The Grocery Gamble

Rising grocery prices are a huge concern for everyone, but especially those with larger families.  My family consumes food at a growing rate faster than the food budget.  Therefore I’ve recently started to really pay attention to what I buy.  We rarely buy any packaged products like mac n cheese or hamburger helper.  We’ve found we can make those meals cheaper, healthier, and tastier at home.  I’ve been asked before, so then what do you buy?  We buy fresh produce, dairy, milk, meat, pastas and canned goods.  I have a budget that I get in cash every payday and I use that to stock up on necessities we go through every day such as milk and cheese and I also use it to shop sales and stock up on things like sausage and canned goods when they are practically giving them away.  I do browse the coupons weekly, but I find that unless you are buying packaged goods, coupons really aren’t that handy.

I’ve started shopping about 5 stores routinely.  The first one that I don’t go to often is the Red Gold Factory Outlet.  Red Gold is a major manufacturer of tomato products here in the Indiana area.  They have an outlet store where you can buy first quality goods but also buy missing label and dented cans.  You buy by the case but it is worth the investment!  A big can of whole tomatoes, something I use frequently, is less than 60cents per can.  Considering that a can of whole tomatoes (28oz size) is well over a $1 at the store even on sale, this is a good deal!  I also buy ketchup, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes there as well.

The second store that I frequently shop is the Aunt Millie Thrift Shop While I can and have often baked most of our bread, with summer approaching it’s to hot to run the stove.  And the three amigos and Erich also eat copious amounts of raisin bread, whole wheat bagels, and english muffins.  I enjoy Aunt Millie’s bread because most of their products are HFCS free.  The $2/loaf bread only costs .89cents at the thrift shop.  This last week I bought bagels buy one get one free. And the english muffins were buy 1 get 2 free! They also sell Amish egg noodles. Yum.  If you have a freezer and/or use a lot of bread (we can easily go through 3 loaves a week!) then look for a bakery thrift store near you!

The third store I frequent is Sams Club.  I like to get there first thing when they open and head straight to the meat case.  I buy up hamburger, stew meat, roasts, pork chops, and steaks there when they are “reduced for quick sale.”  It’s the only way to roll my friends.  We also buy my husbands Monster drinks there.  He often drinks these at work in the afternoon.  If he runs to the gas station the price is $2.80.  At Sams we buy them buy the case and they come to roughly $1.33 each.  We also buy Mountain Dew there for the same reasons (though I will buy those at other places when they start “giving” them away at bargain prices!)    I also buy all of my milk at Sams.  At $2/gallon, it’s a good deal.  And Sams Club milk is now RBST free – a huge bonus in my book!  Considering the price is around $2.50-$3.00 per gallon at the grocery store, the savings is significant considering we can go through 12-15 gallons of milk every 2 weeks!  Other things I buy there are apples, bananas, grapefruit, strawberries, raspberries, potatoes, yogurt, tubs of magarine, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese.  I also buy dry spaghetti and macaroni there as well.  You do have to buy a lot of food at once, but when you use a lot of food it doesn’t really matter.   At least that’s what I tell myself.

The fourth place I shop is Aldi.  There I buy eggs, cream cheese, cottage cheese, chicken and beef broth,  sour cream, fresh mozzarella balls, pickles, bbq sauce, assorted baking supplies like flour and sugar, butter in stick form, and various canned goods such as green beans and corn.  I also buy cereal here as well as ramen noodles.  My kids and husband love ramen and it makes for a quick, cheap, easy meal once in a while.

The fifth place is a combo of Marsh (local Indiana grocery store) and Meijer.  I rarely ever shop Kroger, I’m just not a Kroger fan.  Though I do peruse those ads.  I only ever buy from the front page of the sale ads in these stores.  These are the “loss leader” sales.  They discount this food to entice you to come in to the store where they will then try and get you to buy lots of other things!  This week I’m headed there for the 10 for $10 sales.  They have sausage on sale and $1 for a pound of it is a good deal!  I also go into Marsh for things I have forgotten or can only get there (like beef consumme).  I try to limit these trips as they can start to drain my budget.  But sometimes leaving town (I live in a very small town and Marsh is the only option for grocery in town) is not an option or the price of the trip is more than the savings!

It sounds like a lot of shopping, and it is.  My 6 year old always comments on all the food we buy. But we try to make it a fun trip and also work together to put things away. And the three amigos are usually dying to get home and eat some of the yummy fruit or yogurt they got to buy at the store.  I generally treat them to lunch out at Sams Club while we are out as well.

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