Grocery Store Savings

Check for a Farmer's Markets in the area. The vendors are local farmers selling their crop at wholesale prices. Be careful of produce stand vendors on the street, though. They purchase from farms, but then mark the prices up. They tend to be very expensive.

Plan Your Meals:

Planning your meals for each day of the week will save you a ton of time AND money! Your time at the grocery store will be reduced and sticking to a specific list will keep you from purchasing non-necessary items.

Check your coupons and plan your meals around your coupons.

Cook from scratch. Purchasing individual ingredients actually costs a lot less than buying pre-packaged dinners, frozen meals, or boxed pasta that only requires the addition of meat and water.

Account for leftovers. If you know that on Friday night you are roasting a chicken, plan on having chicken quesadillas for Saturday's lunch using the leftover chicken.

Keep an on-going list on your refrigerator or on the inside of your pantry so that when you run out of a staple item such as flour or sugar, you can make note of it and remember to add it to your grocery list.

Finding Coupons and Your Best Deals:

Search the internet for printable coupons. You will be amazed at how easy it is to find savings for your favorite brands online!

Most grocery stores have a website where you can find coupons and keep up to date on their latest deals! A "buy 1, get 1 free" deal really comes in handy when it comes to high-priced items like meat! Also, having coupons on items that are already on sale will be an extra nice bonus.

Call your grocery store and find out what days they have double or triple coupon days and shop on those days for double and triple the savings!

Stick to Your List:

Buy only what you need. Don't buy excess quantities of an item just because you might be saving on the larger size. If it ends up going to waste because you are bored with it or you forget about it, then you have wasted money. This is especially true when it comes to produce and purchasing too much of a specific fruit or vegetable.

Remember, grocery stores are designed to trick you into buying non-necessary items. Think about all the goodies you have to walk by just to get to a gallon of milk, or the sale items on the end of each aisle. Most tempting of all are the impulse buys at the counter where you find candy bars, batteries, magazines, etc.

More to Consider at the Grocery Store:

Shop on Wednesday morning. Sale items are usually set on Wednesday, so you might be able to get overlapping deals!

Check with your grocery store to find out when they get their delivery of produce. Picking the freshest produce will help it last longer in your home. Bonus if they receive it on Tuesday so that you can get the fresh produce AND the previously-mentioned overlapping deals!

Compare food forms. For example, fresh corn is typically more expensive than canned corn or frozen corn.

Make your meat stretch. Often times you can find less-expensive cuts of meat that taste just as savory and tender in your stews and stir fry as the more expensive, prime options.

Try buying meat in bulk then separating the portions out into ziplock bags to put into the freezer. Write the contents and the date you put it into the freezer directly onto the bag. A good rule of thumb is to throw them out after three months. The extra effort is worth it considering that meat only lasts a few DAYS in your refrigerator!

When buying cheese, purchase the brick form. Buying shredded or sliced cheese is much more expensive.

Consider grocery brand names. The quality is usually the same, and the nutritional value is set by federal law. For example, baby formula is one of the highest expenses in your shopping cart, but rest easy knowing that the store brand is just as good as the expensive name brands.

Save on Baby Formula:

Speaking of baby formula, another tip is to ask your pediatrician for samples of your favorite brand. They receive tons of formula from the manufacturer to hand out to their patients.

Sign up for free samples and coupons by visiting the websites of your favorite brands of formula. They typically send you free samples along with tons of coupons. Be warned, though, that even with coupons you might still save a fortune by choosing the store brand name.

Shop at Your Best Time:

Shop in the morning when the grocery stores are relaxed and quiet.

Eat before shopping. Going on an empty stomach will surely tempt you to buy unnecessary items.

Shop when you are not stressed or tired. We tend to pick up comfort foods and foods that are high in carbohydrates while in this state. We also tend to pick up foods that are prepackaged or processed, which cost significantly more than purchasing separate ingredients.

Shop when you have lots of time. You need time to comparison shop and to really think about what your best bargains are. If you try to hurry, you won't take the time to do compare pricing.

Shop alone! Your children are pretty persuasive when they bat those pretty eyelashes at you after seeing their favorite boxed cereal.

Keep an Eye on the Register at Check Out:

Often times, a sale item may not be in the computer. So watch to make sure each item scans properly!

Check your receipt after your purchase to make sure no errors were made. It's best to do it before you go home. Otherwise, who knows when you'll be motivated to go all the way back to the store to fix the error?

Be honest on your end, too! If there was an error that benefits you, be sure to speak up and return extra change. It's only fair.