Here’s a few tips to keep you from shrinking your wallet while you are busyshrinking your waistline.
First, a Few Basic Shopping Strategies
Generally, the most expensive and processed items in the store are placed in theinterior of the supermarket, so shop the perimeter and avoid the center. Also,ignore the impulse items and cold sodas in the supermarket checkout area asthese usually have a high markup.
Whenever possible, shop alone and try to eat something before you go to thesupermarket so you’ll buy things you need instead of things you think you want.
Supermarket shopping is not (yet) an official spectator sport. Children oftentry to pressure their parents into purchasing overpriced high carb “goodies”(ie. candy, potato chips, sugary cereals) they do not need. These items may eventempt you during a difficult moment. If you can, trade free babysitting with afriend or neighbor, or leave the kids home with your spouse.
Try to go shopping at times when the supermarket isn’t so busy, so you can shopwithout the pressure and distraction of crowds and lines.
Shop the store brands. Often, there’s not much difference in quality between aproduct offered by a pricey major brand than a generic store brand. When indoubt, compare the ingredient and nutrition labels. Often there’s not enough ofa difference to justify the extra expenditure.
Lists Can Save You Money, Time, and Effort
If your supermarket offers one (they’re usually found at the courtesy counter),grab a free store aisle map. When making your shopping list, you can list itemsby aisle and save a lot of time and trouble.
Stick to your list and keep a clear head. Whenever possible, thoroughly read thesales flyers, and clip related coupons in advance of your shopping trip to helpavoid impulse buying. An inexpensive keychain solar calculator or clipboard withbuilt in calculator (you can often find these at dollar stores) can help youkeep track of item totals as you work your way through the supermarket as wellas to quickly figure out markdown percentages.
Consider keeping a food price diary. This can be as detailed as you’d like it tobe and you can use a notebook, planner, or electronic PDA to help you. (If youchoose to go the planner route, check the stationery aisle at your local dollarstore, or buy a student planner as these are usually much less expensive thanthe ones that business people use.) This will help you to see what time of theyear the best sales on various items occur as well as to see which stores havethe best everyday non-sale prices for the products you use.
Sales, Coupons, Loyalty Cards, and Rebates
While you’ll generally save more money buying store brands than name brand fooditems, sometimes a good coupon can really make a difference. If you’re a couponclipper, find out which supermarkets in your area offer price matching and/orcoupon doubling and shop there. Whenever possible, try to use your coupons onitems already on sale to maximize your savings.
Also, always compare the cost-per-unit listed on the shelf label and only buywhat you are sure you’ll actually use.
Some public libraries and women’s centers have a coupon trading box where youcan donate coupons you don’t need and look for coupons you do.
Don’t forget to look for coupons and rebate offers for items you already plan tobuy on the internet. However, don’t let a tempting sale or rebate offer temptyou into purchasing something you don’t need.
One simple way to keep your coupons organized and undamaged is to store them ina small ziplock or extra pencil case (preferably in expiration date order) inyour purse or glove compartment.
If your supermarket offers a free loyalty card, you can often save quite a bitmore money at the price of some of your privacy. One workaround that people usewhen filling out the card application form is to alter their personalinformation just enough to keep their important identifying details private.
Found a good rebate offer? Bring the offer with you to the store (or pick up arebate form while you are there), along with a stamped envelope with your returnaddress label already applied. This allows you to fill out the rebate form inyour car and mail the form in before you get home (where you are more likely toend up procrastinating or might even misplace the item receipt, UPC code, etc.).
Have you ever bought a food item only to find that something is drasticallywrong with the product (ie. the product is improperly sealed, has a staleoff-taste, etc.)?
Put the box aside and contact the company on the internet (or at the toll-freenumber that you can often find on the box). Accidents happen. Companies need toknow of poor product control issues so they can correct them and will often sendyou a coupon for a free replacement of the item.
Discount Food Stores and Warehouse Clubs
We’re a family of 2 adults, and have found it cheaper to get most of our basicfood staples from Aldi’s or Sav-a-Lot. (Especially cans of tuna, packages ofeggs, rolls of ground turkey, bars and slices of cheese, pork rinds for cookingand snacking, LC sandwich steaks (similar to Steak-Umms), LC hotdogs, creamcheese, etc.).
I’ve found Super-Walmart to offer good prices on no sugar added bacon, sourcream, and LC hotdogs (as well as Carb Countdown). You can find DaVinciSugarfree Syrup which can be used for LC sweetening and baking in the cookingaisle at TJ Maxx (or Marshall’s) which are nationwide. Super-Walmart also offersa much smaller selection of DaVinci Syrups if you have one nearby.
Hit the dollar store. You might be surprised how many low carb friendly foodsend up there (just check the expiration date on the package). Some of theproducts end up there as overstocks from distributors, some are discountedbecause of package design changes, and some of products are there because theyare being discontinued. Many dollar stores also offer inexpensive spices as wellas sugar-free cough and cold remedies (many diabetic medicines are WOEfriendly…check the label to be sure).
In some communities (like mine) there are even dollar supermarkets.
Big Lots also offers food on closeout, often at a good discount. Inventory canvary greatly from week-to-week, so if you find a good deal, you might want tostock up a little.
Consider joining a warehouse club. If it’s a perk of your job or you are likelyto do most of your regular shopping there, you might want to look into amembership at one of the clubs like BJ’s, Costco, or Sam’s Club. In some cases,you might be able to split the membership fee with a relative, friend, orneighbor.
Save Money on Vegetables (and Fruits)
In most supermarkets, the vegetable aisle is located near the entrance of thestore, so get ready to rumble.
To save money, don’t buy the pre-packaged salad in the bag. Get heads of lettuceand spinach and prepare it yourself at home, then place in a ziplock or seal upwith a food sealer.
For fruits and vegetables, try to buy in season or purchase frozen.
Try to eat the most perishable veggies first, then move on to the more durablevegetables (like squashes) later in the week.
Visit farmers’ markets near the end of the day. Sometimes the vendors prefer tomark down their vegetables instead of packing them up and taking them home! Itnever hurts to ask.
If you get an inexpensive food dehydrator from a garage sale or thrift shop, youcan easily dehydrate your own vegetables to make your own soup mixes, spices,and camping foods. Also, food dehydration allows you to stock up on a largequantity of vegetables while they’re in season and on sale so you can enjoy themyear round at no extra cost. Dehydration enables you to preserve most of theflavor, fiber, and the nutrients in your food and store your vegetables andfruits in nearly half the space.
If you are on OWL (or beyond), you can also dehydrate a variety of berries touse in flax muffins, your own LC trail mix (with no sulfites or sugar added), orWOE friendly desserts.
Canning can also allow you to stock up on sale produce and preserve it at itsbest. If you’ve never done it before (or you want to make sure your pressurecanner is working properly) your local Cooperative Extension (listed in yourphone book) usually offers inexpensive one day classes and free canner testing.
A food sealer can also come in handy for keeping sale foods fresh for short termstorage.
If you have a green thumb, grow your own herbs and vegetables and dehydrate,can, or freeze the surplus at harvest time.
Even if your thumb is as black as mine, you can still easily grow your ownalfalfa (and other) sprouts in your kitchen year-round. Basically (although youcan buy special sprouting devices or make your own…sprouters are usually verycheap at garage sales), all you need is a clean mason or mayonaise jar, a pieceof cheesecloth, a rubber band, some sprouting seeds (you can get these at anygood health food store), water, and less than 10 minutes a day.
Alfalfa sprouts are delicious raw or cooked in salads, lettuce and tuna (or nosugar added coldcut) rollups, fried in omelettes, etc. There’s a couple of goodsites on sprouting here and here.
Save Money on Meat and Poultry
Chicken and pork are usually less expensive than beef. When purchasing beef, buythe less expensive, fattier cuts. For poultry, the boneless cuts usually cost alot more. Buy bulk packages of meat on sale and divide into reasonable portionsat home.
Don’t fall for those alluring packages of marinaded meat or chicken encrustedwith savory spices. You will pay a premium for such items and you can easilymake your own marinade yourself. Also, such meats often contain hidden sugarsand starches.
To save money on hamburger, consider switching to ground turkey which has asimilar flavor (or if you prefer, you can mix ground turkey with ground beef toextend it). The best prices I’ve seen on ground turkey are at Aldi’s andSav-a-lot and it comes in a roll for easy slicing into burgers. The rolls alsofreeze well and can be stored in the freezer in a plastic container when they goon sale.
If you like more exotic meats (such as lamb and goat) visit the local store thatserves either the Greek or the Middle Eastern population, as the prices areusually lower. I’ve seen good prices on ground buffalo at PA Dutch farmers’markets and ground ostrich at BJ’s Warehouse.
Save Money on Fish
Canned fish (ie. tuna, crab, and salmon) is usually quite a bit less expensivethan its fresher counterparts. It’s always a good idea to keep a few cans oftuna on hand for those times you just don’t feel like cooking (or as quick anon-meat alternative for Catholics during the Lenten season).
A Few Other Food Ideas
Use canola oil instead of olive oil to economize on this WOE. Butter goes onsale a few times a year and sticks of butter freeze well in their originalpackaging when stored in a ziplock.
Shredded cheese often costs more than block cheese and may contain starches likecornstarch (to keep the cheese from sticking together).
Health food stores (and food coops) usually cost more than the supermarket,however the quality and freshness of the products may be worth the extra expensein some cases. (I’ve enjoyed great sales at my local health food store onspecialty cheeses and organic vegetables, and found the everyday price of goldenflax seeds to be lower than elsewhere.
Spice and tea prices are often comparable to similar products offered bysupermarkets but the quality can be much higher.
You can find a list of local health food stores throughout the U.S., Canada, andaround the world here.
Non-Foods
How much of your weekly budget literally goes down the drain (or into thewastebasket or recycling bin)? How much of your shopping budget spent on avariety of specific use cleaners? In many cases, humble (and inexpensive) itemssuch as vinegar, baking soda, and pine cleaner do as good a job (if not better)than their pricier counterparts and are a lot safer. There’s a good page onusing vinegar and baking soda around the house here.
Are items with bottle or can deposits on them ending up in the recycling bininstead of being redeemed? Those nickel or dime deposits can really add up overthe course of a year, so bring a bag of them to redeem on each shopping trip.
When you see a really good sale on paper goods such as toilet paper and papertowels, stock up. Properly stored, these items are quite durable, and purchasingthem at full price can have a major impact on your grocery budget. An easy wayto store them is in a large box in the top of a closet. Don’t store them underyour sink because seasonal condensation or a leak can sometimes damage or mildewthe rolls.
Need a particular kitchen gadget or small appliance and don’t quite have themoney? See if your area has a local Freecycle List. Members of this free e-maillist offer each other useful, working items free of charge on a first-come/first-serve basis. All you have to do is to pick the item up and it’s yours.
With a little elbow grease and ingenuity, you can afford this WOE!
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