Saving Money at the Grocery Store

There are many ways to save money at the grocery store. In fact it would be really hard to not save money these days. Every store has sales each week and almost every paper has coupons on Sundays. It only takes a few minutes to look through a sales flier. You can even do it online. If you don't have a chance to look through the ad ahead of time, you can even pick one up at the store when you start your shoppiing trip. Take a few minutes to glance through it before you begin and you will be well on your way to saving a lot of money at the grocery store. Here are three of the best ways I have found to save money at the grocery store.

1. Grocery sales fliers come out every week in the paper and online. It is very easy to glance through them and plan your shopping list. A good way to keep your grocery bill low is to plan your menu for the week based on the sales ads. If chicken is on sale, plan your meals around chicken for the week. That does not mean you have to eat chicken every night of the week, though it should be on the menu. The same goes for other parts of your menu. Eat the fruits and vegetables that are on sale that week. If salads are on sale, have that as a side dish a couple of nights. If potatoes are on sale, have potatoes with a couple of meals, or as a meal itself. If bananas are the cheapest, then that is the fruit for your lunches this week. If you approach the grocery store thinking of what sounds good to eat that night, you will probably pay a lot of money. Rarely does what sounds good, end up being on sale.
2. Using coupons to save money is a great idea. This can be hard though. A $.35 coupon off of a name brand product that is full price isn't the best way to save money. If you pair up the coupon with a product that is on a great sale, you can save the most money. If you have a store in your area that doubles or triples coupons, definitely try to use your coupons there, when the item is on sale of course. Most importantly, don't purchase a product that you aren't going to use just because you have a coupon. Also always check out the other brands of a product before purchasing the item you have the coupon for. Store brands can be cheaper than name brand products on sale.
3. The best way I have found to save the most money though, is to shop to fill my pantry. This is a combination of #1 and #2. This means that when I shop I am not buying the exact items I need to create my weekly menu. I am purchasing what is on the greatest sale and if I have a coupon for that item, then even better. When I purchase something that is at its cheapest price, I purchase enough to last until the next great sale. Sales at the grocery store go in cycles. Some things cycle through every six weeks, some things every three months. You need to pay attention so that you know how many of something you need to buy to last until the next great sale. By combining coupons with the sales ad and knowing the best sales around, you will save the most money.

I generally shop at two stores in my area in order to save the most money. This week at one of the stores I puchased ten 8 oz blocks of cheese, a tub of strawberries, frozen orange juice, a box of cereal, hot dog buns and a three pound bag of apples. This is certainly not a well rounded shopping cart and will not feed my family for the week. These are the things that were on the best sale at this store. The strawberries and apples will be our fruit for the week and the other items are to fill my pantry and freezer at the lowest possible prices.

The other grocery store I will shop at this week I will be purchasing boxes of caprisuns, bread, milk, frozen pizzas, pasta, triscuits, pork chops, grapes and carrots. Again, an odd combination that will not feed our family for the week. However, when I combine it with what I have in my house purchased at the lowest prices, I can feed my family of six for pretty inexpensively.

This idea of shopping is generally called the Pantry Principle and combines the first two ideas from above to save you the most money. I first read about this idea of shopping in The Complete Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. By using the Pantry Principle I do not plan my menus solely based on what is on sale that week. If chicken is on sale I will purchase enough to last until the next sale and I will probably have chicken that week at some point, but I certainly don't have to. By using the Pantry Principle and having a fully stocked pantry and freezer, I CAN have what I feel like having, because chances are the ingredients are already in my house and purchased at the lowest possible prices.

I bet you are wondering how to keep track of the prices at each store. For that, a great tool to have is a price book. In the price book you will want to have each item that you purchase listed, along with the stores you shop at. You should have columns there to make note of the prices you find. It is a good idea to have the regular price as well as the sale prices listed. If you do have to purchase an item at full price, you will know which store is the best place to buy it from.

There are many different sales. You might see frozen pizzas on sale every week, but they will likely be on different sales each week. Two for $5 one week and three for $5 the next week. If you stocked up the first week because they were on sale, you will be kicking yourself the next week when it is a better sale. Having a price book that states the best sale prices you generally see for an item will let you know the two for $5 is not a great sale and you will wait until they go on sale three for $5. Here is a great article that talks more about the price book. It really isn't as hard or time consuming as it seems. It does take some time to get it started, but once you have it, it is very easy to refer to. Also, after a time, you will have the great deals memorized and know without looking what is a great sale and what is not so great a sale.

Another idea to consider is purchasing grocery items at stores other than grocery stores. Walgreens, Rite Aid and other drug stores have food sections and frequently have great sales as well. Drug stores also generally take coupons, although they don't double them. Using your price book will help you determine if it is worth it to make a trip to one of these stores.

Sams Club and Costco are warehouse stores that sell just about everything, in large quantities. Your price book will definitely come in handy when shopping at warehouse stores. You really need to be careful when shopping at these stores, as they don't always have the best prices. They also cost money to join. I have found them to be beneficial to us in the milk savings alone. We drink three gallons of milk a week and I can always get it from Sams Club for $1.95 a gallon. At the regular grocery store it is generally $3 or more for a gallon. Sometimes it goes on sale, but not always. I know that purchasing it at Sams Club will be cheapest for me most of the time and I easily save enough money in milk purchases each year to pay for my membership.

Grocery shopping can be a lot of fun when you know you are getting great deals and you know that you are getting the most for your money. I personally do not enjoy shopping when I think I am being overcharged for items. If you are paying full price for things, you are most likely being overcharged. Everything goes on sale at some point and if at all possible you should wait for the sales. These ideas are easy to incorporate and will allow you to save the most money on your groceries.