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| nothing to do with this post -- the forsythia I forced indoors 2 weeks ago tomorrow |
In 1988, we were a family of 3, myself, my husband and our 1 year old son. We were spending about $70 per week on groceries, and this seemed to be a reasonable amount for us.
Growing up, my mom shopped once per week, buying all the food she needed for that one week, and all at one store. She did clip coupons, and watch for sales. But that's as far as she went with trying to be prudent with her grocery spending.
When I married, I shopped the same way. I even shopped at what was known as the "budget" grocery store in our town. Every week, my husband, little boy and I went to the grocery store and bought enough food to get us through a week.
One day, while standing in line at the grocery store check out, I picked up a magazine and began reading. There was an article about a family who shopped at several stores per week, buying stock-up quantities of sale items. Each week, when they received the store ads, they gathered around the kitchen table and studied the ads for all the stores within a 15-20 minute drive of their home. They made lists for the different stores, for the items that were priced especially low for those products. Then they split up, husband and 1 child went to half of the stores, and wife and 2 other children went to the other stores.
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| the flowering currant forced indoors -- a bright spot in late February |
We changed the way we shopped for groceries, overnight, and cut our grocery spending from $70 per week to $30 per week. Overnight! We went from spending 30% of our take-home income on groceries, to spending 13% of our take-home income. Our take-home at the time was a mere $1000 per month. An extra $173 per month was very valuable.
The grocery store ads for our town came in the Sunday paper. Monday mornings, I would spread the papers out on the table and study the good deals, and spend about 1 hour, making my lists. I selected only the very best buys for each store, for the week, focusing on produce, dairy, grains, and meats. I had 3 stores that were conveniently located for me to shop. In the afternoon, I packed my little boy up and the two of us hit those stores.
One thing I discovered, shopping 3 stores, with list in hand, and only picking up multiples of specific items, was that this sort of shopping did not take up as much time as I had thought it would. Going to 3 stores, within a 15-20 minute drive from my apartment, took about 2 hours per week. My previous way of shopping, at just one store, would typically take longer than an hour and a half, as we seemed to linger over our choices.
The first few weeks left me with a slightly less-balanced pantry and freezer selection, but I was still able to provide nutritious meals for our family. I bought a lot of dried beans and grains in that first week to round out the selection of bargain meat that I found. And I think we may have eaten carrots, cabbage, squash and onions for several meals. But this was just the first week. By the second week, I had a larger variety in stock.
I spent just $30 for that very first week, and every week to come for many years (until a combination of inflation and a growing family deemed an increase to *gasp* $41 per week, and today we now spend about $48 per week for the 5 of us).
Within a month, the vast majority of foods that we consumed regularly had been featured on sale, and I was able to stock up in quantities to last us several months. Those items that I couldn't find on sale, I picked up at the area "budget" grocery store as I needed.
So, that's how I began with this whole shopping around thing.
So, that's how I began with this whole shopping around thing.
Why do I continue with this shopping?
I still save a bundle of money, and I have found that I can tailor the items I buy to the different stores, according to each stores specialties.
The Cash and Carry restaurant supply is fantastic for bulk-buying baking ingredients, as I do bake a lot, and large bags of dried beans and brown rice for our vegetarian meals. QFC is the more upscale grocery store near us, and has some of the best meat in the area, that is, for a chain grocery. Trader Joe's is my go-to place for organics, like tofu and soymilk, as well as very fresh dried fruit (sounds funny, I know, but the kind of dried fruit that isn't hard little pebbles, but chewy and flavorful), and naturals like peanut butter. Country Farms is my favorite produce stand. The produce is fresh and well-priced. I don't mind if I have to wash off more dirt than supermarket produce. It just reminds me that what I'm about to eat was grown in or on the ground. I stop by Dollar Tree every couple of weeks and find some real bargains on crackers and other treat items. And I throw in Safeway and Albertsons for rounding out the shopping.
I have found that by shopping several stores, I buy better food overall. And that is perhaps as big a motivator as saving money for our family, these days.
Now for my February grocery money journal
I didn't post a mid-month grocery journal for February, as its a short month, we took a week out for a vacation, and I'm now just posting 3 days per week (and I have other things I'd like to share with you) so I just left this all as one full month's journal.
Feb. 1. I knew we were in for it. This would be the month that I restock quite a bit. And the month is off to a roaring good start. I stopped by Cash and Carry wholesaler in the afternoon, and bought 8 lbs peanut butter (really great price $1.73 lb, it's been so expensive for a year now, couldn't resist this price), gallon sized can of tomatoes, gallon sized can of tomato paste, 3 quarts soymilk, 5 lbs. carrots, 5 lbs. frozen mixed vegetables, 1 head red cabbage, 1 package tofu, and 50 lbs of flour.
I have told myself that I would try and plan ahead better this month, and only stop into both the Cash and Carry and Trader Joe's once each, for the month. This will save me time in the end. I'm just not very good at planning so far in advance. A week or two I'm okay with, but a whole month was a bit hard for me. We shall see how this works out. Total spent today -- $49.06
Feb. 4. At Dollar Tree, found seeds for 4/$1. I count vegetable seeds and growing supplies into the grocery budget. Also bought crackers, cocoa packets and some chips for upcoming trip. spent $11.57
Also, stopped in TOP Foods, for cheese, cider mix for son's Valentine's gift and pills I need to eat dairy (also I take out of grocery). Spent $11.42 total for month so far -- $72.05
Feb. 6. We needed 1 gallon of milk to get the guys through the days that the girls and I will be gone. Also found mushrooms (for tonight's stew) and bananas (tomorrow's lunches) on clearance. Total spent $4.63. Total month to date -- $76.68
Feb. 7. Pre-trip stock up at Trader Joe's. Bought raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, bananas and soy milk. Spent $17.23. Total month to date -- $93.91
Feb. 8-14. I'll take $45 out of the grocery budget to offset some of the dining costs while away. I came to this number by dividing the monthly budget by days in the month, then multiplying by the number of days away. The rest of the money spent on dining while on vacation will come from the vacation budget.
Total spent for the month -- $138.91
Feb. 15. Post-trip restock. Stopped at Cash and Carry. Bought 10 lbs potatoes, 25 lbs. onions, 5 lbs. carrots, 1 head red cabbage, 1 #10 can ketchup, 1 small can salmon, 2 small cans pineapple juice concentrate, about 4 lbs of bananas. total spent -- $28.77
Also stopped in at QFC for chicken on sale for 88c lb. Bought 3 whole chickens. Found whole and skim milk on mark down for $1.09/half gallon. Bought all 8 half gallons that they had left. Total spent here -- $21.87
Total spent month to date -- $189.55
Feb. 20. I've been slightly under the weather for a couple of days -- no appetite, and no desire to set foot in a grocery store. Now that helps the grocery budget, doesn't it?!!! The silver lining -- get a stomach bug, and save on grocery impulse buys!!
Feb. 26. Needed some things from the dollar store, also picked up a container of oregano (I'm out of my garden oregano from last summer's garden) and 3 bags of foil-wrapped chocolate pieces (Valentine's clearance, 25 cents/bag), to use in s'mores and chopped up for cookies. Total spent $1.75.
Total spent for February on groceries $191.30, under budget by $18.70. This will roll over into the grocery surplus for next month.
Supplies in the pantry, freezer and garden
My freezer still has blackberries, plums, rhubarb, blueberries and strawberries from last summer. Also, there are 2 whole chickens, 1 whole turkey and a small beef roast. My pantry is looking leaner, but not too lean. The vegetable garden is coming back. I have watercress, sorrel, broccoli, kale, turnip and mustard greens from the fall garden making their comeback for about a month before bolting. I'll need to do a good deal of restocking this next month.
Deals to look for at the grocery store in March
Feb. 6. We needed 1 gallon of milk to get the guys through the days that the girls and I will be gone. Also found mushrooms (for tonight's stew) and bananas (tomorrow's lunches) on clearance. Total spent $4.63. Total month to date -- $76.68
Feb. 7. Pre-trip stock up at Trader Joe's. Bought raisins, sunflower seeds, almonds, bananas and soy milk. Spent $17.23. Total month to date -- $93.91
Feb. 8-14. I'll take $45 out of the grocery budget to offset some of the dining costs while away. I came to this number by dividing the monthly budget by days in the month, then multiplying by the number of days away. The rest of the money spent on dining while on vacation will come from the vacation budget.
Total spent for the month -- $138.91
Feb. 15. Post-trip restock. Stopped at Cash and Carry. Bought 10 lbs potatoes, 25 lbs. onions, 5 lbs. carrots, 1 head red cabbage, 1 #10 can ketchup, 1 small can salmon, 2 small cans pineapple juice concentrate, about 4 lbs of bananas. total spent -- $28.77
Also stopped in at QFC for chicken on sale for 88c lb. Bought 3 whole chickens. Found whole and skim milk on mark down for $1.09/half gallon. Bought all 8 half gallons that they had left. Total spent here -- $21.87
Total spent month to date -- $189.55
Feb. 20. I've been slightly under the weather for a couple of days -- no appetite, and no desire to set foot in a grocery store. Now that helps the grocery budget, doesn't it?!!! The silver lining -- get a stomach bug, and save on grocery impulse buys!!
Feb. 26. Needed some things from the dollar store, also picked up a container of oregano (I'm out of my garden oregano from last summer's garden) and 3 bags of foil-wrapped chocolate pieces (Valentine's clearance, 25 cents/bag), to use in s'mores and chopped up for cookies. Total spent $1.75.
Total spent for February on groceries $191.30, under budget by $18.70. This will roll over into the grocery surplus for next month.
Supplies in the pantry, freezer and garden
My freezer still has blackberries, plums, rhubarb, blueberries and strawberries from last summer. Also, there are 2 whole chickens, 1 whole turkey and a small beef roast. My pantry is looking leaner, but not too lean. The vegetable garden is coming back. I have watercress, sorrel, broccoli, kale, turnip and mustard greens from the fall garden making their comeback for about a month before bolting. I'll need to do a good deal of restocking this next month.
Deals to look for at the grocery store in March
- with St. Patrick's Day, cabbage will be a loss leader item at most grocery stores the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day. Cabbage keeps for a couple of months in the refrigerator. I buy a few heads of cabbage and use in stir-fries, soup, braised cabbage, bubble and squeak, and cole slaw both as a salad and to add to sandwiches. Also, corned beef is often a loss-leader. It can be cooked, sliced thin and frozen in packets for sandwiches later on.
- seasonal produce No. Hemisphere -- winter into spring produce: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collards, celery, carrots continue from previous winter months, but towards the middle-end of the month, expect to find artichokes, asparagus, leeks, spinach, strawberries, green onions and radish all at good prices.
- seasonal produce So. Hemisphere -- end of summer produce: apples, pears, grapes, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, winter and summer squash, beans and onions.
