Cheapest Grocery Shopping

Hello K.;

Let me start by saying that over the last few months, my grocery shopping for a family of five has dropped drastically down to $25 - $50 a week. With that said, I think I might be able to help you do some cheap shopping. What I do is look at all the ads for my area, I weigh out my savings verses the price of gas and I only go where I'm going to save the most money. I'm not one to consitently clip coupons, so I have to look for the best bargains by quantity. I usually go to Wal-mart for my pasta sauces, they have their own brand which is just like the expensive stuff, but it's only $1.00 - $1.17. If you season it with fresh homemade roasted garlic, fresh parmesean and romano cheese, and some Italian seasoning, it will taste just like a restaraunt. Wal-mart also has the cheapest pasta unless someone is running a b1g1 sale. Their water, soda, juices, eggs, and multiple other items are cheaper than most, you just have to watch the sale papers and weigh out your options. I go to Sav-a-Lot for things like cheese, vegetables, lunch meat (name brand), bread, flavor aid, Spam, mayo, fruit, basically everything that I don't buy at Wal-Mart besides meat. My meat I really keep an eye on the ads for, looking for places with b1g1 sales, managers specials, but mostly anymore I just buy tubes of hamburger because the cost of meat is so expensive. My advice to you is to just watch the sales ads every week, and as you shop at different stores you'll notice the the difference in prices and you'll know when you're getting the most for your money. Although I think Albertson's usually has the best prices on their meat, but now there's only two locations that are still "Albertson's".

As for recipes, you have to use your imagination, and take what you have and use it to the best of your abilities. My husband and I haven't eaten out in over 2 years, and before then we really never ate out. We couldn't afford to eat out with someone else paying, lol. But try web sites like recipezaar.com, rachel rays website, and search for cheap and easy meal ideas. The same ol' thing can get really repetitive and that's where you have to learn to be creative, not to mention most websites will give you very detailed step by step instructions and are almost fool proof. When it comes to cooking, my biggest and best advice, is to always taste, taste everything as you cook it, smell it and taste it, make sure that it's seasoned just right, and make sure that you start light and work your way up. If you need to ask me anything about any of the recipes that I use, and are a hit with my family feel free to message me anytime, I just don't want to take up anymore space on this page, lol. But I'm always willing to help. I hope this helps, you take care.

Candi ;O)

Definately check out Aldi. You said you like crockpot recipes...check out recipezaar.com and you can look up crockpot recipes. There are tons on there. I am on there constantly and since I found that website I actually enjoy cooking. If you have an albertson's nearby they get great sales on chicken and other meats. You can get bone-in chicken breasts for .88 a pound on sale and boneless for 1.88 a pound. When they have that I stock up. You have to watch out for the winn dixie b1g1 sales. They like to do them for their chicken but they are b1g1 at almost $5 a pound. It is not a good deal. I think they are the worst at trying to fool the customer. To me sweetbay is way more expensive on the stuff I buy. The only thing they ever do is chicken for pretty cheap. Learn to use your leftovers to make a whole new meal. I have been doing this lately and it has been great. BTW...I am married with 5 children.

Hello K.,
I paid $20 for the paper for the whole year, and I have gotten more then my $$ worth in coupons. I have set up a system every week, and the on friday I run to different stores to get whats on sale and where I can save double with coupons + the stores sale price. So far this is what I have discovered in the last 3 weeks or so:

Walmart is overall the cheapest on your paper goods/diapers/meds (unless another store is having a buy one get one sale)

Aldi is cheapest on cereals/some frozen products/can goods/dairy sometimes cheese. There store brands are very good, some are better then the name brand products.

Winn-Dixie is only good for the buy one get one sales and sometimes they will have specialty products that are reasonally priced.

Sams club is cheap on shampoo's (depending on what you use, you may find it cheaper somewhere else)/ some meats/ can good's/ soda. Be careful what you purchase here, you may think it a good buy, but turns out its the same or more at other stores.

On wensdays we get the add's for the store's so thats how I determine where I go. Most weeks I go to walmart/winn-dixie/dollar store or big lots. As far as the meals go, I am actually not that big of a cheif either, and only know a few good meals myself. I google recipes online, and have found some good ones. Good luck and let me know if you need any help!

I have tried Aldi, the prices on canned items are definitely cheaper. It is almost all "off" brand, not even store brand but pretty much the same. The only issue I have had so far is the bottle Apple Juice from Aldi is made from concentrate from China. With tainted toys, tainted dog food, tainted baby formula, etc. I have stopped buying the apple juice from there. If anyone knows where everything else comes from I'd like to know. I have always cut coupons, I get the flyers ahead to pick my meals for the week based on what is on sale. Good luck.

I am not great at grocery budgeting, but I am learning, and working on it every week. Try taking a look at couponmom.com. There is a lot of good advice on that website. They make shopping with coupons easier - they actually match up coupons from the Sunday paper with the store sales to give you the best deal. They also have links to a lot of websites that offer printable coupons. Also, no matter which store it is, I try to shop the BOGO sales. I might not need two huge jars of mayo, but it will get used eventually, and if one is free, the price is right. If you have the freezer or pantry space, the BOGO sales are great for stocking up on everything. If you have a Sam's or Cosco membership, you can get really good deals on meat there. I buy whole chickens from Sam's - you can get 2 really nice perdue chickens for around $7. Hope that helps!

Hi K.. First, buy store brand whenever possible. Second, use coupons. As far as which store is cheapest, they are all pretty much the same on most things. I wait to buy the things that I know Winn Dixie will put on sale buy one get one (hot dogs, mayo, bbq sauce, meat, etc). When the go on sale, I stock up. You may want to check out Aldi's. They are a grocery chain from up north that is just starting to come into the area, and their prices are awesome! I missed Aldi's since I moved here in 2001 from Missouri. I am so happy to see them going up down here. Check their website for locations. Good luck on the quest for better budgeting. I swear every month that I will do better than the month before. :)