Grocery Shopping Advice to Save Money

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I only buy what is on sale in the weekly flyer. Both regular sale and digital coupon sale with the apps.
I do the same thing, retired and I do all the food shopping. I have the bonus card at three different large chain markets here within three miles from my house. I keep my freezers packed, my wife doesn't eat meat cuts, just chicken, fish, and some special burgers I make for her. I buy 2-3 whole in-the-bag standing rib roasts at Xmas every year, USDA choice, butcher them into a couple small roasts and thick cut boneless ribeye steaks, always under five buck a pound. Grind all my own burger meat, having a commercial grade vac-sealer is a bonus, nothing ever goes bad. Still getting whole yardbird, thighs, and legs for 98¢lb, don't waste money on wings, legs with the Vortex are better. I do notice coffee has gone thru the roof, I like whole bean Kona from Sam's Club and grind my own. $13.50 a few months ago, $19 last week. What the hell, gotta have coffee. RAY
 
I do notice coffee has gone thru the roof, I like whole bean Kona from Sam's Club and grind my own. $13.50 a few months ago, $19 last week. What the hell, gotta have coffee. RAY
There was a long stretch of extremely cold weather in South America last winter (they have winter when we have summer). Massive freeze... coffee plants took a beating, thus less coffee beans produced the following harvest. Supply was hit hard, thus higher prices.....
 
I can believe a monthly cycle, and will be watching myself for such a trend. A lot of (working) paychecks come monthly too so those folks may be a little more likely to buy early in the month too. But once meat is labeled, it's pretty obvious when its getting relabeled, so I think a planned pricing cycle much more frequent than monthly would be hard to pull off. I think the midweek sales are just an effort to level out meat-buying demand throughout the week so the demand for butchers is steady through the week.

And there are also just plain good deals (ie sales!) on specific cuts from time to time. I think its good financial strategy to not fall too much in love with your shopping list and consider purchases that are at a particularly good price at the time you're at the store. Sometimes that might be chicken; sometimes beef. By shopping sales, you still get variety in your menus, you just have to ride the wave of supply and demand and buy when supply exceeds demand since that's what triggers sales.
 
Yep chopsaw chopsaw and sawhorseray sawhorseray thats the way to about it!

Also many many people do not know this so here is another pro shopping tip.

In the USA the labels have to clearly state a price per unit in addition to the whole price:
IMG_2856smaller.jpg
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hamburger-expensive.png

So when comparing different sizes or cost of items it is best to compare at unit price.

You will see in many cases that the larger size is actually more expensive per unit cost than the same item of a smaller size!

Or with stuff like cereal and other products you think a bigger box of one item is less expensive or a better deal but when you look at the price per ounce and see it is more expensive per unit/oz than another cereal you are considering.
Then you scratch your head like "how could that be when this one cost less than the other" It's because they charge you more per unit cost but then give you LESS overall product.

So you pay something like $0.40/ounce for one cereal but overall cost is $5.00. Then you look at the other cereal that is $0.30/ounce but cost $5.25.
The difference is that you are getting WAY more overall weight of product in the $5.25 box of cereal than the $5.00 box of cereal.
SO you can only know this if you look at cost per ounce and see the total weights of both products. In the end if you buy the lower cost per unit item though overall price is 25 cents more if you can afford it BUT you get like 25% more product overall!

I hope I explained that well.
Long story short, look at label cost per unit and the lower that is the better off you are provided you can afford the whole cost in the end :)
Just balance it out :)
 
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tallbm tallbm is spot on.

The was a segment on a morning radio talk show several years back and I've always paid attention to it since hearing that.
 
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Yep chopsaw chopsaw and sawhorseray sawhorseray thats the way to about it!

Also many many people do not know this so here is another pro shopping tip.

In the USA the labels have to clearly state a price per unit in addition to the whole price:
View attachment 640302
View attachment 640303
View attachment 640304

So when comparing different sizes or cost of items it is best to compare at unit price.

You will see in many cases that the larger size is actually more expensive per unit cost than the same item of a smaller size!

Or with stuff like cereal and other products you think a bigger box of one item is less expensive or a better deal but when you look at the price per ounce and see it is more expensive per unit/oz than another cereal you are considering.
Then you scratch your head like "how could that be when this one cost less than the other" It's because they charge you more per unit cost but then give you LESS overall product.

So you pay something like $0.40/ounce for one cereal but overall cost is $5.00. Then you look at the other ceral that is $0.30/ounce but cost $5.25.
The difference is that you are getting WAY more overall weight of product in the $5.25 box of cerial than the $5.00 box of cereal.
SO you can only know this if you look at cost per ounce and see the total weights of both products. In the end if you buy the lower cost per unit item though overall price is 25 cents more if you can afford it BUT you get like 25% more product overall!

I hope I explained that well.
Long story short, look at label cost per unit and the lower that is the better off you are provided you can afford the whole cost in the end :)
Just balance it out :)
And to further show your example...

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Blue can was in a 24 pack on sale, green can in 30 pack, not on sale. Green can cost .06 cents more...but I liked the green can better, so I bought those. Already had the blue can from a previous purchase...in case you're wondering! :emoji_blush:

Ryan
 
Ryan, the green can looks like a promotional can for John Deere which would explain the higher cost.

Flyers around here run Sunday - Saturday. I'm lucky we're empty nesters. On my days off I make a daily run to the grocers to see what they have that looks good to me that day.

Chris
 
I do notice coffee has gone thru the roof, I like whole bean Kona from Sam's Club and grind my own. $13.50 a few months ago, $19 last week. What the hell, gotta have coffee. RAY

There was a long stretch of extremely cold weather in South America last winter (they have winter when we have summer). Massive freeze... coffee plants took a beating, thus less coffee beans produced the following harvest. Supply was hit hard, thus higher prices.....

I constantly check prices on green coffee beans at my favorite supplier. Although I've got plenty onhand, I'm not seeing any real spikes in prices. Maybe 50 cents a lb; much less if you buy 5-20 lbs. It could be due to the fact they buy from smaller growers and cooperatives: not the huge corporate farms that would seriously impact supply from a lost crop or season.
 
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And to further show your example...

View attachment 640328

Blue can was in a 24 pack on sale, green can in 30 pack, not on sale. Green can cost .06 cents more...but I liked the green can better, so I bought those. Already had the blue can from a previous purchase...in case you're wondering! :emoji_blush:

Ryan
Yeah u just never know what they are going to do but price per unit will clarify if you are getting the deal or not.
Where things get messy is when pricing is like per ounce with one but then per can with the other.
Then the base unit is not even the same thing so a little math has to come into play to convert and compare hahaha.

I'm sure looking forward to drinking beer around Halloween this year. I only drink a few times a year, it puts me down hard for a week so I have to pick my poison haha :D
 
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And to further show your example...

View attachment 640328

Blue can was in a 24 pack on sale, green can in 30 pack, not on sale. Green can cost .06 cents more...but I liked the green can better, so I bought those. Already had the blue can from a previous purchase...in case you're wondering! :emoji_blush:

Ryan

Ryan since it says John Deere on it you know it has to cost a lot more. Heck only 30 cents a can higher that's a bargain and yes I do own a John Deere and cry when I need parts
 
I constantly check prices on green coffee beans at my favorite supplier. Although I've got plenty onhand, I'm not seeing any real spikes in prices. Maybe 50 cents a lb; much less if you buy 5-20 lbs. It could be due to the fact they buy from smaller growers and cooperatives: not the huge corporate farms that would seriously impact supply from a lost crop or season.

Yep. I have a friend that works for the local coffee company by the name of Community Coffee. He told me about the freeze and price squeeze...
 
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+1 on the shop-per-pound not per-package advice.

Also, prices have maybe stabilized a bit recently, but when prices we're going up-up-up it paid to see which items hadn't gotten marked up yet. I saw a few of those at "their old price", grabbed them, and the next shopping trip they too were marked up 15%.
 
ride the wave of supply and demand and buy when supply exceeds demand since that's what triggers sales.
That's it in a nut shell . I've never been much for book learning , but in high school I had a study hall in an economics class . I found the part about supply and demand worth listening to and it's good to understand how our spending habits effect the pricing .
 
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SCORE!!!

From the local Aldis,all 30% off and just shy of $45:
2 packs wings
2 double packs of filet
2 triple packs eye round steaks
 

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Ryan, the green can looks like a promotional can for John Deere which would explain the higher cost.

Flyers around here run Sunday - Saturday. I'm lucky we're empty nesters. On my days off I make a daily run to the grocers to see what they have that looks good to me that day.

Chris
Same here, pisses me off when the flyers come in wed or thurs and I have to wait till Sunday to go shopping....I think they bank on you throwing out the coupon or forgetting about it all together.

SCORE!!!

From the local Aldis,all 30% off and just shy of $45:
2 packs wings
2 double packs of filet
2 triple packs eye round steaks
I just left our Aldi and they were almost devoid of all meat products, happens quite often here.
 
I generally never buy meat there, but the nearest Walmart is like that A LOT, especially around the first of the month...
I don't know about where you are, but I buy most of my pork chops from Aldi unless I want them thicker than what they have pre-packaged. They have the most tender pork chops out of all the places I shop. They also usually have good prices on tenderloin.
 
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