Among my many, many resolutions for Twenty-Ten:
Stop spending so much at the grocery store.
The first thing I did was vow to NEVER step foot in a Sobeys, or Loblaw, or No Frills, or Costco with an empty stomach. I realized that I always end up spending hundreds of extra dollars because of my stomach. Yes, hundreds.
The second thing I have started doing is sitting down and actually planning my meals once a week, I make lists and buy ONLY what is on the list.
And I have started coupon clipping. OH MY, have I started coupon clipping. And I actually have myself a little lovely filing folder and I have all the coupons arranged by expiry date. It comes in super handy. I buy things when they are on sale. And I buy staples in bulk.
Oh, and I have even started comparison shopping. Sure, it takes a little bit of extra time to buy milk at once grocery store and buy eggs at another, but the way my family goes through milk? TOTALLY WORTH IT.
Lastly, I buy some store brand stuff. Note that I said SOME. There are some places I will not budge – – like ketchup or cereal or Q-tips. But some store brand items are great, and significantly cheaper.
What about you?
What do you do to keep your bills down?
I too am a big fan of grocery lists and planning meals. We kept track of all the different meals that we had over about a three month period and wrote all of them down so that it’s even easier to meal plan if were stuck for ideas.
couponmom which company do you mystery shop for? I think I would actually enjoy something like that.
I agree that using coupons makes a difference and saving them for sale items is a plus. Looking for reduced fruits, veggies, yogurt and other items is a must. Also, I do some mystery shopping so this helps too. As mentioned, there are websites especially smartcanucks.ca that help you find great deals and some freebies. I like Smart Canucks cause we help each other get the most with our $$ and it’s a friendly user site!
The biggest thing I have done is do most of my shopping at Farmers Markets. If I just need fresh produce, I go there. Otherwise I spend ten times what I planned at Superstore even if I only had intentions of buying produce. If there are items on sale in one of my “danger stores”, I either get DH to get it or I shop alone and only get that item. I stock up on sales so I have a large food pantry which allows me to go long periods of time without having to buy essentials. I also save coupons. I was able to get 1L bottles of ev-olive oil for $6 last week with coupons and sales (regular $12 a bottle!). I often get big packs of yogurt for a dollar or two when it is half off and using coupons.
I make my own bread in the bread machine (I used to do it by hand but I found out I am gluten intolerant and even handling it makes me sick; it was the best $50 we’ve spent and I use it daily, even for pizza dough and homemade hot dog and hamburger buns. It makes a loaf in an hour so no long waits 🙂 ). I make everything from scratch that I can unless I can get it cheaper otherwise. We currently have 2 freezers but we’ll be going to one by summer and we plan to get a side of beef and pork when most of our freezer meat is gone. I can and preserve in the fall.
This week I spent $30 on groceries for a family of 4 and that included a little stocking up. Some weeks I spend $100 when there are a lot of good sales. Food is pretty expensive here so it’s quite an accomplishment for me to spend so little 🙂
I am a couponer and it can really help, here are some websites to check out:
save.ca } they mail you coupons
gocoupons.ca } they also mail you coupons
smartcanucks.ca } website that talks about couponing, deals and saving money.
Hope someone can find something useful on these sites!
I too was spending heaps of money at the grocery store. I’m not a coupon person. I may clip the coupons, but even if they make their way into my purse I never remember to use them. I do agree with your menu planning idea. I started planning our dinners a few months ago, and wow, I can’t believe how much money I am now saving. It not only keeps me organized and saves us money but my kids love it too. I post a weekly menu calendar in our kitchen. My kids love knowing what we are having next and even make suggestions for future weeks.