There are a few grocery stores that offer 10% off your entire bill on the first tuesday of every month. I use that day to stock up un nonperishables and it even takes an additional 10% off of sale items. I really pay attention to whats on sale that week.
This month I saved over $100 on that trip, and for the rest of the month I really just buy fruit and veg.
Two things I’ve done to save money:
Buy bulk food. WAY cheaper than packaged foods.
Buy used. Used stuff in North America is crazy cheap. You generally save at least 50% on new and often much more. Furniture, appliances, cars, clothes, books, electronics. If you can resist the urge to be the ‘first on the block’, you can save tons of money. And things are very well made these days so I haven’t had [many] horror stories about buying something used on the cheap and having it break on me right away.
Check those other supermarket ads and, if you have a Walmart nearby, they will match the prices. This helps keep costs down by buying things on sale in one location.
Your freezer is your friend. Sometimes it is worth buying the large package of ground beef and making a larger portion of (spaghetti/lasagna/whatever) and freezing the rest in small portions. You can also freeze bread, English muffins, regular muffins, etc. so don’t be shy about buying two or more if they are on sale.
For instance, Thanksgiving is coming up and turkeys will cost next to nothing if you shop right. Buy the biggest turkey you can find - it is the same amount of work to cook a large one as a small one - and then freeze the leftovers, make broth from the carcass and freeze that as well. There are only two of us in the house, and that 29lb turkey is used for weeks later in other recipes, or just for sandwiches or whatever. Thanksgiving is actually the best financial deal of the year if you plan it correctly.
For entertainment, we can’t break our one-movie-per-week habit, but got a Regal card and now get discounts - saving us about 30% per month. Also, at least in our area, we can see movies really cheaply by going earlier in the day. I know movies in theaters is probably a luxury many can live without, but for us that is our big splurge and worth cutting corners elsewhere. No matter what budget you have, you need to psychologically treat yourself to something once in awhile - it makes all the other scrimping worth it.
And don’t forget to call your cell phone/cable/internet providers to see if there are better deals available. I just saved some money by finding out my cell phone plan is not the best deal out there anymore!
The occasional garage sale is good - getting rid of crap you haven’t used in months can bring in quite a few bucks.
See if there are any elderly people in your area who need some minor repairs/housecleaning/help at a fair low price. You are doing them a favor (climbing that ladder to change light bulbs way up there) and many can indeed afford a small fee for these semi-regular visits to do things they might not want/be able to do.
Something to think about is that no matter what you want to buy or how you want to spend your money, there is probably a cheaper way to do it.
Want to go to the movies? Go to the second-run theater for a matinee and bring your own snacks (or don’t eat snacks). Total cost, a few dollars instead of the $30 you can spend for two people at the first-run theater on a Saturday night including popcorn and drinks.
Want to read books? Use your local library. The interlibrary loan system is likely to be able to get you anything you ever want to read.
Turn your heat down by a degree. Turn it way down at night, when your’e snuggled under blankets. Get a programmable thermostat (it’ll pay for itself fairly quickly) and use it.
If you have cable, consider canceling it. If you don’t want to cancel it, call up the cable company and threaten to cancel and see if they can get you a better deal on what you’re currently getting. Or downgrade your package. Same goes for your cell phone plan.
Don’t buy clothes. Your clothes are fine.
Essentially, you can analyze every single area where you spend money, and you can lessen or eliminate those costs for almost everything. Obviously you can’t do this for set costs like loan payments or whatever, and sometimes you just can’t shave anything more off a utility bill. But in general, you can make reductions all over the place. My weakness is buying coffee at coffee shops. So I bought myself a nice $10 travel mug and the expensive flavored creamer, to encourage myself to make coffee at home instead. Even buying the expensive flavored creamer, I save at least $15 weekly in coffee expenses by doing this. (I have a major coffee problem. Don’t judge.) Or if I do find myself at the coffee shop, I order regular coffee instead of an expensive latte. Yeah, it would be even cheaper to not buy the coffee at all, but my point is, you can reduce costs even where you don’t eliminate them entirely.
Also, don’t shop. If you go to a store you’ll buy something. So don’t go to a store. Don’t go to an online retail site. Someone posts a link online to cool new shoes they bought. Don’t click that link. You’re not going to buy those shoes or any other shoes so why go to the site? Only go to a store or shop when you specifically know what you’re going to buy there. Buy that thing. Then leave. Browsing shops, stores, and retail sites will be your downfall as an excessive spender. (Been there.)
Cheap herbs and spices - international markets (look for baggies stuffed full) or Whole Foods in the herbal supplements aisle, bought in bulk from jars. Check the per-ounce cost. This will make food much more appealing, without overpaying like you do in the grocery store.
Yup. I’ll even cook up a stock after work; it only takes about 2.5 hours to cook beans in a crockpot.
Here’s my recommendation:
Do you have an Aldi’s? They have a limited selection and some of their stuff isn’t the best, but they are cheap. A year ago I tried gluten free and they have very little in the way of special gluten free things. They do have such gluten free thins as meat and produce. Choose carefully. We eat a lot of their frozen ground turkey. It is one of the cheapest meats around. It can go into things like chilli. There are simple gluten free meals you can make with a little creativity.
The common brands of pet food offer the same nutrition as the expensive ones. They are all formulated to http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047120.htm Also see Pet Food Nutrition Myths | My dogs likely eat higher on the food chain than I do, Pro Plan.
Very long post about how I use my change to buy groceries on Amazon is spoilered below due to length.
[spoiler]Take all your change to Coinstar; mine is at Smith’s, which is a Kroger store. Before you pour your coins in the machine, choose the option for ‘Amazon’ gift certificate. This will give you FULL value for your redeemed change; choosing the cash option costs 8.9%.
When you’re done the machine will give you a receipt with a gift code on it, which can only be used once but doesn’t expire.
Go to Amazon.com and pick an item that’s a little higher price than the value of the code and put it in your ‘cart’. Even better is if it already comes with free shipping; that usually starts at $20-25. There are always groceries on clearance @ Amazon; Subscribe and Save is a great deal as well, since there’s often no tax.
Go to www.retailmenot.com and search for Amazon. There will be a lot of codes available, some for free shipping and some for % off over a certain $ amount ordered. There will be codes for groceries only, some brands only, books only, etc. Use ctrl+F to search the page of codes and make sure you get each one available for your item. Copy/paste will result in you opening another Amazon page, so I just copy them into the promo code box from memory.
Go back to the cart and proceed with checking out. It will ask for your ‘promo code’ and give you as many opportunities to put them in as you have codes. My last deal was a 20$ 44 ounce bottle of olive oil (which is nearly a year’s supply for us) and after all the codes it cost me 1.96 out of pocket. [/spoiler]
Do you have a Costco nearby?
Wait wait, hear me out.
If you are not now a member, go and CAREFULLY check one out. Since it is just the two of you, concentrate mostly on dry goods. Rice, beans, etc. Consider the fresh produce only if you both really like that produce and are sure you can eat it all before it turns on you. Whatever the food item, do you buy it now and do you both like it enough to eat a lot of it? You can get good pricing at a Costco, but it is also extremely easy to buy so much of an item that you end up throwing out much of it, and that helps no one.
Secondarily, and this is kinda cheating a little, can you go shopping there around noon or so on the weekends? Um, that is, well, um, do you have time to spend to avail yourself of the free samples of products? Depending upon what they offer for samples that week, sampling can substitute for a lite lunch or just a unique treat.
But again, before joining any club, make sure they offer the kinds of items you will definitely eat before they spoil. You must be disciplined in your shopping there.
If you drive much, be sure to check out their gas prices as well.
Dried beans are also much greener - they’re not shipping all that water, so they’re lighter and take up less space on trucks. Plus they taste better. Dried beans FTW.
You ain’t kidding. I just found 25lb bags of quinoa, brown rice and black beans online for only $5 shipping. I estimate this easily saves us $30/month on groceries right off the bat.
That’s what we did this weekend - went to see the last Harry Potter movie Sunday afternoon for $3 each (Jim had a Coke as well, for almost as much as the tickets - darn his soda habit!) - you can hardly beat that for entertainment costs.
If you don’t already, put all your expenses on a rewards credit card but don’t revolve a balance. When you put all your expenses on the card the rewards add up quickly, and there are some cards that give you bonuses for gas and groceries and things like that.
RE: the psychological urge to consume, here are two tips that help me out:
Amazon has a little app you can use to put things from any site on your Amazon wish list. I love putting something I like on the wish list, and visiting the wish list periodically, even though I have bought almost nothing from Amazon in 2011. I find that after something has been on the wish list for a while, I lose the desire to purchase it.
You can also make hardcopy wish lists that serve the same purpose.
Oh, and a third tip I meant to add:
A word of warning from the experienced re. big bags of dry staples. I’ve had repeated problems with them harboring pantry moths. If you get a moth infestation, you’re going to have to throw out a lot of food–plus it’s just gross. So when you get those big bags, put them in the freezer for a couple of days* right away*. That’ll kill any critters in them.
Assuming you have the room, when something non perishable goes on super duper sale (and since you’ll be tracking prices in some fashion you’ll recognize when this happens) buy as many of them as the store allows.
I currently have about 12 sticks of Arrid Xtra Dry antiperspirant in my closet - they were on sale for $0.99 (which in the NYC metro area is a crazy cheap price). I think the sale said “limit 4 per customer” so I went to the store a few different times that week. Now I don’t have to buy them at full price, and once it goes on crazy sale again I’ll replenish the stock. Same goes for other pricy items like cleansers, shampoo, etc.
One other odd thing, but I think this one is just me… I recently organized my linen closet and in the process found a metric buttload of those tiny sample size toothpaste tubes and containers of floss my dentist gives me each time I go for a cleaning. I would take them home and toss them in the closet, and use the ones I bought at the store. I decided to use these up so for the last few months I’ve been whittling away at this cache of freebies. I’ll need to start buying these items again at some point but not until the spring, I think. Turns out once I consolidated them all it fills a gallon size storage bag!
The posts above have done a wonderful job of outlining how to save money while you are shopping. However, the most critical part of saving is not spending the money to begin with.
Everytime I think I need something I ask myself if I can do without it. Often the answer is yes.
The other thing I do is that when I go shopping for anything, I go with a list. I do not deviate from the list. I don’t browse. I strategically go into the store, look for the item(s) I need and get out. Whether it is groceries, clothes, gifts, whatever. No extras. If I didn’t think I needed it before I went to the store, why would I suddenly need it while I am there?
I love Costco. One thing to remember is that Costco is basically like a perma-sale. You get sale type prices, but you do have to buy large quantities. If you like fresh fruit and produce, you get good prices, but you have to commit to eating it before it goes bad. That means 3-4 meals with asparagus this week, ham sandwiches for lunch, and you eat one apple and one orange every single day to get through your stock. This will all change next week, depending on what I buy next.
If you are serious about trolling your supermarkets for sales, you can get similar prices, but you are at the mercy of the sale flier. I can get Barilla pasta for $1/lb anytime at Costco, but have to stumble upon a sale at my local supermarket to get under $1.25.
Here’s a site I’ve started using:
Some basic, easy how-to rules for eating gluten-free way more cheaply. It’s all the specially prepared food that really drive up the costs of eating healthy. Don’t eat crap - that is much more expensive in the long run. Ounce of protection and all that.
We also utilize the library a lot more - free DVDs and CDs instead of renting or downloading in addition to free reading material. Long walks for exercise and entertainment, socializing with friends at home - game nights, movie nights, etc - with pot-lucks. Box wine instead of bottles. And setting aside a little $$ once a week to go out ona cheap date night gives you something else to look forward to.
This, and also, go to outlet stores once in a while. (There are a ton in the Philadelphia area which IIRC is where you are? Apologies if this is incorrect.) I go to the outlets in Lancaster and get clothes for much, much cheaper than full-price. This weekend the Ann Taylor outlet had the entire store for 40% off – I got a pair of pants that had retailed at $89, were already discounted, and ended up costing $11. It felt so good. 
One meat, two meals, is a great way to save time and money, in one go!
Any meat you cook, should provide leftovers for the next meal, (in soup, stew, over pasta, in fried rice, etc.) Once you get into the swing of this plan, you’ll make enough for one leftover vegetable, as well. Now, dinner for tomorrow is a snap and nearly free!
It’s a budget stretcher!
If you’re looking to save actual cash on a squeaky tight budget, here’s something I suggest. It works best with others participating, but there’s no reason not to do it alone.
It’s a variation on the curse jar, but you pick a phrase you’d like to drop from your vocabulary. Something you’d like to hear yourself stop saying. “I hate”, would work, “What’s wrong with you?” would also. You know yourself best so pick something good. Whenever you catch yourself saying that phrase you have to put $1 in the jar. It’s great because you save a little cash and get a little self improvement too!