Living on Less Than $28,000 A Year: How our family of six survives (and even thrives) on an income that is less than half the national median income, and what the government calls “below the poverty line” (less than $29,990 annually) for our family size. [Read other posts in this series here.]
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One way that we are able to live on less is by reining in the spending on groceries, and you may be surprised that my primary means of saving doesn’t involve coupons, but rather planning.
I shop each week on Wednesday, so I spend about 30 minutes on Tuesday looking at the sales in my area then making a menu based on the sale items and whatever I have in my freezer and pantry. There are other money saving ideas which I incorporate (and will be sharing), but if you would like to get started with an immediate way to save, try this 3 step plan:
Choose a SHOPPING day and time.
Choosing one day to shop consistently each week allows you to plan and make one trip to the grocery store rather than three to six. 
Limiting your visits to the store will immediately save you money because spending increases exponentially with each visit (ever gone in for milk and come out with $25 worth of other items?).
Make sure you choose a time that works in your schedule. If Saturday morning is the only time dad is available to watch the kids, that may be your best shopping time. If you work during the week and like to sleep in on Saturday, perhaps Sunday afternoon works best for you.
Remember to be flexible. If you try a certain time and it doesn’t work for you after a couple of weeks, choose another time.
Choose a PLANNING day and time.
Once you have committed to a shopping day and time, make a standing appointment with yourself a day or two before shopping day to complete some planning.
Optimally on your planning day, you should check sales at local stores and plan your meals around those sale items plus what is in your pantry. If that process is too overwhelming, choose one store that has the lowest prices in your area and stick with that store for now.
Don’t skip this step. Making a commitment to a scheduled planning time ensures that you will go to the store with a plan and that alone can save $20-$50 on your grocery bill.
Make a Menu and Grocery List
I like to plan meals specific to each day of the week. If you are more spontaneous you can make a list of meals for the week and serve them when you feel like it.
I plan meals based on the sale items at local stores and what I currently have in the fridge, freezer and pantry. You can read a step-by-step example of what I do here.
If you would like an “official” menu form, click here to print The Peaceful Mom Menu Planners (pictured above). You can type your meals into the planner and print, or print a blank planner and write in your meals. I have even printed one and placed it in a page protector to save on paper and ink costs. If you use the page protector method, write the meals in with dry erase or transparency markers. Click here for meal planning ideas.
Once you have your list of meals for the week, make your grocery list. I like to keep a running grocery list on the fridge which I mark when we open the last package or jar of something. Click here to print The Peaceful Mom Grocery List or Multiple Store Shopping List.
If this 3 step plan overwhelms you, check out eMeals*. They have weekly meal plans based on your store’s sales (including recipes and a grocery list!) and they start at just $7.00 a month when you purchase a 3 month plan. My readers can use promo code PEACEFUL for a 10% discount off of their already low prices!
Click here to get take a look!
*affiliate link
If you are ready for more advanced saving ideas, you can buy my e-book Save More-Clip Less: Feed Your Family For Less Without Extreme Couponing. The Appendix includes a list of meal ideas with specific ingredients, a quick start plan and helpful links to more information. That’s worth the cost of the book alone!
Click here for more information and download instructions.
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Do you have a specific shopping day? Leave a comment and let us know how it works for you.
next post: Sucking It Up
Click here to read other posts in this series.
You May Also Enjoy:
Quick & Easy Meal Ideas
Life On Purpose: Be Inspired.
Fighting Perfectionism
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I have no idea how you guys budget with having to buy meat, and keep it so low! I’ve only ever had to buy meat now and then at college. I’m a ranch girl, so of course we raise our own beef. Which from what I’ve discovered if you have the freezer space, it is the cheapest way to get meat. Even if you was to buy a full beef (which will give you enough meat for an entire year for a family of 5-6), its a big expense up front $1000-$1500. but in hamburger alone you save the money, that’s not even taking into account roasts, steaks, ribs, and other cuts. Same goes for pork. So really if you could find a local farmer or rancher who sells privately (they are all over) maybe go in with some friends, you can split an entire beef in four ways easily, buy all your meat at once, and keep the sale local. Help out American Agriculture and your local economy. Plus save you mega bucks!!
Anyways, love this series, my husband and I are much like you, we live on the least amount possible, and bank the rest. In five years we should be able to own our farm and have a house built, paid in cash!!!! I love reading and getting new ideas of how to save from others! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks for the tip Marlynn. We actually lived in an area a couple of years ago where we had access to a farmer who sold beef this way. Where we live now it is super expensive and out of our budget range. I save on meat by only purchasing it on sale and stocking up at the lowest price. The key is to find the cheapest way to get meat for your area, and your tip will work well for a lot of people.
We stay under $400/mo in groceries and we definitely don’t skip the meat. We eat chicken. It’s $2.10/lb vs. ground beef at $3/lb (I don’t really like ground beef though). Other cuts of meat are more expensive so I can understand not being able to afford it.
Many grocery stores (like Walmart) will price match any price from any other store as long as you have the flyer with you. This way you can take advantage of all the sales from every grocery store, and only shop at one! This saves you time and money on gas. I live in Canada and almost every grocery store here will price match. It is worth looking into at your local grocery store.
Thanks Meagan. That is a great tip and one that I mention in my free e-book: Save More, Clip Less. Unfortunately Walmart doesn’t match Buy One Get One ads and that is where I find the biggest savings at Publix, so I shop the sales there. I also find some staple items much cheaper at Save A Lot and the prices aren’t usually in the ad, so no match ups.
Try local shops too. I found butcher shop in our area that sells ground meat for less than Walmart. The quality of the meat is better too. Since it takes awhile to get home, I pack a cooler to keep the meat and any other items which need to be frozen or refridged. Winn Dixie is the only other regional super market, so I’ve seen the BOGOs.
Very good idea Luci!
I just found your blog on pinterest! I love it! A friend told me about a website called Supercook. I haven’t used it much yet, but you type in the foods you have on hand and it will give you recipes that use them!
Welcome Kelli. Thanks for the tip.
I also use myfridgefood.com punch in what you have in your house and it gives you recipes.
I’m actually not a mom, just a college student. I try to save money as much as I can. I know a lot of people who save money on meat by buying a whole cow. I know that sounds crazy, but if you have a big deep freezer, its really a good and cheap idea. There are farms you just go pick one out they will make all the different cuts of meat ,grind it, and anything else you want. Its pretty cheap. average you can get it for a few $ per pound and get stakes, hamburger, and other cuts.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but a lot of stores in my area have a 5 for $19.99 meat sale. It’s a continuous thing but there are always different types of meat such as hamburger, chicken wings, thighs, and legs, ham, smoked and Italian sausage, hot dogs, steaks, pork chops, big bags of chicken nuggets and patties (for when I don’t really feel like cooking), and sometimes beef and pork roasts. Because there are only three of us, we can usually get two meals out of one pack of hamburger, ham, chicken, and smoked sausage. On a good week $20 will get me almost two weeks worth of food. Once I got a $10 beef roast for essentially $4. Unfortunately, I can never tell what they’re going to have before I get there so that makes meal planning impossible. I have several ideas that I keep on mental file so when I see what they have, I can decide on the spot what we’ll have for dinner that week and what else I’ll need to make the meal. I doubt we’d have enough money for food with out that 5 for $19.99 sale.
Why don’t you just reduce/eliminate meat from your diet?
I’m a vegetarian but one day I decided to make my husband a steak. That freaking steak cost almost $14! This is for 1 meal.
There are plenty of meat “substitutes” made by Boca, Morningstar Farms, etc. These are cheap and there are always coupons for them. Not to mention staples like beans, pasta, lentils, etc are VERY cheap.
I agree with Kristin. We are vegetarian and we save so much money by not having to buy meat.
Vegan here too! Way cheap!
I don’t buy much meat either. I just don’t like it.. so even a meat substitute to me sounds yucky. I’m good making things meatless, and they taste good too: Spaghetti, Nacho’s, veggie sandwiches, Tortilla soup and even veggie quesadilla’s. Pretty good stuff and my husband doesn’t complain
We do have meat a few times a week, but sometimes I’ll just omit it from mine. It is very difficult to eat healthy and save money.. but cutting out meat is a good start. Everyone should try changing one meal a week, then two.. and so on. It helped me.
Going meatless/vegan is a great idea unless you are allergic to grains and soy (I have noticed reactions to grain and gluten the more I ingest them). AND most Morningstar/vegan products are so bad for your system. I recently picked up a package of Morningstar “bacon,” it had red food dyes, GMO soy, artificial flavors and all this in the name of meatless, vegan and “healthy”. So although it may be cheaper in the short term, is it really cheaper when you are paying for health issues such as hormone imbalances from a huge amount of eating soy daily, a higher count of free radical cells that turn into cancer, etc?
Just food for thought.
I am sure I am not the only one with the problem of buying fresh food, like fruit, and having it go bad before I can eat all of it. Like everyone following this blog, I am always looking for ways to save and make my food stretch a little further. One neat little trick I have learned to help save fruit is keep it fresh in the fridge, or counter top, however it is stored, and take advantage of the freshness just until it is bad. After getting all the possible use out of the fruit, wash it, peel it, prepare it and freeze it. LIke a banana for example, peel it, maybe cut it in half to fit into the baggie, and freeze it! Now instead of wasting the fresh fruit just use it in a smoothie. Another little tip to go along with this is sometimes buying fresh, in-season fruit then freezing it yourself can be cheaper than buying a bag of IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) foods, like strawberries or blueberries. Or perhaps go pick the fresh fruit yourself when it is in season and you have entertainment for the day and food savings all rolled into one!
Thanks Alex!
when freezing fruitveggies before storing in a ziplock bag lay flat on a cookie sheet first. this not also flash freezes them, but it helps them stay fresh and keep their moisture longer. also nice blog my family lives on similar income, although we live in va with a lower cost of living. we also have the same family ideas you do. in my spare time i do couponing, sales, and samples. idk if you have a post about sample, but if you dont you should do one. i just recieved 30 kids toothbrushes as sample pack in the mail, samples can go a long way for the hpuse and are great xmas gifts as well. srry about the typing on the phone.
That sounds like an awesome sample! Where did you find it?
it was a colgate smile packet a while back you had to order that was for parents and or teachers. i found this page searching free samples by mail and it came up , there is also house parties you can do if you are willing to give reviews that come with a big box of party favors they you never end up using all of. example i did a potty party last year, got party favors for kids, coupons for pull ups a gift card for hosting, and tons of coupons. all you have to do is invite people through facebook have them rsvp through facebook and answer survey questions take a couple pictures of party .
Haha–I posted it and never ordered it!
Bet you wished you ordered it now, sorry you didn’t . It came with 30 toothbrushes 30 toothpaste samples, and 60 coupons that equal free Colgate toothpaste from Dollar general and free toothbrushes when they go on sale. I think you could actually order more than 30, there was an option for 100, but I just did 30.
I stumbled upon this blog earlier today and I must say I’m finding it very inspiring! Our annual income is 4-5 times higher, and our grocery bill is double yours per month and there’s only the two of us and our 2 and 4 year olds. We find we have very little money left at the end of the month even though we theoretically have a substantial amount of money left over each month. We spend so much extra money on food, clothes, eating out, stuff we just don’t need etc. It’s scary. We’re getting ready to move in to a house that’s twice the value of our current house so I need to start finding ways to cut back. That extra money just won’t be there anymore, even though we still have a decent amount of money left over at the end of the month! I’ll definitely keep reading!!
Welcome Heather! It is very easy to spend the extra money. I hope you find some ideas here that you can use.
If you have the space a samll garden can help to offset the cost of fresh fruits and veggies. There are a bunch of veggies that can be grown really easily, like green beans, that can produce a lot of food for the cost of a seed packet. And if you save the seeds you can eliminate that cost next season. I have a watermelon that I’m about to pick that will provide fresh fruit snacks for my two kids for the next several day
This is a great idea! I have been trying to start my own garden but it has not been very successful, the wind and/or birds and squirrels and other wildlife keep knocking down the container I am trying to get started with growing. I assume the seeds don’t like be so disturbed. Do you have any tips for getting a nice fresh garden going?
There is a product (I believe the brand is jiffy) that creates a mini green house inside. Got about $8 you can buy the starter set which had 72 disks that you water to expand and then plant your seeds. It has a plastic lid that you leave on until hour plants sprout. Then you can put it outside for a few hours each day to let the plants acclimate to the “real world”. I used this for the first time early this spring and I now have a 2000 square foot garden. I am looking forward to eating and canning and saving money! And ad an added bonus my kids have a great time learning where food actually domed from.
To keep the critters out of your stuff, there’s a couple easy things you can do. First, for cats and squirrels, buy some wooden skewers for making kibobs, and put them in the container sticking up. It makes it hard for them to maneuver, so they won’t go in it. Also, you could buy a plastic owl and set it near your containers. It scares the squirrels and birds. (The birds are mainly a problem stealing seeds. Once the plants are established, they don’t mess with much.) You can buy a rubber snake to drape over the edge of the container, that scares them, too, and is a bit cheaper. A few human hair clippings might keep some of the critters out, and that’s free. Last, but not least, while the seeds are germinating or the plants are very small, place a screen window over the container to keep everything out. The skewers will work better once the plants are sticking up above the edge of the container.
Great blog! I saw you mentioned having a daughter with a severe wheat allergy, I have a gluten allergy as well and gluten free food is not cheap. Any tips on that?
I will be writing a more extensive post soon, but basically we eat as many naturally gluten free foods as possible (fruit, vegetables and meat) rather than the more expensive processed foods labeled “gluten free”. You can print a list of Naturally Gluten Free Foods here. I also plan my menus around whatever is on sale each week, so for example, if chicken breasts are on sale, I will buy one or two packs to use this week and one or two for the freezer. By purchasing meat only when it’s on sale, I save a lot of money each week. You can read here about my Easy Meal Plan with chicken and you can see our weekly Gluten Free Menus here. Hope that helps!
Have you looked for a fruit and veggie coop. My daughter runs one and for $20 every other week you can feed a family of 8 (that is her family size). Here in AZ (it is in other states too) there is Bountiful Basket. I think Bountiful Basket good but my daughters coop is super.
Kristin,
$14 for a steak for one is nuts. You can go out to eat for that price. Even a good cut that would be 2 lbs or more. That would be 10 meals or $1.40. If you eat meat you do not eat more then 4 oz per meal per person ( I plan 3 oz). Steak is not the only kind of meat.
I agree $14 for a steak is nuts…apparently I bought the King Royal of steaks but I 100% know that it’s cheaper to not buy meat at all (or severely reduce your intake). Of course, I’m not talking about buying nasty .99 hot dogs or eating off the dollar menu at McDonald’s. Take a look at some of the veggie substitutes or even compare a can of refried beans vs. hamburger meat for tacos.
hi all. i haven’t downloaded the additional booklet about groceries but i do have a tip of sorts that may help the meat eaters among you. the grocery stores, chains, around here each mark down their meat that is almost expired daily. the time varies by store but i have discovered that the individual meat maket employees are helpful in telling you the appx time they mark it down. i discovered by accident that mine main store marks it down after school. you are able to save significant amts of money on perfectly good meat. once you get it home if its in a family pack you can rewrap it and if not just directly freeze it.
another tip at my store if a product scans at the wrong price and you catch it and bring it to the checkers attention, the store gives you one of the products for your trouble for free.
one last tip, many stores have the customer loyalty cards. my store offers a 10 percent discount to seniors on store brand products which adds up. also about twice a year, the store mails out coupons for many products you frequently buy and some of them are even free. my main grocer is kroger which operates almost nationwide however they operate under different names in different places. this website should tell you all their names. kroger.com
Thanks Michele.
I menu-plan and shop every Friday, when my husband doesn’t need our car. I too don’t use a lot of coupons, but try to buy only what we need and shop the sales. It works for us!
A friend of mine’s husband in an assistant manager for Walmart (we are located in FL). They will price match for BOGO sales that Publix (or Winn Dixie) run; however, they ring it up differently. Instead of ringing the first product full price & the second one free, they ring up both products as half price. I wasn’t aware of this until recently & I have had Walmart price match a BOGO sale price within the last week. Just make sure you take your ad with you.
Thanks so much for that tip Falyn!
Hi Kimberlee,
I, like many others, have discovered your blog from Pinterest! It is fantastic!! Right now it’s just me and my boyfriend; however I know I am spending WAY too much in several areas of our finances and I am already finding your blog helpful! I can’t wait to keep reading and get some more ideas about how to work towards financial stability so we can take the next steps in our lives (i.e. engagement, marriage, house, kids, etc.)!
As far as groceries; I do my grocery shopping every other Friday evening! My boyfriend is usually working so it is some great “me time” plus it is the only thing I like shopping for!! I shop at Wal-Mart; they’re the cheapest in my area and then I also use Sam’s Club for certain bulk items that I can freeze and use throughout the entire month! Friday evenings work perfect for me because both stores and usually busy and I hate crowds so I zip in and out and only get what’s on my list; no time to putz around and look at everything I don’t need!
I agree that paying $14 for steak is insane. Go for what’s on sale. I too, safe on beef by buying a quarter of a cow a year (butchered). The one tip that I know is the most important is planning,planning, planning. Most weeks I do, but some I dont and I walk into the store and get frustrated because I know I could be saving so much more money! Thanks for the advice and reminds me that the extra work is really worth it!
Not sure why people are fixating on the $14 and not my actual comment. I’m merely sharing how I save money on groceries.
Kristin, I can tell that your comment was a sincere one. I think people are probably stuck on the $14 just because it was an extreme example. Also, most people (and/or their families) are not willing or ready to make an extreme jump to becoming vegetarian. Perhaps your comment would have been better received had it read something like, “As a vegetarian, I know first-hand how much money you can save by eliminating meat. For those who aren’t ready to eliminate it 100%, you may be able to save by reducing your meat consumption or trying something like a Meatless Monday…”. I think you had the right idea with your suggestion- sorry it hasn’t been received in the way you intended.
I love Costco. I do my best to buy everything there, shopping every 2 weeks if not every 3. We also get our gas there (around here right now it’s $2.99 and at Costco it’s $2.75). While there is a membership fee, I always find I’m getting more and spending less than I would if I shopped at Walmart or Food Lion (mainly because there’s less to tempt, lol). I usually go between lunch and nap time since I have to take my toddler with me, and always on a weekday, usually Tues or Wed. One thing I need to start doing–and I just told my husband to brainstorm for me this evening–is menu planning. I’ve saved the form for the 2 week plan and I’m going to start before my next shopping trip. Thanks for all the great tips!
I have really enjoyed this series so far and am in the process of incorporating many suggestions into our family budget. But I have to say, don’t immediately knock the benefits of coupons. Granted, the TLC show is in my opinion a sham but couponing combined with sale shopping has freed up about $100-$300 per month from our family’s food and household expenses budgets. I haven’t paid for tooth paste for over 6 mos. because Walgreen’s had a register rewards deal combined with my coupons last fall which made it all free and I stocked up. I was able to score several cans of tomato products for free last spring due to my local store’s sale combined with coupons. It’s just a matter of being smart instead of obnoxious like many of the “extreme” couponers are portrayed on the show. Of course it also helps tremendously that we’re a family who’s usually willing to cook nearly everything we eat from scratch so I don’t use a lot of coupons for cookies, sports drinks, and other food pre-prepared foods.
Hi Kiki! You are right, there are benefits to using coupons. There can also be a downside, which I experienced. I am not telling anyone not to use them, but simply sharing some other ways of saving on groceries.
I, too, love coupons! It’s a pretty big time investment, especially when you’re first getting started and learning, but I find that I can clip and organize while my husband and I are watching TV at night… it helps with my ADD since I almost always have to do things with my hands!
We don’t have any kids yet, but I’m trying to get better about our spending before we have kids and coupons certainly help me out!
Love your tips!! Thank you very much. My favorite store, which is the lowest priced one where I live (Okla. City) doesn’t have a weekly flyer or post on their website, so I don’t know what is on sale until I get to the store. Do you have any suggestions for that? Makes planning menus ahead of time really hard. I’ve actually taken my recipe binder to the store with me. Other thing and I’d love to hear from other moms on this: I have two boys (ages 12 & 15), seems like everything I make, they turn their nose up at it or say they’re not hungry at the time I want to serve dinner. They end up getting not-so-healthy food out of the pantry or freezer later and not eating the dinner I prepared. I’m a good cook and make a wide variety of foods, so I don’t understand how to overcome this. Other than fixing hamburgers every night of the week, which they love, of course! Thank you for any and all suggestions.
I don’t know how other moms handle this, but in our house children eat what is on the table or they don’t eat. No one is allowed to get other food just because they don’t like what we have for dinner.
It sounds strict, but I don’t let my kids eat “snack” foods instead of dinner because (a) it’s not good for them; and (b) it costs more money. I am sure that you will have a difficult time beginning to enforce this rule now that they are accustomed to doing whatever they want, but if you decide you want to enforce it, stick to your guns and give them a consequence for taking food out of the fridge and pantry when they haven’t eaten dinner. You’re the mom!
You could just not buy that junk food. I do my best to save while grocery shopping (though I have a 4 month old, so it has been harder to spend the time menu planning, searching through ads, plus make the shopping trip since he was born). I usually just stick to what we need for meals and maybe a couple healthy snacks (usually nuts, fruit, or yogert), of course having a baby helps cause I have to get in and out as fast as possible, or I end up with a fussy baby, no time to graze the junk food isles. I found one day that I wanted to munch but there was no junk food in our pantry to munch on….and since it was more of a bored munchies and not because I was hungry, I found something else to do and never ate the extra calories.
I had/have the same problem. I tried for a long time telling my kids they could eat what I fixed or not eat at all. When I was a kid, we ate what was on the table or went hungry. There wasn’t any snack food in the house so it wasn’t really an issue. On the other hand, when my husband was a kid he was a picky eater and his mother always put bread and peanut butter on the table so there would be something he could eat if he didn’t like the meal. At the church potlucks she took milk and cereal for him.
I say offer the meal and if they don’t like it they can go to bed hungry. Course, at their age, they’ll just grab something anyway whether you’ve offered it at the dinner table or not. And then you, like me, will feel like you’re not providing your kids with the healthy foods you want and feel guilty about it, or angry at the kids for snubbing your food. I always felt a bit of resentment that I’d work so hard to plan a menu, shop, prepare the meals, then have them say no thank you I’m not hungry. And an hour later they’re grabbing a bowl of cereal. Urg!
I don’t fix many meals anymore. That was how I fought back. What’s for dinner? It’s called “fend for yourself night”! Or I fix what I like and eat it myself. If anyone else is hungry, they can get their own dinner. Now that my youngest is 18 and heading off to college I can get away with that. No more guilt and no more resentment. I did my best. And even though it seemed like it was never enough, I know I did my best. Someday they will begin to form their own values about eating a healthful diet and I know I taught them right.
One tip I would like to add: I have found that Sam’s Club often times has meat discounted during the week, usually Tuesday or Wednesday. Discounted usually $4.00 or more. I got a great deal one week on three flank steaks in a package that were discounted $6.50. I asked the butcher there about the quality of the meat and he said it was fine, just approaching the expiration date. Suggested I either use quickly and/or freeze some of it. I have also noticed this at WalMart stores as well, finding similar discounts there on a variety of meats (pork, beef, turkey (i.e., ground, cutlets) and more rarely, chicken.
Thanks Lisa!
Sometimes we have vegetarian meals. It cuts down on meat expenses and is better for the environment. We also use canned chicken or tuna in many casseroles or pasta salads to cut down on expences.
Overall, this menu planning method works great! I can’t imagine shopping without it.
I just started a new meal planning technique for my family and it works amazingly! We are a family of 3 1/2 (the half being an 8 month old) and I am a stay at home mom. We also live on very little income. I bought a large dry erase calender and at the beginning of each month I plan out the entire month’s worth of dinners. I include leftover nights, nights we are eating at a friends house, and even nights to try new recipes. I write out the main dish and any sides. Then, I look through the freezer and pantry to see what I need to buy to be able to make the meal. We do tend to have the same things a lot (hence the new recipe nights), so I know I dont need to shop for ingredients I may use twice a year. When making up my shopping list, i include breakfast foods (cereal, oatmeal, ingredients for pancakes etc) so that that meal is taken care of for the month as well. Lunch is usually covered by PB&J, some lunch meat, tuna, leftovers, egg salad. Any of those items are added in. I only need to go shopping for a big trip once a month. About half way through the month i make a small trip to get more milk and fresh fruits/vegetables.
I spent about $200 at the beginning of the month and so far we have had everything we need to make the meals, AND it is organization for me that I can look at the menu at the beginning of the day so I can plan when to start cooking and what i need to take out of the freezer. Another reason we are able to keep our grocery costs down are that (and i HATE to admit this) we qualify , based on monthly income, to go to the local food pantry once a month. A good amount of food staples are received there which lowers the final cost of our grocery bill.
Way to go Alison! Sounds like you have found a system that works well for you. Thanks for sharing.
How do you find a local food pantry and how or if you qualify?
Planning a menu around the sales is way more work than I’m willing to put in. Maybe if it makes that much difference I might need to rethink that decision. I’m not much of a “plan ahead” kind of person. I think partly because my family has always been so picky about everything I made for dinner (I try for healthy meals), it’s made me not want to expend much effort in that area. I’m trying to get my old motivation back.
If you don’t want to do the work, maybe you could sign up for a meal planning service like eMeals (link above). They do the work for you.
Heather – I don’t like looking at sales either, but I can say that by meal planning and only grocery shopping once a week we have cut our food budget down to $80 a week. Sometimes I get really lucky (my father is a farmer so we have 1/2 of a cow in our freezer, and I had all the other staples) and I walked out only spending $35. I do most of my shopping at Aldi’s. I decided to be a stay at home mom this year and it has really helped our budget!
If you live near a Kroger, get one of their Kroger cards and create an online account (on their website) with it. Kroger posts all of their sales online every week and it’s SUPER easy to view/search for what’s on sale that way. They also post tons of manufacturer coupons directly on their website, and you can click “load to card” for whichever coupon(s) you want to select, and they are automatically put “onto” your Kroger card. So when you check out and have them scan your Kroger card, if you’ve purchased one of those items, the amount is automatically deducted for you. It seriously is so much better than coupon clipping, IMO. I work full time (no kids yet) so I don’t have a bunch of time at home to sort through paper ads & see which sales are going on. Online is just way easier for me.
First of all, I love your blog and love following your posts on FB too
Anyway, I always shop on Mondays. It just works best for me and I ALWAYS shop at Aldi. I recently moved to a new place and don’t know the stores well, and even looking at their ads occasionally it seems like Aldi is still cheaper. Now, Aldi doesn’t carry everything, but it has the basics which is what I usually use. From time to time I have to stop at a regular grocery store to grab something (dried lentils, pesto), but overall they have all my needs and there is a Hy-Vee across the street so it’s convenient either way. I also do meal planning, which I happen to love doing and it helps cut down on waste soooo much! Nothing goes bad when you have a plan for it. Also, I am a vegetarian, but my husband eats meat and if you call local butchers and ask if anyone didn’t pick up their meat they will sell it to you at really low prices. This works really well right after deer season if you like venison (well, probably for other animals too, but I live in the Midwest and we don’t have big things like elk and stuff here) I’ve heard people find it for as low at $1.25/lb, so it’s worth a quick phone call if you ask me 
That is a great idea to call local butchers. Thanks Kara!
Back home in Alaska you could get on the road kill list and when someone hit a moose fish and game would call you and have you come pick it up off the side of the road so the meat did not just sit there and rot
Hahaha! My kids joke about having roadkill for dinner, but it’s never anything we would actually eat. That is actually a great idea, but it just struck me as funny.
wow I could spend all day reading all the wonderful money saving tips and information posted here. Thank you for creating this site and for sharing your information as well as allowing others to share their tips and advise here as well. In my area there is a supermarket chain called Aldis, their prices are always rock bottom so they do not accept coupons. I have cut my grocery bill in half buy shopping there. They do not have a wide variety of meats so I still have to shop for my fresh meats at one of the national chain supermarkets but their prices on fresh fruits and vegetables are unbeatable.
Thanks Millie!
I use to do this and will be getting back into to it now that my husband is starting back at his normal job. I run all my errands and shop on Friday mornings I alos try to make all my apointments on this day get everything done and make it home in time to put the girls down for thier nap. Since I have to take my husband to meet his ride at 4:30 am I would come home drink my coffee and make my grocery list. I also take advantage of what my community has to offer. Since I have toddlers I get wic and in my community there are many other agencies out there to help. I learned a few years back to throw my pride out the window working 2 or 3 jobs was just not worth the time I was losing with my childern. I also do not get child support for my 2 oldest so my husband income is it.
I also always look in the reduced for quick sale section in the meat department of my grocery stores that is when we useally get special treats like steak or brawts when I find things like this I just change one of my meals. If I remember i try to bring my weekly menu with me.
Thank you so much for this blog! I’m a teacher turned stay at home mom who teaches private lessons a few evenings a week. We have a 3 year old and one due in December. We have become HUGE budget fans and are loving our time together as a family. We live simply, but wonderfully, with our days of crazy mixed in between. Thank you for the inspiration and your willingness to share!
You are very welcome Candy–I’m glad you’re here.
What is the DINNER PREP section for, when planning your weekly meals? Wouldn’t you just put that under DINNER?
I write in whatever I need to do in the morning to get a head start on dinner. For example, if we are having hamburgers from the freezer I would set them in the fridge or on the counter to thaw during the day. This morning I cut peppers and onions and marinated our steak for steak and peppers this evening. You can watch my video here for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcoDTwv1dSw&lr=1&feature=mhum
Thank you! That makes total sense. We haven’t started a family yet, but if I get into good habits now, I’m hoping things will be less stressful when the kids come along later.
That is so true Mandy. Good luck!
Thanks for all of this, Kimberlee! I’ve just linked this page to my Facebook wall because you’ve neatly set out a whole load of stuff that I often get asked and was thinking of writing about. Here in the UK, there are plenty of people who’ll love this advice and most of it translates to our circumstances. One of the fallacies that’s around is that Farmers’ Markets have to be expensive. In fact, shopping at your local market will support your local economy, help you make friends (it’s such a social way to shop!) and, if you go half an hour or so before closing, you can pick up bargains, especially from meat producers who can’t re-freeze their stock and will sell it off cheap. Plus, having built up friendships with the stallholders, I trade stuff that I make. One of our local pig-farmers loves my home made honey mustard and will trade to get it. In effect, I’m getting meat at a fraction of the cost.
Keep up the good work and best wishes to your family x
Thanks so much Angela.
We use ground turkey instead of beef. It’s cheaper
I have two tips that I find very helpful in saving money:
1. I buy whole milk (3.25% MF) and mix it half-and-half with water. It tastes like 2% and it has a longer fridge life.
2. To make low calorie juice (Trop 50 and the like), mix pure Tropicana juice half-and-half with water and add artificial sweetener or stevia to taste. This works best with orange juice.
I only shop once a month each month on the 5th. I may have to go to the store for a loaf of bread or a single item on about the 30th of each month but we use our deep freezer and make it all work. I check the sales the week that I plan to go to the store. I make a meal plan using Cozi.com. They have a place where you can store your recipes, make a meal plan, and create a shopping list. All of these things are printable or you can send them to your phone. Best of all… its free! All you do is sign up for an account, you set up your family calendar and schedule, enter your recipes (they have a bookmark to “add to cozi meals”), drag and drop your recipe title into the menu planner. Select the recipe you want and add the ingredients to the a shopping list. You can review your shopping list before you print and remove anything you may have in stock already. You can also create to do lists. It is my one stop place for organizing our family and school/work life. I generally do any and all prep work (Chopping onions, browning ground meat, boiling chicken/separating it into servings, etc.) when I return from the store as I unpack groceries or the following day. I keep all ingredients for each meal as together as I can when I put things away. I do not follow my meal plan exactly but I do prepare each meal on it throughout the month.
Also I usually shop at my local Walmart. However we buy meat at Food World. My husband and I are both college students and if you show a student id on Mondays they will give you 5% off your entire bill. They do the same for Seniors on Wednesdays.
Thanks for that tip Kaitlin.
Thank you for the tips on how to do save up more on groceries. I realize that without any proper planning and guidelines i tend to shop without carefully think it through whether I am going to use the produce in that week or not. I usually buy my fresh produce vegetables and spices in the local fresh market. Price usually cheaper than the one in the Supermarket and usually they are fresher. It looks complicated at times but it really helps in terms of saving on groceries because for the lesser price I usually get so much more for fresh items.
A great site to help you maximize your pantry is supercook.com
I promise you, I am in no way affiliated with the site. It takes about an hour to set up, as you have to enter your pantry ingredients into your account. Actually, probably less for most people. I keep a large pantry and a variety of spices / sauces on hand. In any case, once it’s set up, you can highlight an ingredient you want to feature, and it will search the web for recipes based entirely on what you ALREADY HAVE. It also offers options like “Do you have celery?” and then a list of more recipes you can make with just that one added ingredient.
It’s an exceptional site on those meal planning days, and a great way to maximize your staples rather than going to the store and buying 7 new ingredients.
Thanks Heather!
I shop from the sales ads, but I was having a hard time planning my meals around THAT week’s particular ad – it seemed like it took a lot of time, which I didn’t have with 3 preschoolers. So I came up with a modified meal plan. I still shop from the sales ads and get the best prices, but over time you build your pantry so that the things you buy from this week’s ad can be placed in a stockpile to use at some other time. Meats I buy on sale in bulk, then repackage and freeze to use at later dates. Then, I picked a “theme” for each night for dinner. It looked something like this:
Mon – pasta.
Tues – soup/salad/sandwich
Wed – “Sunday” dinner – our Sundays are crazy so we have family night here instead/ try a new recipe
Thurs – mexican
Fri – grill/ pizza
Sat – leftovers, fend for yourself
Sun – crockpot/ roast chicken, roast beef or roast pork
This works great because it gives me some direction but then allows for flexibility. Pasta can be lasagna, mac & cheese, spaghetti, chicken alfredo, pad thai, chow mein – think international! Soup/salad/sandwich can be as fancy or as simple as you want (grilled cheese/ tomato soup or cranberry walnut feta salad/french onion soup). Mexican can be tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas. But basically you mostly shop from your “store” of items that you bought on sale, whether from that week’s ads or from previous weeks. It also takes away guilt for having pizza if you have it purposely scheduled on the menu!
We’ve had several significant life changes in the past year and I have gotten out of this schedule, but your blog has encouraged me to try again. It really is a great method! There was much less chaos and more order when I was implementing this menu plan. Off to plan!
Yes, as a mom of four who were previously 5 and under, I TOTALLY understand where you are coming from. Theme Day Menu planning is actually one of the things I mention in my ebook Save More Clip Less. Good for you for finding what works for you and your family Kara!
Thanks for all the tips! I’m a newlywed who recently moved from Mexico City to NY and my husband and I are living with his income until I can get a job. I will use most of your tips so we can save money for a future family and a our own house
I am so glad to help Sandra! You can do it!
Monday when 3 of the 4 kids (youngest is just 6 mos, she chills with us) are at grandma’s, hubby and I go grocery shopping. I spend Sunday and Monday morning planning meals (I use foodonthetable.com). We shop for what we can at Aldi. I love when they mark down their meats for quick sale. We go to Meijer for anything else we need that Aldi doesn’t have. We really need to get better at shopping from our list though.
Monday night grocery shopping also doubles as our date night. We are easy to entertain lol
My husband and I are attempting to save money on our groceries bills by growing some veggies we commonly eat. Eventually we’ll have a small farm where we can raise some beef, chickens, and pork (because we all know that those can make a bill sky rocket) but for now we split the cost of buying, raising, and slaughtering pigs and cows. For an entire half a pig we paid $62. That was back in February and we still have at least half of that in our freezer and we’ve had to do entire weeks with nothing but eating that pork. I can’t imagine how long it’s going to take us to eat half a cow.
We decided to grow some of out own veggies because to grow from seed (or even seedling) to adult is relatively cheep. We had a rather large start up cost of a grand total of about $50 but that’s for 23 different plants (several different kinds of peppers, herbs, and tomatoes make up most of those) all in some type of pot. Once fully grown the plants will provide huge amounts of food and since they’re in pots we can take them with us when we get our own farm. And we bought our plants from Baker Creek Heirloom seeds which are going to taste better than store food or even walmart bought seeds (so I’m hoping we like these tomatoes!)
Not to mention I can harvest the seeds and regrow the plants if they aren’t perennial. Saving even more money for us in the long run. We can also preserve anything we can’t eat right away. I really believe that this is going to save us a lot of money because as it is right now our grocery bills are an easy $120 each trip. And if you do growing vertically (which you can find many ideas for online) you can grow even if all you have is a tiny patio!
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