Savvy Supermarket Shopping

Hi guys! First, lets all just take a moment to get past the fact that I haven't posted in a little while....

Ok! Now that we're past that, today I want to talk about grocery shopping. When I was living at home with my parents I used to do the grocery shopping for the family. In order to save my parents some money I would try to buy all the generic brand foods or shop on sale. Once I got married and started shopping for my husband and I, I used the same technique. I thought our grocery bill would be inexpensive because I was only shopping for two. I soon got a rude awakening. The bill wasn't as cheap as I was expecting it to be. I had blew my budget and I wasn't even done shopping yet. After complaining to my husband about it I decided to do some research on how to save on your grocery bill.

Instead of only shopping at one place I rotate through 6, depending on what I need and whose got it on sale. I know that sounds like alot but each place has its benefits. Four of them are my main "go to" stores and the other two are places I go to when there's either a big sale or I need something that the main four don't carry.

The first store I visit is the DollarTree.

One of my best friends turned me on to this one (Thanks Morgan). When I shop at Dollartree I pick up condiments, rice, noodles, spaghetti sauce, basic spices, bread, cleaning supplies, frozen vegetables, chicken thighs and even eggs. Yup, thats right, the DollarTree has a refridgerated and frozen section. I can't go on enough about how great the DollarTree is, it has saved us so much money and you'd be surprised at the selection they offer. I didn't even list all of their offerings. Try it and see for yourself, trust me you will not regret it.

Up next is Costco.

I just love this place. I could literally walk up and down their aisles for hours. They have pretty much everything. When I shop here, its usually to stock up on meat, I may pick up other things but only on occasion. I buy my meat in bulk and then separate it into smaller portions and then cook it as I need it. Buying in bulk is also good because you don't have to shop as frequently, plus its cheaper. Its also good to shop here when you have a deep freezer to store all of your bulk items in (Hint to Superman, Christmas is swiftly approaching).

After Costco is Aldi.

I mentioned this place in a previous post. Aldi is great because it like a regular grocery store but with discounted prices. However, the shopping experience here is a very unique one. First, in order to get a cart you have to insert a quarter into a chainlink thingy that keeps the carts locked. Once you put the quarter in, the cart is popped free. They also don't have coupons since their products are already discounted and you bring your own bags or boxes to carry your groceries out in, if you don't you'll have to buy bags from the store at $0.10 a bag. I made this rookie mistake on my first trip to Aldie lol. I should also mention that when you return the cart to the chainlink contraption you get your quarter back. Anyway, when I shop here its usually to get things like milk, stuff for baking, butter, cheese, frozen juice concentrate, fruits, veggies and other pantry items.

The fourth place is my neighborhood farmer's market.

Here I pick up fresh produce like sweet potatoes, white potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini and squash. While I do buy produce at Aldi, the farmer's market sells some things cheaper than Aldi does. I can a small box of the previously mentioned items for $1-$2. They also have other unique items from specialty chutneys to homemade skincare products.

Ok that sums up the main four, now I'll tell you about the other two.

The first is Harris Teeter.

I just recently started shopping here. Another good friend of mine told me about this one (Thanks Jessica). I shop at this one because their sales are always great. The special thing about their sales is that they don't just mark certain items down, they also do "buy one, get one free," and the kicker..."buy two, get three free." Yeah, I know, pretty amazing right? Anyway I signed up to get the store emails, so every week I check to see whats on sale that we need and I head on over.

Lastly, there's Shoppers Food Warehouse.

This is where I shopped when I shopped for my parents. However, now that I'm only shopping for two now, I only shop here when they have a good sale on something I need or if I need a certain ingredient for a recipe I'm making.

So now that you know where I shop, here are a few of my shopping strategies to help me save even more:

• I don't shop when I'm hungry


• I take inventory of what I have, I make a list and I stick to it


• I don't use coupons for things that I don't buy on regular basis, otherwise I'm not really saving anything


• I scan the sales papers to see who has what I need on sale before I go shopping


• I buy the generic brands. They taste just as good as the name brands to me


• I almost never buy junk food. It saves me money and extra pounds


• I don't buy anything pre-cut, sliced or shredded, I'd rather spend more time on something than more money


• We pack our lunch more than we buy it


• I try to either use leftovers for lunch the next day, freeze them or I re-use them in another recipe

Do you have any savvy supermarket shopping tips to share? Don't be bashful, I'd love to hear them.

XOXO,

TNB