How to Save Money While You Shop

I read today that 70% of families are finding it harder to eat healthy because the good stuff simply costs more. I’m certainly more conscious of how quickly the grocery bill goes up when I toss in a few ‘extras’ like a nice bottle of wine or a really good cut of meat! And so I’ve been paying attention to prices and keeping a tiny note pad with me to jot down comparisons. I discovered that my favorite cheese costs $3/lb less at Trader Joes than at my local, and $4/lb less at Costco. Boxes of organic chicken broth make cooking delicious soups a breeze, but they can run dollars less each depending on where I shop.

Costco comes out cheaper on a lot of things, but then I have to spend more to get 6 of the item rather than just the one or two I was going to buy. I discovered that Grocery Outlet carries our families favorite organic sprouted bread where it’s $3 less a loaf than in the regular store, where I used to do most of my shopping – pre-recession. I stock up and freeze enough for several weeks. In the past, I’d shun the big box discount stores but to my surprise, I found that their bulk bins had organic grains at 25-50% less than my health food store, not to mention unbelievable deals on canned and frozen goods.

I hate the fact that I have to shop at 5 or more different stores to get the absolute best deal on each of the regular, must have, healthy foods our family eats – but I do. I pondered whether the extra gas money to drive 20 minutes to the cheaper store was actually worth the savings and realized it might not be unless I could buy enough to last a month or more. So, I got two girlfriends of similar economic and healthy persuasion on board and we arranged a ‘share shop’ deal where whenever one of us is going to a store out of our immediate area they call the other two and we put in our shopping lists. I keep a mental list of what I can get cheaper at which stores so if Sandy is going to Trader Joes it might be time to stock up on more of that 2 buck chuck or my multivitamins. That’s right, we shop for each other so we’re not all making the same trips and wasting that gas.

Also, when I buy the enormous double box of organic cereal at Costco, my friend takes the second one and also 3 of the 6 packs of soup and half of the 20 pound sack of potatoes or onions. This cuts the monthly bill down quite a bit and turns out to be surprisingly easy once you know where the best deals are on the best foods for your family. It’s easier if you start with what I call a pantry list, or the items that you regularly use to make your family healthy meals. I always have my organic grains, beans and lentils on hand because they are super healthy and relatively inexpensive to base meals around. For a lot of meals, I use meat more as a garnish or supplement than as the main course and then, a little goes a long way.

For instance, I know that if I buy the 2 whole chickens package at Costco at 99¢ /lb. I can get at least 4 meals out of that and make my own chicken broth using the crock pot for another four meals. In fact, I recently learned that if I cook down the chicken carcass overnight, the bones virtually dissolve releasing cartilage building chondroitin that helps aching joints in humans and animals. I started feeding my old cat this bone and chicken mash and not only does she love it but her fur is glistening and I don’t have to spend the 38 -88¢/can for her cat food – depending on where you shop!

My kids used to guzzle down gallons of fruit juice until I decided that it wasn’t optimal for their health and decided to make an alternative. Now I make a gallon of herbal tea, usually with peppermint or lemon zinger and then mix their glasses with three quarters iced herbal tea and one quarter apple juice. They love it and it costs pennies a glass and has less sugar than any of the canned sodas or juice drinks. And the apple juice, I buy on sale and stock pile in the garage along with other deals too good to pass up.

I still go to the Farmers Market for my fresh vegies every Saturday and carpool with one of my close friends. It’s a fun event to bring the kids to as they often have live musicians and I consider it educational for kids to know where their food comes from. In fact, a great way you can support your local organic farm and get super fresh fruits and veggies all year round is to buy into a weekly plan that’s suitable for your family size and you get a surprise package of whatever they’ve just harvested. It’s surprisingly economical as well as exciting to get veggies you may be unfamiliar with but taste so good!

Just the other day one of my girl friends showed me a bit of software that came with her new phone. It actually scanned the bar codes for items in stores and told you if the same item was available for less money within a certain number of miles that you get to choose. I was astonished and felt my little note pad might as well have been a stone tablet, but it has served me well in figuring out where the best deals were on the best foods for my family. I need to economize and I have, but I haven’t sacrificed quality at all, just got a little more creative.  You can too.