Grocery Mama

Check your Albertson receipts for Customer Survey

I went to Albertsons this week to scoop up some of their $1 deals.

At the bottom of my reciept I saw a customer service survey. As an incentive of calling and taking about 3 minutes to respond, you can get either a Free French Bread or Reusable Grocery Bag.

I'm getting the Grocery Bag. Go Green!

Save money - buy just what you need

 
I'm making Tarragon Chicken this week. Guess what spice I don't have? That's right - tarragon!

Instead of going out and buying a container of a spice I haven't used in years and my not use again, I'm buying just what I need. Many natural stores, such as Whole Foods, Sprouts and Natural Grocerers, have bulk bins of spices.

I measured out the amount of tarragon I needed and paid $0.44. The cheapest bottle of spices was $3.99. So I saved around $3.50 by simply buying what I needed!

If you can't use it . . . leave it

I'm talking about . . . coupons. Yep, think of them as warm fuzzies for the next person.

I'm not saying to leave a ton around the store and make a mess for the employees. But if you happen to have an extra coupon, or one that you aren't going to use, then leave it by the product.

If you know of a good sale and can print out the coupons, print on to purposely leave behind for someone else to use.

You never know what little goodies you may find waiting for you!

Sign up for my Interactive Grocery Class

I am hosting an online interactive Grocery Class. Learn how to save big on your gocery bill!

Class is February 17th, 6:30-8:00 pm Central Time (starts at 7:30 est, 5:30 mst or 4:30 pst).

Tickets are $10 each. You just need a Stickam account (this is a free web streaming site.) and your computer and you are good to go!

You can Buy your Ticket Here!

I will be having more classes coming up. I'm really excited to be expanding on the web!

I am looking for sponsors for giveaways. If you are interested in this, please contact me at [email protected]!

Holidays - great time to stock up on baking supplies

Ah, the holidays are coming! Be sure to keep an eye out for sales on baking supplies.

You may be wondering if you can store flour if you don't use it all for those cookies and cakes now. You can actually store flour for up to 7 months.

Here's how:

1. Put flour in strong plastic bag. If bag is packaged in paper, put the whole bag inside a plastic bag.
   
2. Remove excess air from bag.
   
3. Freeze flour for two days, 48 hours, to kill off weevils or insect eggs in the flour.
   
4. Store flour in plastic container with tight fitting lid. Keep in cool, dark place to prevent insects from getting at the flour and to prevent sunlight from spoiling the flour.

Tips:

1. Keeping flour in the refrigerator will prevent spoiling.
   
2. Keep your storage area clean to prevent insect infestation.
   
3. Multiple 5 pound bags of flour can be frozen individually and stored in a plastic lined, clean trash can with tight-fitting lid.

So stock up!

New Store - Check it out!

The grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market opened in my area today, so I thought I'd go check it out. Since I do buy organic as much as possible, I was eager to see if they had better deals on sometimes expensive items.

Before I went, I checked out their ad online. Wrote down a few items on my list and even had some coupons in hand. What I was excited to see was the bulk bins. The bins contained granolas, trail mixes, rice, sugars, flour and nuts to name some categories.

Since it was the official grand opening - the store was super crowded. Good for the store, but not so fun to check everything out. I do want to go back soon to see all that the store has to offer.

Some things to find out before going to a new grocery store concerns coupon policies and other ways the store manages pricing. If you can't find it online, don't be afraid to call and ask.

Here are some of my questions I'll call with:

What is your coupon policy? Or more specific is - do you accept online coupons? Do you accept coupons at all? Do you double them and to what amount?

What Does BOGO mean to your store? Sometimes, BOGO (buy one get one free) will mean both items are half price. So if you only buy one bogo item, that one is half the original cost. Or the store could price the bogo items as the first item is rung up as full price and the second item as free. Know which is which so you don't forget your free item.

2 for Price items? Most stores, if they have pricing of 2 for $4, one item will ring up as $2. Make sure this is the case. That if you only buy one it's $2 and you don't have to buy 2 items to get the sale price.

Also, ask if there are special bonus days or extra sale days. The better you know your store policies - the more money you will save.

Check out new stores as they come in your area, or others you may not have visited yet. You never know what savings you may find!

When Making the Weekly Menu – don’t forget lunch!

Many times when I talk about menu planning, dinner seems to be the only meal that comes up. But you eat much more than that! Those snacks you just throw in the cart, the crackers, bread and other items you think as a side note adds up!

Plan for your lunch. If I make enough of something I jot down on the menu that I’ll have that for lunch. I work at home, so it’s easy for me to avoid the running out for some fast food. My husband works outside and is on the road going from job to job. If he doesn’t pack a lunch, he’s going through the drive through. Not only is this an unhealthy option, but those daily purchases cut into the grocery budget.

If you have kids at home, this is also essential. Peanut butter and jellies can only go so far. Make sure to plan for the little guys. I’m working on some fun kid lunch ideas for another post, but for ideas you can always google fun kid lunches.

You can buy a loaf of bread, some lunch meat, box of crackers and some fresh fruit all for around $10 a week. This makes enough lunches for my hubby to take with him. Fresh, healthy and for a weeks worth of food, costs what one lunch out would.

If you have some great frugal lunch ideas I’d love to hear them. Please post a comment. I’ll be adding another post soon of cheap healthy (and tasty!!) lunch ideas!

Don't Forget your Calculator

One thing I try to have with me when I head out grocery shopping is a simple little calculator.

You can use it for one of two things, 1. to calculate the cost of each item to determine the best buy or 2. to keep a running total of what you are spending.

When I say calculate the cost of each item, I'm talking about what each serving or item costs per package. Why is this important? Sometimes two boxes will look the same, same price, same shape. But one box holds more (you can check out how many servings and the serving sizes on the side panel). You would get more for your money with the box that holds more.

You can also use the calculator to have a running total of what you were spending. I don't factor in tax, but I don't include my coupons either. That way, when I hit my budget limit, I know I come in under when I hand over those money saving pieces of paper!

I don't always do the running total though. Most of the time, I will only use this if I have a very specific amount I can spend.

Though if you plan your list before you go, you shouldn't have to worry about going over budget! The calculator helps you make those little choices that can save a few pennies here and there. But as you know, those pennies add up!

The Power of the List

I make up a detailed list before I go grocery shopping. I mark which item I have a coupon for, so I know to pull it out before I get to the register.

My list includes the brand name (even if it's the store brand) and how many I'm going to buy. I usually do the grocery shopping, but it just so happened that last night my husband got to go instead.

I handed him the list and a stack of coupons and off he went. Now, shivers run down my spine as I have flash backs of when he used to go grocery shopping. He came back with a ton of stuff and at least $50 over budget. But we have both been reformed!

He came back and happily announced that he used the coupons and followed the list! Yes, he did buy a few items that I wouldn't have. But all in all, he managed to save over $50 and come in budget!

Which not only shows why a good list is needed, but that when it comes to saving money grocery shopping, the whole family needs to be behind it.

If I have to take my 4 year old grocery shopping with me (which I try not to do at all costs!), he says "we're not going to buy this cuz it's not on the list!"  Oh what they learn when they are young!

But because my family has chosen to grocery shop wisely, we are able to do other things! We eat healthier and spend time doing fun things instead of using our extra money to eat out because nothing is defrosted!

Yes, the list is a powerful thing! Take some time to draft a good one and it will save you money and time!

Waste Not . . . Save Money

I read an interesting article in Sunday’s Parade Magazine. It highlighted the amount of food that went to waste in grocery stores and that the consumer was paying for that waste.

According to the article, grocers waste around $20 billion of food each year. Combined with what we throw away in our homes, experts think that annual number is closer to $48 billion. Some stores are beginning composting programs. It would be interesting to find out what your local store is doing as well.

While I think it would be beneficial if we all encouraged our local grocers to start compost or some kind of recycling program for the wasted food, let’s concentrate on what we can do for our own homes.

Here are some ideas, if you have more, please post a comment!

Know when items expire: When you come home from the store, check the expiration date. If it will expire before you use it, put it in the freezer. This is huge for meats especially when you buy them marked down. This is because they are approaching the sell by date. Either cook them right away or freeze.

Have a Leftover night: I know this is a continual theme for this blog. But leftover nights allow you to eat those tasty meals you made through out the week. This saves you a night of cooking and all that food from going in the trash.

Start your own compost pile: There are many resources on the internet, as well as books, to help you start your own compost pile. Be aware of what you can put on this pile and how you will use it.

Buy Less: What are you throwing away most of? Sometimes we get in a rut of what we think we need. Chances are, we actually don’t or even not at all. For instance, I thought I just had to have bread in the house. So I bought some every week. But each week I was throwing it away because it got moldy. We didn’t use it. So now, I only buy bread when I plan on making sandwiches or eating it with breakfast. And I only buy one loaf. Some weeks, I don’t buy bread at all. I use the leftover biscuits and tortillas I made for dinner.

Plan for the food you buy: This is where meal plans come in handy. When you know what you are going to make each night and what you need for them, you can know what NOT to buy. If you aren’t going to use it – don’t buy it. Buy only if you plan on freezing and using on a later date.

Waste does happen, even with the best intentions. Plan to use what you buy and you’ll end up wasting less money, which is the ultimate goal!