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Friday, March 25, 2011

Smart shopping on the "hard" stuff...

3:42 PM | Posted by MamatoIS | | Edit Post
I've made a few surprising revelations this month regarding grocery shopping and my $200 budget.  Yes, it is cheaper to eat UNHEALTHY ( now hold on... I'm not saying that we have).  Not a shock to anyone that prepackaged/processed foods are cheaper and have a longer shelf life.  Well, GOOD NEWS here are a few tips in smart shopping for eating healthy.  I made a statement earlier in the month about a great trip I had planned for Whole Foods.  I usually shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's twice a month.  I don't live close to either one, so I make these "special" trips to buy mostly organic healthy options and to browse.  Well, I didn't make it at ALL so far this month and to be honest I ripped up my shopping list.  This is my new revelation...KROGER'S ever-expanding "health food" aisle, and  Mambo Sprouts HERE is a great website for Organic coupons.
Look for manager markdowns.  







Here are my tips for making the most of manager markdowns:
  • Find out the markdown schedule – Find out what days your local store generally marks down the items in the meat and dairy sections. For example, do they always markdown on Mondays and Thursdays? Shop the same-day as the markdowns to get the best selection.

  • If there are coupon savings, they are generally store coupons – Some times, especially on meat products, the manager markdown stickers says a certain dollar amount off. For example $2 off for quick sale. These are store coupons, so if you have a manufacturer coupon, you can use that too (this happens a lot for cheese or deli meat).

  • Check the dates – Don’t assume that they are close to their expiration dates. Markdowns can happen for lots of reasons – packaging changes, overstock, etc.

  • Freeze meat – If I find meat that is dated within a day or two, I’ll take it home and freeze it immediately. Remember when you go to defrost it that you should use it immediately after defrosting.

  • Know the good spots to look – My favorite place to look for markdowns are the deli counter cheese section, lunch meats, sausages, yogurt and milk. Some stores have a specific “clearance” or markdown section.

  • Make the call based on your comfort level – Use your best discretion on the viability of dairy products that are close to date.  When in doubt, throw it out. Meat is another story all together – it’s recommended you don’t take risks on PAST-dated meat. It should be frozen or cooked by the date on the package.
Cheap Basil=LOTS of fresh Pesto (and plenty to freeze)


What's so magical about Kroger?  Well don't forget they double coupons!  This has really saved my budget this month.  I actually had (3) $.50 off coupons from a Kroger home mailer for the basil that doubled to $1.00, making the Basil $.52 cents each.  I buy organic milk weekly and have never paid full price.  **My Kroger will also "special order" in any item that you ask them to.  If the store has a high demand for it, they in turn will stock it.  I LOVE Udi's bakery items, which my store ordered for me and are now stocking the bread :)


  • Another important point to factor in...when I shop at the health food stores I tend to wander, browse, and buy new items I've never tried which almost always leads to overspending.
Amazon Grocery Shopping:
So remember my post about the great baby deals on Amazon using Subscribe and Save?
Here it is... in case you need it as a refresher :)  The same Subscribe and Save methods can be used on the grocery items, and Amazon has a great selection of organic options.  
I recently purchased these (6) Boxes of cereal from Amazon for $5.63 cents TOTAL (the cost of 1 box at the grocery).  They are delivered for FREE in 2 days.  Select Subscribe and Save and you’ll get 15% off plus free shipping. Don’t click “add to cart”, you want to do the Subscribe and Save to get the 15% off. (This can be canceled after your order ships.)

**One last "trick" that I have started doing at the Grocery.  WEIGHING all of my produce.  It has made me so much more aware of the cost of produce and allowed me to "correct" my spending.  I recently grabbed a large bag of organic grapes.  When I weighed them and calculated the final cost there was NO WAY I could afford them based on my $50.00 a week budget.  I grabbed a smaller bag and we were just fine :)  Try it out...you might see a difference!

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