But never fear! It is free grocery week. ::skippyhappydance::
We have $100 gift card to our local grocery store [courtesy of Pooldad being on call this weekend] and we need to restock our pantry and freezer. We are pretty low on everything due to the fact that I haven't been up to a big grocery shopping trip in a few months. Supplies do tend to dwindle. heehee
I do not like this "running on nearly empty" so tomorrow is the day. Any suggestions on what you would stock to have the basics on hand for weekly meals? I usually plan one to two weeks ahead and your ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)
Also any money saving tips would be wonderful. I know that groceries have gone sky high in the past year but with the inability to grow our own vegetables [to can] or raise livestock we are at the mercy of our local grocers. That is why the gift card is so sweet. :)
I am kind of excited to go and find some deals. I am off to check the weekly flyer, on line specials and my coupon stash. Hope y'all have a good one! See ya' on the flipside.
17 comments:
Hello Skippy, I'm a bit late. Went back to work yesterday and takes a bit longer to catch up. I agree, it's a pain when you run low on stock. Hope you'll have a great day shopping.
Eva
Gee whiz, I wish I had some good advice for stocking up and/or saving $$$. I always stock the freezer with frozen veggies and the pantry with lots cereals and spaghetti noodles, because our little guy loves noodles and sometimes that's all he'll eat. Also, gotta have flour and baking products on hand for pancakes, bread making, etc. Tuna fish is another common go to item for us, and we eat lots of eggs but can't really stock up too much on those since they have an expiration date. We eat them so fast here that it wouldn't matter.
I dream of the day when we buy a house and can plant a garden to grow our own produce. I'd also really like to have some chickens for eggs but right now we're at the mercy of the grocers just like you and, man, talk about prices going sky high. If only we didn't have to eat - we'd be filthy rich! I hope you enjoy your trip to the grocery store. Awesome that Pooldad got that gift card! :)
Oh, we need to go to the store too. No gift card here though. Lucky you.
Enjoy the spree! That's a great deal--$100 gift card for taking call. I don't do big shops very often, but I am due for a trip to Costco to stock up on things like T.P. and paper towels.
You Americans have way better grocery store specials and coupons than we do.
I don't know how to save money grocery shopping - other than shop at the cheaper grocery store - or buy in bulk when it's practical - and don't buy steak and lobster. Or processed foods.
I'm sure you are already doing all that and more.
I don't plan menus. This is probably not good but we just can't roll that way. We are very much of the having to wait and see what sounds tasty the day of. Thank heavens for freezers. I wish I had a nice big pantry though - it would be awesome to have a little more space to see what we have instead of having everything crammed into cupboards.
Grocery shopping is so depressing lately. The little grocer in town just remodeled and put in new coolers and revamped the little deli. They made better use of the space and as nice as it looks, I miss the old bargains. They do double coupons, so I try to match coupons with sales. But, most of the coupons are for processed foods and I don't do many of those. They are high in sodium and sugar, so you probably don't do them either. I am lucky to be able to have a garden and we get most of our veggies out of it. I am not much help, am I?
We like to buy whole chickens quite often. There's more than one meal in that.
I shop by my sale flyer too, but you kinda have to think of how to morph meals into second meals.
When roasted chickens go on sale for .69 cents a pound, I buy a couple - roast both of them up - have one for dinner one night - pick off the meat from both, then have chicken tacos with some of the meat and make chicken pot pies with the rest of the meat.
Then I'll use the skin and bones to make the base for chicken noodle soup.
When I do tenderloins, I chop up the leftovers for pork bbq sammies with cole slaw.
And you already know I am a soup whore, and winter veggies are on sale at my store for .29 cents a pound - roast up a bunch of butternut squash and sweet potato for soup bases with chicken broth.
I wish I lived closer to you - I'd help you cook! :D
What I would do is look at the store circular and see which items you get the best bang for your buck- is anything buy one get one free? Do you have coupons to match up? That is the way I would go. :)
i'm all about but BOGO free and coupons
Since our grocery stores always seem to have massive sales on chicken, I found that making a ton of confit chicken makes my life a lot easier. It keeps for weeks in a jar in the fridge, and you can use in all kinds of meals. And since it is slow cooked in olive olive is tastes great!
We have a few grocery store chains in the area. My favourite to shop at is Publix, while the biggest money saver is Save-a-lot. I never shop at walmart but savealot has stuff even cheaper than they do.
The cookbook "Saving Dinner" is a really good reference. She plans (healthy) meals by the week for each season, and gives you shopping lists, including a pantry list! It really is a good book to have around. I was so good about using it for a while, I have to get back to it!
We were down to an orange, 1/4 gallon of milk and yogurt on Sunday night. I had planned to grocery shop on Monday night... and then I got sick.
Needless to say, it's slim pickings around here as well. :)
I'd give you recipe ideas, but I'm not sure how healthy they are.
I'm guessing that you know about the websites that match the coupons up for you, with the specials that the stores are running... so you can see how much you are really saving. Also, have you checked into produce co-ops in your area? Don't ask me how to do it, because I haven't done it yet...but I want to. A friend of mine is setting one up or going to join one... I think she said the one she found was $15 every two weeks (with maybe a one time $25 joining fee), and they deliver to one house and then it is the groups responsibility to figure out delivery from there... but it might be worth checking in to.
Good on Pooldad for getting the gift certificate. Since hubby got sick we hve cut way back on grocery shopping. I used to do all my shopping at Save on Foods but now I only shop there on the first Tuesday of the month as it is 15% off plus they let me stack coupons. I can get a pretty good discount. Other than that I have been shopping at Wal-Mart and can definitely make my money go farther. We only buy our meat from Costco so I do that about every six weeks and come home and vacuum seal into packages. The vacuum sealer was a great investment as I no longer have to throw out freezer burnt meat. I also stock up when the case lot sales are on. I don't have a large storage space but we shuffle things around to get them to fit. As for recipes I use the Company's Coming cookbooks a lot and make most meals so that there are enough left overs for lunch the next day. Staples in my house are carrots, onions, celery, flour, sugar and spices. I love going pantry diving to see how creative I can get without having to run to the store each week. Happy shopping Skippy!
Hey Skippy! Awesome that you got a gift card! I HATE spending money on food. I would so much rather buy a cute skirt. :)
I buy meat only when it's on super sale. Then I buy lots and freeze. Meat the the most expensive thing. I also do lots of bean soups. it's filling, and healhful and has protein and it's CHEAP!
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