I don’t believe in skimping on good food, but my supermarket bill yesterday has forced me to confront my inner cheapskate.
My weekly shopping bill is usually just over $130, with a few odds and ends picked up midweek and the occasional meal out. This week, however, the tab was almost $165—a 27% increase. I rechecked to see if we had bought something pricey like steak or wine. No and no. The escalation of food costs has made news virtually daily, and according to the Consumer Price Index, food costs have increased more in the first quarter of 2008 than they have since 1990—and there’s no sign of them heading south anytime soon.
Some of my big-ticket items were cage-free eggs ($5), organic milk ($3.50), imported cheese ($4.50), artisan seven-grain bread ($5.50), and New Zealand apples ($6). And I don’t want to give most of them up.
So I researched some ways of putting my grocery shopping on a diet without ruining my healthy diet. I refuse to either spend Sundays clipping coupons or head to big-box retailers, where you can easily save 30% or more on food items, so here is what I’m doing to trim some of the fat from my weekly shopping budget.
Make a List
According food marketing specialist Phil Lempert: "Surveys of supermarketguru.com readers show that list makers spend 40% less when grocery shopping." Now I hope I can stick to only what’s on the list.
Brown Bag It
Unlike my mother, who loves to cook and prefers cooking to eating out, I am not much of a cook. However, the best way to s-t-r-e-t-c-h my food budget is to eat in more often. My takeout lunch is around $10, but I can make a sandwich or have soup and salad at home for around $2.
Shop Full
I’m usually pretty disciplined when I go food shopping, but when I’m hungry I wind up with a cart filled with foods that curb my carb cravings: snack bars, pretzels, and more crackers than I know what do to with. These convenience foods are among the most expensive in the supermarket and add little nutritional value to my diet. So next time I go shopping, I’ll avoid temptation and go on a full stomach.
Eating Green to Save Green
I’m going to stick to my vegetarian ways even more so now, because the foods that cost the most per serving are high-quality proteins (aka beef, poultry, and seafood). Consider this: Salmon costs about $.62/ounce and beans cost .$04/ounce, making the salmon 15 times more expensive than the beans. And, when I do eat meat, I’ll make it go further financially by adding in a lot more vegetables to the dish.
Head to the Farmer’s Market
I’m going to try to kick my daily New Zealand apple and South American banana habit. Living in California means that I have great locally grown berries available right now, as well as plenty of veggies. Eating in season can save you $2/pound on many fruits and vegetables. Right now, I can get fresh California-grown strawberries for less than $1/pound, whereas imported blueberries from Chile were $20/pound at the supermarket! Since berries deliver similar nutritional benefits, I’ll take the strawberries, thank you.
Compare Prices
Using the unit pricing system (shelf tags), I can do my own price checks on comparable items to see which offers the best deal. Unit pricing provides the price per standard unit, often one ounce. For example, I found Tropicana orange juice costs $.09/ounce but the exotic pomegranate-blueberry juice next to it was .25/ounce—more than twice the price. In the cereal aisle, most big brands were around $.30/ounce but store brands were about $.15/ounce, or half the price.
Let me know if you’re feeling my pain in the pocketbook, too—and what you’re doing to save some green when shopping.
Comments (10)
I save money at the supermarket by prepackaging my own convenience mixes, such as pancake, waffles, muffins, etc. I started this to avoid as many additives as I could, but found that it also saves money.
I’m certainly drinking cheaper wine these days!
Besides using coupons – only for products I really need – I have a 3 step system that cuts down on waste.
1-I try to use up whatever I have in my freezer or cupboard first to put meals together, rather than heading out to buy more ingredients. 2- Before going shopping I organize my cupboard/frige/freezer to see what I have on hand so I don’t buy duplicates/triplicates of items already on-hand, so I just buy what I need to fill in.
3 -When my fridge is pretty empty then I buy for just 3-4 meals ahead. If I buy too much at one time, we don’t always manage to eat everything up before it spoils.
So far I haven’t given up on quality products or gourmet products that we really enjoy … but at least I don’t throw good food out anymore.
I’ve switch some of the brands I use to get the buy one get one free products. Store brands do save me money and I use my coupons also. Sometimes you can get some good buys at the drugstore and if you have a coupon, I’ve saved even more. My drugstore will print out a savings coupon of either $2-$5 dollars, this helps also in purchasing over the counter items.
I’m shopping in the local discount grocery for canned items, staples, and local produce before moving on to the upscale chain grocer. Savings can be 25%!
Clipping coupons and taking advantage of sale price items available at stores in our area are a must for our household.
We don’t spend valuable gas money to drive to a store for just an item or two, even if they are on sale. We try to anticipate our needs ahead of time.
We purchased a chest freezer and created a sizeable pantry. That enables us to buy + stock up on items when they’re on sale at reasonable prices.
When we are running low on a particular product, I add it to the shopping list that I created on my computer, using Excel.
The 1st column includes mfg names and product descriptions, broken down by category.
The categories I use are: dairy, veggies/fruits, canned foods, boxed/bagged foods, gen. household goods,frozen foods, breads/bakery,grooming products and RX items.
The 2nd column indicates packaging (i.e.: 1/2 gal. ctn, 32 oz jar etc.)
The 3rd column shows the quantity to buy (i.e.: buy 2 ctns, buy 3 jars etc.)
The 4th column shows pricing (i.e.: buy 1/get 1 free; $1.99/jar etc.)
The 5th column indicates ‘mfg coupon’ or ’store coupon.’
We place the coupons for that shopping trip in an envelope & staple or paper clip it to the shopping list. (Why wait until you’re at the store to search for appropriate coupons in a coupon container?)
Today’s shopping in that manner saved us 20% but sometimes it’s MUCH MORE.
We live in a metropolitan area where we have a variety of stores to select from. We determine which store we’ll shop at this week, based on which store has the best values.
We almost never pay full price for ANYTHING.
If you use a coupon AND the item is marked down, you save so much more! It takes time but it’s worth the effort!
I have a clipboard with built-in calculator, so can carry my shopping list, put the coupons I’ll be using under the clip, and calculate the unit price to compare size/coupon/store brand pricing to chose the best deal. IF you have room to store a shelf-stable item, the biggest package may be best buy, but not always — you have to do the math.
For versatility, start with unflavored items (plain white rice for instance) so you season it to go with any dish. Rather than pre-seasoned mixes, which are always more expensive AND have excessive packaging. I like freeze dried herbs such as the Lite House brand (shelf stable and no waste, so worth the cost).
Hey Vivian,
You’re in charge of my grocery shopping from now on! That’s great organization.
Sean
I’m with you on beans; I’ve stocked up on dried versions of my favorites and plan to think ahead about meals instead of following my whims day to day. And — the price of a baguette from my neighborhood’s specialty grocery store seems ridiculously high lately — over $3! (According to a recent NY Times article, the French are feeling the same pain…) I’m planning to start baking my own bread. I might even attempt Julia Child’s recipe in Mastering The Art of French Cooking…
Bean and egg tacos baby – they are easy and cheap to make, and boy are they delicious! I have also become a fan of frozen vegetables, they are frozen as soon as they are picked and therefore retain their nutrients. Also, I have come to discover that intenational produce markets are cheaper than your chain grocer, and their produce is varied and beautiful. I know this has been said, but again, I plan a menu ahead of time, and stick to it, and whatever we have left over I either freeze or we eat it again for dinner. Another tip, is to keep your menu simple and always shop for produce that are in season!