Food is a wonderful part of life, nay, food is life! Namely, it can bring so much fun and happiness to your soul! On the flip side, it can bring a lot of stress or aggravation when you’re trying to eat well, healthy, and eat food that you enjoy. All the while, we are also trying to budget and avoid spending a fortune on food and it can drive a person crazy.

It is so easy to overspend on food. So, I’m going to share my tips that I use that help with our grocery budget. Every family is different and some of the things we do, may not work for you but maybe you can use some of my ideas and tweak it to fit your needs.

Tip #1 Meal Plan

Meal plan. Meal plan. Meal plan. If you want to cut your food costs, you have to plan what you are going to buy ahead of time. You can find more about meal planning here. I resisted meal planing for a while but then realized I definitely needed it in my life. Meal planning will not only save you money, it will also decrease unnecessary trips to the store. How many times do you go to the store to just get some eggs and you come back with 6 bags of groceries? I’ve been there!

Tip #2 Shop different Stores for Deals

I usually go to the grocery store on a weekly basis. Sometimes, I’ll wait two weeks. I shop at Sprouts, Kingsoopers (Kroger), Sams Club, and occasionally Safeway. I have found that certain types of foods are always cheaper at certain stores. Thus, I don’t have to constantly search for deals, I know that fresh foods are almost always cheaper at sprouts and so I go there for my produce and meat.

Sprouts: Weekly
Kingsoopers: Bi-weekly or weekly
Sams Club: 1-2 x per month

Sprouts

Typically, I get all my fresh produce, meat, milk and eggs at sprouts. (I also get my rolled oats at sprouts because I can get a 50 pound bag! For more info click here!) Sprouts offers really low prices on their fresh foods. I’ll go every week because most of our snacks that we like are things that we make or fruit (I’d love to say vegetables too but some of my kids still reject vegetables and question whether they are actually edible).

Kingsoopers

This store is my “go to” for certain pantry items like cereal, pasta, tuna fish, tortillas, chips, mayonnaise and certain canned items. I also purchase almond milk, yogurt, ice cream, plastic bags, and other random things I may need for meals. Another thing I love is their “5 for 5” deals. You can get an additional $5.00 off of your purchase when you buy 5 items that are included in their promotion (it’s great for cereal).

So, I typically shop at both Sprouts and Kingsoopers during the week. If you don’t wish to “Grocery hop” and avoid shopping at two separate stores, you could do grocery pickup from Kingsoopers. For instance, I have shopped inside sprouts and then on my home picked up my Kingsoopers groceries. Let’s be honest though, I usually forget to order my groceries and so I just shop at both stores!

Sams Club

I get the basics here because you can buy them in bulk. I buy baking ingredients, peanut butter, canned fruit (the big cans), canned food, chicken broth, seasonings and dog food. Occasionally, I’ll buy some snacks here as well. Here is a list of most of things I purchase at Sams Club throughout the year:

Oil
Seasoning
Vanilla
Yeast
Baking Powder/Soda
Salt
Sugar
Flour
butter and Peanut butter
lemon juice
honey
canned tomatoes
chicken broth
canned oranges and peaches
canned tomato paste
fruit leather
La Favorita Tortilla chips
Veggie Straws
Lotion and sometimes other toiletries
Diapers and wipes
toilet paper

Tip #3 Buy Meat in Bulk and use Less

Meat can be expensive but we love having it in our dinners. We buy meat in bulk when it’s on sale. Then, I divide it into 1lb to 1.5lb bags and freeze it. Call me crazy, but I try to always decrease the amount of meat in my recipes. I use vegetables or beans to substitute the meat. For example, when I make tacos with ground beef, I mix black beans into the beef and the mixture will feed more people. You may not have to do this, but when you want to cut costs, try cutting out some of the meat. It works!

Tip #4 Scratch Convenience and do the Work Yourself

This is tip is not an easy one. You may want to sit down for this one. Foods that are more processed or ready-made are more expensive because someone else is doing the work for you. I can’t make everything from scratch, hunt, butcher my meat, and plant a garden. That is not realistic for my life. “Who got time for that, yo?”

They charge you more for the cut mushrooms. Cutting mushrooms… easy! I can do that!

And did I mention that I don’t really want to hunt for my food? However, there are instances where I cut out the middle man and do it myself. I make my own bread most of the time, and occasionally I will buy meat that need some of the skin and bones removed. I like to make jam, granola bars or oatmeal cookies but I don’t want to make homemade chips or crackers.

You have to ask yourself what your time is worth and then go from there. We definitely have to find a balance between convenience and cost! But, you will save money if you cut down on the processed or ready-made foods.

Tip #5 Check the cost per ounce

I make my own tostada tortillas. I got the corn tortillas for 6.76 per ounce vs. the pre-made ones for 30.8 per ounce.

I am usually a price- comparing crazy lady! I scrutinize the price tags to try find the best deal. Yet, I gotta be real with you guys, I have definitely experienced some “frugal flops” because I misread the label or I was in a hurry and didn’t read the price tags. You can checkout the bacon incident on my instagram or on my Youtube video. I assumed my package of bacon was a pound and so getting it for $3.50 seemed great but it was only 10oz. Thus, I forgot to follow my own advice and I bought mediocre bacon at a higher price. Most stores provide the cost per ounce but it’s also easy to calculate yourself if you need. Don’t we all have our “bacon” moments!

(Check out my post on the best price per ounce for cereal here!)

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What do I spend on Groceries?

We budget $750 per month for food for a family of 8. That total includes all of our food which means any fast food stops come out of that $750. So, we don’t make go out to eat very much. So, I try to stay under $180 dollar a week on groceries. Not to mention, we also have a few people with dairy allergies and so we are buying some more expensive foods, like almond milk and coconut oil. This past week I scored big time at sprouts, I only spent $100 but was able to buy so much food!

Here are some of my major Sprouts Savings:

Pork shoulder for $1.20 per pound (I got a big pack of the meat to smoke and then we will save the leftovers in the freezer.)
2 lb Strawberries for $1.98
Raspberries $.88 cents per box
Grapes were $.77 per pound
Blueberries were $.85 per 6oz container
Bacon was $2.99 per pound
Pineapple was $.98 each

Enjoy your Food!

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