well. My mixer could knead the bread which helped.. but she was only 10 when she won 3rd prize at our fair in a bread contest.. against adults. Just with our everyday loaf. If it had to be kneaded by hand she might need some help.. but still if she can manage the rest that frees me up a lot more for dealing with other things. |
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No had mixing excuses valid here.  I have a bread mixer. I should teach dd how to use it. She would love it and it would simplify things if someone could back me up on busy days.
Hmmmmmmmm...maybe I ought to teach someone how to make yogurt, too!
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mothering ds'93 dd'97 dd'99 dd'02 ds'05 ds'07 and due 9/10
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juststartn
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We have five stores within reasonable driving distance (one is a Wally World, three are IGA affiliates, and the fourth is a local store, it might be another IGAer).
I stock up. Seriously. When I see canned veggies on sale, I buy two or three cases at a time. When I go into the Wally World, I buy a 25 lb sack of flour, a 25 lb sack of sugar, and the biggest things of dried pinto beans and rice I can get. Those are good staples to have on hand. I do keep an eye on the per lb/per oz price for things we buy a good deal of--like sugar. I can and bake ALOT, so that is something I can go through. Around here, if I can sugar for $.40/lb, or less, it's a stock up deal.
Something to consider, is that right now, prices are rising and they are not likely to go down. I try to keep some money aside for stocking up when the stores have some really good bang-up deals. Doesn't happen often, but it needs to be there, so I can take advantage.
Simply knowing what a good price is, is vital, otherwise, you'll never really know if you are doing the best you can, with a given sale/special/coupon, or if you're being led around by the nose, in the hopes you'll buy more when you are in the store...
We do one BIG shopping trip a month, and a smaller one mid-way through (based on DH's pay cycle). We buy milk a dozen jugs at a time, and that lasts us two weeks, more or less.
I'm trying to think. Coupons do not work for me, because 99.9% of the time, I wouldn't buy the item anyway, OR the price isn't as good as the generic, even with the coupon.
We're trying to make more from scratch foods (my 9 yr old loves to make homemade artisan bread), and are certainly not eating out the way we did once upon a time...
Anyway, I don't know if that helped or not (it's getting to the point in the evening where I need to get some sleep, lol).
Rachel
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Angel
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juststartn wrote:
We buy milk a dozen jugs at a time, and that lasts us two weeks, more or less.
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Do you have two refrigerators, Rachel, or do you freeze your milk? (If that's the case, do you have two freezers?)
We could go through a minimum of 7 gallons of milk/week, but only about 3 will fit in the refrigerator at once. No room to freeze either, so... my dh ends up picking up milk at the corner store a few times a week. (The milk there is actually pretty good and decent price, all local and not ultra-pasteurized either... upstate NY is still kind of a dairy state...)
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Angela
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: shopping food sales, multiple stores
