Comments on: The Buy Ahead Principle: One of my biggest grocery saving secrets

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Frost Free Chest Freezer - freezersite.info — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:22:55 +0000

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By: Freezer Chests - freezersite.info

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By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:40:13 +0000

If you are looking for a deep freezer, your first stop should be Craig’s list or similar classifieds. You can get a used one for free or very cheap. We got our dishwasher on craigslist for free because someone was redoing their kitchen in stainless steel and we were happy with their old white one. My first rule of cheap shopping is: I try first to get it for free or really cheap used, then if I can’t, I go retail and get it on the best sale or discount I can. This applies to clothes, furniture, tools, appliances, cars, toys, etc. Not usually food, free or cheap–yes. Used–no.

By: The Prudent Homemaker

The Prudent Homemaker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:32:55 +0000

For those who are trying to figure out target prices, make a price book so that you can know what your lowest prices should be. http://theprudenthomemaker.com/pricebook.aspx

By: The Prudent Homemaker

The Prudent Homemaker — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 01:28:29 +0000

Jenince

I have real vanilla on my shelf–three large bottles of it. I buy it at Sam’s Club (it’s not much more there than the artifical vanilla). It’s a good-sized bottle and one bottle can last me a while, even though I use it a lot. Cake flour cshould last 6 months to a year if you keep it cool. Salmon can be kept in the freezer, though some people keep the canned varities. I keep a lot of things on my shelves so that I can make a large variety of things.

If you use artichoke hearts, you can keep those on your shelf. If you use dutch-processed cocoa, keep that on your shelf. Stock up on what works for you.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 09:14:13 +0000

A few times on your blog I’ve heard you mention your “target price” for certain items. Do you have a list of these target prices or are they just in your head? Many times I see things on sale and just don’t haven’t been shopping on my own long enough to know whether or not its a good deal. I’m sure the target price fluctuate a little with the economy, but just curious as to some of your target prices for basic things. Might be a good post!!

Thanks!!

By: becky

becky — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:47:47 +0000

where do you get all your coupons?

By: becalive

becalive — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:12:33 +0000

its a small victory, but I am beaming I got 4 boxes of tissues for .55 yesterday. Its a small but significant start.

I have a request, prehaps you could do a post on obtaining bulk meat and a listing of some places. I am reading the comments above and I am amazed and somewhat jealous that there are people able to get grass fed meat for $3lb. In there area I live in, in OH the cheapest I have found is $5.5lb.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:28:47 +0000

Hi!
I have a question about coupon inserts. I’ve read here that you and some others pick up coupon inserts at the recycling bin. Where is this? The only one I know of around my area (Greenville, SC) is parked in the Wal Mart parking lot. And it states there is a $1000 fine for removing anything from it. I am currently buying 6-8 papers a week, but would love to pick them up for free.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:01:33 +0000

Rachel – you can probably store more than you think!! Take a typical 36 inch high bathroom cabinet. If you cabinet is full of bottles and containers that are only 8-12 inches high there is TONS of wasted space above that. By some space saving shelves to put inthose cabinets for storing extra tolietries, laundry detergents, cleaning supplies, etc. Also – removing unneccesary packaging will help a lot. Take the tubes out of the boxes. Take the cookies out of the colorful box. The bags inside the boxes are usually only half the volume of the box itself. Clip the bags (or use a ziploc) and toss them all in a clear easy access tub or container in the pantry. I have a tub/basket that I presort my kid’s snacks in. I take all the granola bars, dried fruit, etc. and dump the individual servings into one tub. It saves so much space and then they can reach in and get their own when it is snack time! I do the same thing in the fridge. I have all the fruit cups, yougurts, applesauce, juice boxes, etc. in one fridge drawer and the kids just grab it and go!

By: nina

nina — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:46:52 +0000

For those that are asking about spices… If there is a Penzey’s near you (mine is 2 blocks away), then you should subscribe to the free catalog. Each month they have a coupon on the front for a free jar of something. For May it was fresh ground pepper. I have tried several spices this way.

By: fairy dust

fairy dust — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:16:48 +0000

I’d just like to add that sometimes getting extra newspapers to grab the extra inserts seems like quite a bit of extra money and extra paper that doesn’t get used, so I’ve switched to a coupon clipping service (www.mycouponhunter.com). There are others out there, but Virginia – the owner – is wonderful to work with and has eliminated any required minimum. So when I read here on the blogs about the upcoming weekend inserts, if I see any great coupons that’ll work for me, I email Virginia and she looks out for those and emails me back when she’s listed them. I order, they come within a week and I can use them that week on the big grocery store sales.

My stockpiling isn’t terribly well organized yet, but I’m getting into the swing of it after reading all the great posts on this blog, and have at least amassed enough dish soap and high-end cat food to last into the next millenium – LOL!

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:15:54 +0000

I do the same thing, I use coupons, matched with sales to stock pile as much as I can as cheap as I can. My grocerys don’t make alot of sense at first glance either but in the long run those savings really add up.

I think the funniest look I ever got from my husband was when he helped me unload the groceries one day and I had bags and bags and bags of shampoo and conditioner, a total of 38 bottles, my husband said we can’t possibly need this much shampoo and conditioner, I said to him No not all at once but with my coupons and the sale I only spent .35 on each bottle, We haven’t had to buy shampoo or conditioner in such a long time and .35 each is just too good to pass up, besides its not like its going to go bad!!!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:04:50 +0000

I thought I remember you saying at one time that you do buy your eggs, milk and some of your meat from a local farm. Or maybe I’m just confusing your blog with another one:) I would also love to see a list of your target prices.
Thanks for a great site!

By: Ellen

Ellen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:50:00 +0000

Very good post. We’re a family of 6 and are trying to begin stockpiling. Question: how many months does it take before you can begin to see the true savings? I know buying produce/dairy/perishables will always be a weekly thing for us but the frozen/canned/boxed stuff and all the toiletries can really save a lot of $ once our stockpile gets to a ‘good’ point. Just wondering when that would be. (only doing this coupon thing for 2 months so far)

By: Brooke

Brooke — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:37:44 +0000

I, too, was a little concerned about the items on the table each month. Some deals we just skip all together (Easy Mac does me no good without a microwave), and I do get a little frustrated because I live in No. California and the deals are not quite the same as in other parts of the country. I’ve lived all over the country and even though CA grows most of the food and ships it to MI, for example, it is still cheaper in MI than in CA. Go figure.

Anyway, even without double coupons and totally avoiding Wal-mart (they’re just horrible here), and with Targets nearby that don’t offer the same deals as you all have and that are willing to throw down fists over coupon legalize, we feed 7 people on about $450 a month (just food). I think that’s really good. We eat a lot of fresh produce and I bake from scratch. I shop almost exclusively at Winco and Walgreen’s and the Farmer’s Market. Now that Winco is taking IP, it’s been really great! They have great (unadvertised) sales and the bulk section is a life-saver for spices and baking items.

You can only do what you can do for your family. I just can’t dedicate the time and energy of me and my brood of small kidlets to traipsing all over town. Simplify and realize this is one part of your life.

Thanks, Moneysavingmom for everything! I’ve learned a lot from you…

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:13:15 +0000

Jeneice- I have some ingredients that I just don’t scrimp on, like vanilla. The real stuff is cheap at TJ Maxx or Ross or Marshall’s sometimes. However, I usually buy it at Costco or Sam’s. It’s SO cheap there right now- about 5 dollars for a huge bottle- and I’m sure you know someone with a membership if you don’t have one, or they occasionally offer free one day memberships.

For cake flour- I only use it for a few really special cakes but you can sub all purpose with the right ratios (Dorie Greenspan says to reduce 2 tablespoons per cup).

I agree that the best thing to do is to cut costs where you can and use some of what you save for what you wont’ compromise on (like Heinz ketchup at our house!)

By: BeachyMum

BeachyMum — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:38:42 +0000

Exactly what we started doing four months ago ~ stockpiling ~ and it has been a *tremendous* blessing financially. I am an avid cook and thought that coupons were only for ‘junk’ food but was dead wrong. Indeed, there are no coupons for the farmer’s market in the Sunday paper…but after 2-3 weeks of committed couponing you realize what there *is* and what you’ve been missing!!

This week I spent $8 on groceries…I have stockpiled to such a degree that I simply didn’t need a thing, only some fresh broccoli and tomatoes. So, there was no guilt when I took the kids to Bruster’s yesterday for the ‘start of summer’ and spent $10 on ice cream (my local Bruster’s wasn’t doing the kids’ free cone special).

Groceries in my area of Florida are notoriously expensive, but between the Grocery Game website (great for those trying to figure out stockpiling), excellent blogs such as this one and real knowledge of your own market’s prices you can save a small fortune on household shopping. I have enough toilet paper to last until Christmas + cleaning products for the next year or two…all quality brands that were free or under $1. Enough diapers to last for 6 mos or so, thanks to the infamous $5 Huggies coupon + great CVS rewards deal….etc, etc, etc.

As for the question about freezers, I *strongly* recommend the GE frost-free upright model ~ I purchased with savings from stockpiling ~ the thought of defrosting a deep-freeze with three young children (and another on the way) was inconceivable.

LOVE this blog!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:37:55 +0000

And don’t forget, the “buy ahead” principle can be applied to other areas of your life, too, most notably for me – clothing for the kids! I try to find stuff at end-of-season clearances in the next sizes for my kids and go ahead and buy them up and put them in the back of the closet for next year. You can save *tons* of money that way!

By: Shelly

Shelly — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:30:50 +0000

I have been doing this since the beginning of the year and I think you either ‘get’ it or you don’t. For the people who are concerned about saving money while still wanting to buy expensive things I think the question is really, why do you want to save money? What is your goal? Our goal is to pay off our house in three years. We are already debt free (following the Dave Ramsey plan, modified). So for us, eating a few ‘boring’ meals here or there is very much worth obtaining our goal. We still try to eat healthy and I do believe that there are ways to save on gourmet/expensive foods (Costco for us). If you want to continue eating a certain way because it works for you then, by all means, keep on the same path. But if you have a financial goal you’re trying to reach, you will possibly need to change your habits a bit.