High inflation is eating up the budgets of American households. The cost of groceries have jumped 5.4% in the past year , marking one of the biggest increases in the past two decades, according to the consumer price index. By contrast, grocery prices did not increase at all in the five years before the pandemic.
Mrs. L has become quite good at saving money on groceries. She has a simple approach: she buys things that are on clearance. She’s also learned the days when they pull things from the shelves so she can score them before the competition. Meats and cheeses are often heavily discounted. For instance, one store had fully cooked turkeys that didn’t get sold pre-Thanksgiving, so they were marked down from about $35 to $5. I picked the meat off and vacuum sealed it, then threw it in the freezer.
This approach pays a couple of other dividends as well.
Today, we’re having chicken with mole sauce. I’ve never been bold enough to order it at a Tex Mex restaurant, but a savory chocolate sauce, eh? Well, it was on clearance. So you can try things and if it isn’t your cuppa, at least you didn’t spend full price to try it. But if you do like it, you can buy it again with confidence.
It’s a little like being on “Chopped.” This is what was on clearance, how are we going to parlay that into something? So it’s a cooking challenge that’s kinda fun.
It expands our nutritional horizons. Rather than rotating the same recipes, eating the same nutrients over and over, we get more variety.
Rather than racking our brains to think what we’re going to fix, we can let fate choose for us. But we have some frozen things in reserve if we need them, because some days the clearance is a bonanza and other times, not so much.
It satisfies her gatherer genes. She loves to hunt for bargains but as I’ve posted elsewhere, we’re trying to downsize and move. So no more tchotchkies, but we do need groceries so she redirected her energy in that way.
What tips and tricks do you have to save time and money?
ETA: Sometimes the clearance items are things that didn’t appeal to the shoppers. They’re not all on the verge of expiration. And sometimes they put items with various expiration dates in the same bin, and since “new” stock is in its place on the regular shelf location, apparently they goofed.
It is the weighing of time and convenience, so consider if convenience foods have filler that doesn’t add much.
One store here sells two types of frozen stir fry vegetables. One has noodles, the other doesn’t. The relative cost is such that I do better by buying the one without noodles and adding pasta purchased separately.
Then there’s all those prepackaged “rice & noodle” boxes with a flavoring package. I can weigh out my own quick-cooking rice and similar noodles, and then make my own (healthier!) sauce with either a jar of spice mix or with low-salt bouillion.
(Don’t I sound like the proverbial new bride who was buying frozen peas and frozen carrots and making up her own “frozen peas and carrots mix”.)
Lest people forget: Legumes. Beans and suchlike. Packed with protein and cheap, cheap, cheap. There’s lots of delicious recipes out here on the web. Look to Jacque Pepin for recipes. Wheat pasta also has protein, but more carbs so don’t go overboard with it. Eggs are a wonderful source of protein and still relatively cheap (even though I advocate the more expensive kind from pastured chickens).
Veggies are trickier. I will shop at Asian markets for many veggies as they tend to be fresher and cheaper than supermarkets. Shop the sales, and definitely shop around.
If your community has something called “Fare for All” check it out. Sometimes associated with churches but often just in the community, you can get meat and veg through them for cheap. You don’t get much in the way of choice, but the low, low prices can’t be beat and it will give you a chance to learn how to prepare new-to-you veggies.
I knew I was missing a bullet point. Yes, you can make it healthier—you know what’s going in.
I’m surprised at how many times I have to throw the bullshit flag on bulk goods. I don’t mean buying 20 rolls of toilet paper at a time…I mean those “barrel” things that allow you to bag up some almonds or coconut flour or sesame sticks. The theory seems to be that by not getting something in a fancy package, you’re getting a discount. When I compare it though, I don’t usually see much savings if any. The one good thing I will say about them is that you don’t have to buy a whole pound of something if you just need a few ounces. Or you can buy just a few yogurt pretzels because you know you better not buy a big bag because you will eat them all.
Yep, and I discovered I kinda like baby bok choy. We have some good Tex-Mex marts here as well.
ETA: Yeah, I like beans. I used to make a pretty good version of ranch beans (includes chorizo, bacon, sausage, tabasco). Occasionally we’ll make borrachos (drunk beans, have beer in them). Borracho Beans (Frijoles Borrachos) - Isabel Eats And with New Year’s Eve coming, it’s time for some black eyed peas for luck.
It’s odd that I don’t like black-eyed peas in general but I must make myself some Hoppin’ John for New Year’s morning and it better be spicy enough to make my eyes water.
I’ve noticed that on many items. Some others, such as yeast, offer a big savings over the traditional grocery store’s small packets.
I once bought an ounce of raw sunflower seeds to plant in the garden. (Yes - they did come up nicely!) The price was so cheap compared to a packet of seeds at the garden store that I thought about going though the entire bulk goods store & get samples of any seed to try them.
Our local food bank collects donated produce and perishables from a few grocery stores. They use the donated food to make up food boxes for low-income folks. At the end of the week, they fill boxes with the left over produce and perishables and gives those boxes to anyone who shows up (no income limits) because they would rather it get used than thrown away.
I have heard of other food banks who do the same thing, so it might be worth looking into.
I pick up a box a week and get an assortment of unrelated groceries. I’ve learned to pickle and can food because I sometimes bring home huge bags of fruit or vegetables. We eat a lot of chicken. The week after Thanksgiving, they gave me a 13 lb turkey. I’ve had things I’ve never considered buying and other items I’ve never even heard of. I’d guess we save between 20-40 bucks a week this way.
That’s similar to Fare for All. I’ve come away from there with more bread and cookies (and squash) than I can handle as a single person. However, in my current location, there are 7 other households that I can, and do, share with. It’s been great.
I’m glad you have something like that locally AND that you have someone to give the surplus to. I pick up our box, pull the stuff we want and then take the rest to where I used to work and it goes to the break room for anyone to take. After that I have lunch with a friend, so I get a social outing as well!
It’s good that food doesn’t have feelings because the constant rejection would be so hard. (Shoppers didn’t want it, the store didn’t want it, low income folks didn’t want it, I didn’t want it and now it’s sitting in a strange office hoping someone/anyone would want it.)
A few years ago we bought a litter robot because we are all kinds of lazy. We instantly noticed that our litter use had dropped to about half because it was more efficient. With the cost of litter anymore, it turned out to be a much better investment than I originally thought.
While I don’t drive out of my way looking for the cheapest gas, I pay attention to my gas gauge and start paying attention to stations on my normal routes so I can pick the best place to fill up.
Folks who work at home should consider talking to their auto insurance agent about getting a low mileage discount.
Also, check your utility bills and see if there are any discounts you can sign up for. They won’t know you qualify unless you tell them. There is a 10% discount available to old farts on water out here, but we had to tell them that hubs qualified.
Get in the habit of asking if there are any discounts for any purchases you make, sometimes you will hear “No.” and other times you will be happily surprised. I get a 10% discount on weed and vet bills because I’m a vet.
I didn’t mean to give the impression that the Mrs. and I need to do this. It isn’t like we’re scraping for money*. But why waste it if you don’t have to? Likewise, I’ve posted in here about loving Aldi. A lot of their stuff is about as good as name brands so if you don’t mind the difference and can save money, why not?
But I’m glad to see suggestions for those who really need to stretch a buck. Beans were mentioned upthread…pasta, anyone?
*It’s complicated, but Mrs L needed to leave her job. I supported that 100%. Now though I think she feels like she needs to show me how she’s saving money.
By the way the mole chicken was just ok. The mole part----reminded me of a weak bbq sauce. The chicken, OTOH, was very good. We’ve tried baking, sous vide, etc. but this crock pot thing was great. Very tender.
My brother had cancer a few years ago. The doc said that if he’d found that particular cancer when bro was in his 70s, he wouldn’t treat it because it grows so slowly that the complications are worse than the disease. In our subsequent discussions, I told him that what it “meant” was that you should live each day to the fullest…but that’s what we should all be doing, anyway. Right?
Hy-Vee does not generally mark down perishables, if you’re in that region, but Fareway does, and that’s where I buy a lot of my dairy products (and freeze any excess) and they occasionally have drastically marked down meat. I stock up if I see it.
I was not suggesting that you and your lovely wife are food insecure. Hubs and I certainly don’t qualify for food bank services either. The food @carnut and I get is food that would otherwise be discarded. It is still perfectly good food, it isn’t expired or spoiled or anything, they just don’t have room to keep it because more will be arriving on Monday.
I enjoy some of the unusual things they give me. I’ve not gotten mole sauce before, but once they gave me half a dozen frozen Starbucks breakfast sandwiches. I’ve never considered trying them before, but they were pretty tasty. I still won’t buy one, I don’t go to Starbucks, but it was a good experience.
Yeah, I’ve said it many times. When I finally ended up relying heavily on beans and rice, lentil/pea soup, I almost thought it was too good to believe. Extremely healthy, filling, tasty (IMO), and dirt cheap. You can basically gorge yourself on it and you won’t gain weight. Hard to believe everyone doesn’t make it the biggest share of their diets.
I’ve never been brave enough to try this, but one book about “extreme living on the cheap” recommended buying meat from a packing house, a half animal’s carcass, and cut it up yourself. (Sausage covers a of mistakes.) The author wrote that there are books to take you through the process - now probably on YouTube.
Having written that, I recommend that you try baking bread as a recreation. Break out that old bread machine and see what you can do. (Best done in the winter when the oven will help to heat the house.)
Here’s one basic recipe to get you started.
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour.
1 cup milk (2% is fine)
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon + 1 pinch of quick-rising yeast
Reserve another half cup of all-purpose flour
Mix the 1 cup all-purpose flour and the 1 cup of whole-wheat flour together in a bowl.
Warm the butter/margarine to room temperature and cut it up to small pieces. Put the milk, water, and butter/margarine in the bread machine’s bucket. Add 1 cup of the mixed flour. Add the salt and sugar. Add the remaining mixed flour. Add yeast. Start the machine on the “dough” cycle. Keep an eye on it as it mixes and, once a soft dough forms, very gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour . Stop adding flour when the dough tends to gather into a ball.
Let the machine complete the “dough” cycle, which should include the first rising. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead once or twice. Divide dough 12-14 roughly equal portions. Squash each portion to a “thick round pancake” with the hand, or form into bread sticks. Place on a greased baking pan and place in an oven (middle rack - warmed to about 90 degrees F) for the second rise. Bake at 320 F until the bottoms are brown - about ten minutes once the oven is up to temperature.
Move to a cooling rack. Recommended that you run a stick of butter/margarine over the tops of the buns/breadsticks.
I’m sure the more experienced bakers will have better recipes, but this one works for me.
I used to visit HyVee regularly when I went home. Their bread was killer.
Ah, ok. There’s certainly no shame in needing some help. I think Mrs. L and I are entering a phase where we ask, “What are we paying? And what does that buy us?” We’re trying to be less wasteful.
A couple other tips we use for those trying to save a buck…
Aldi. Most of their stuff is pretty good and if you don’t like it, you can take it back.
If for any reason you are not 100% satisfied with the quality of any product, we will gladly replace the product AND refund your money. To receive the Twice as Nice Guarantee, the product packaging and any unused product must be returned to your local ALDI store manager.**
When the pandemic was in its first year, I recall seeing people in here saying they were paying a lot ($5?) for a dozen eggs. Aldi still had them for about $1.
Baking bread can save you money… but some of the loaves I bake with what my late spouse used to call “weird stuff” maybe aren’t as thrifty as a basic loaf.
Since I’ve been able to white-list many legumes (damn food allergies!) I’ve been eating more beans. I started with canned because they’re convenient and cheap, but since my sister-the-doctor sent me a sampler of heirloom bean varieties (!) for the holidays I’ve been exploring from scratch, which is even more thrifty. The hardest part has been figuring out how to cut down the recipes starting with “… take a pound of dried beans…” because there’s no way this one person can eat THAT many beans! (Yes, I know they freeze. My freezer is already full, thank you, my pantry overfloweth).
Given the supply chain issues these days my shopping list doesn’t list anything too specific. Instead of “Yukon gold potatoes” it will read “root vegetables for roasting” (or mashing, or whatever). Don’t be too fussy. Do you really need a specific lettuce or can you opt for what is available/not the most expensive? Flexibility can help a lot.
My store started offering an app called Flashfood. It may or may not work where you are, and I’m not 100% happy with it, but I have been getting some 50% reduced items from it, including some nice lamb chops for a couple weeks. It’s a bit hit or miss at times.
If you have the time, clipping coupons can save you a considerable amount of money, as can some (but not all) store apps.
Try not to buy more than you’ll eat before it goes bad. A lot of stores/corporations like to push mammoth size containers but really, unless you eat it there’s not a savings.
I think the vacuum sealer has helped us some in that regard. Awhile back, a co-worker recommended an app that would find recipes based on what ingredients you have on hand. I think we’ll be looking into that as well—there seem to be several.
When I posted that link about the extreme couponing, it made me wonder: where are they getting them (and apparently several copies of the same coupons)? I don’t subscribe to a newspaper and I haven’t seen any Val-Pack envelopes in a long time.
Lentils, rice, seasonal local produce, Asian grocery vegetables and condiments. Old fashioned oats, winter squash. But also, walking rather than driving to the grocery, when feasible, saves money as well.
