shopping_cart.gifOne of the areas I see people looking to save money is with their grocery bill. I think it is because we go shopping once a month and see a huge bill or we go every week or so and seem to spend more than we think we should for the length of time the food is in our house.

The biggest way to cut your food bill down is to plan ahead. Stop-offs on the way home from work for milk and bread are fine, but how much planning do you do when you are hungry after work and need to get groceries for the family for the next two weeks.

Tip I – Shop around. Loyalty to one supermarket can cost you as they will not have the lowest price for the item you will need every time. Some stores get in an over-supply and have to lower cost to make room or another store has the go ahead from the head office to drastically price reduce an item to spur interest.

Tip II — Cut out the middle man. Buy meat from rancher’s or eggs from farmer’s. Check out the local farmer’s market. Check orchards for seasonal deals and harbor docks to buy direct from fishing boats.

Tip III – Plan your route. Everyone works hard and rarely has time to set aside a couple hours to shop. Instead plan a route to work that takes you to the grocery store for perishables items or on the way home to pick up items fro ma store that is having good deals.. May stores are now open 24 hours if you have insomnia as well.

Tip IV — Go Generic. Team loyalty is for sports teams, not for food. Try the store brand, cheaper items and if you like them, continue saving money. Many of the plants who package the name brand items also package the store brand ones as well.

Tip V — Avoid Convenience Foods. If you are in a hurry try cooking with a crock pot instead of trying to make dinner after a hard day of work. Make it a family affair with home-made pizza or just have a breakfast for dinner.

Tip VI — Stay Up to Date. If if seems like prices at a certain store are going up, you may be correct. Keeping a log of regular items you buy and how much they cost can help you determine where the best price is when you receive the store flyers in the mail.

Tip VII — Do your Math. Figure out the unit price on an item. Bulk isn’t always the best deal, nor is bigger always better. I find that using a coupon with the smallest item can save me more when I buy 2-3 items at a time as opposed to the larger size

Tip VIII — Buy Big. When you do find a good deal on large items, buy the most that you can. This would include clearance items or meat/poultry department markdowns on “soon to expire” items that can be thrown in the freezer right away.

Tip IX — Get Rain Checks. If it is on sale and they are sold out, get a rain check. Many times sales are cycled every 6 weeks and waiting around the sale again may not come soon enough.

Tip X — Bypass Customer Limits. This means that every member of your household is a potential customer. If you see a good deal or have extra coupons but the store has a limit. Get help from family and friends. In the end, the store still makes the same amount of money.

Tip XI — Talk with the Insiders. The day before thanksgiving is a horrible time to buy a turkey, but if I hadn’t spoken with the meat dept. employee I would have never known that they were selling 20# turkeys for $5 last year. It pays to know someone who works there.

Tip XII — Double Up. Be aware of locations you can double coupons or use a store coupon with a manufacturer’s coupon to save even more money.