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How are you managing the rising cost of groceries?

With the rising cost of groceries over the past few years, we have needed to become more savvy in our spending.

Certain items were always purchased at specific grocery stores.

We have a garden that provides some vegetables.

We dig through weekly ads and sales.

We use coupons.

This past week, we noticed that the store where we always purchased milk, had eventually raised the price per gallon by a $1.00. It went from $1.49 to $2.49 in a few short weeks. We know that it is still a decent price for milk - but our joy in getting it so inexpensively is now gone.

What are some ways that you are saving on your groceries?

Tags: coupons, groceries, savings

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Permalink Reply by Michelle Montero on June 11, 2012 at 9:33am

I have been horrible about maintaining our grocery lists these past few months! Ideally, we like to have a "staples" list. This list will contain all of the items that are regulars in our house. With this list handy, I check the circulars to see if any items are on sale. If it's not perishable, I buy in bulk so I can stock up on those items.

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Permalink Reply by Alison McGeary Stella on June 11, 2012 at 10:37am

We have 4 kids, two are twins and are under a year old and on the most expensive formula you can buy in a grocery store! I spend A LOT of time and money in my Shop Rite! I do my very best to shop the sales and I use coupons. I've recently started trying to do a month where I shop for the entire month (save milk, bread, formula, emergencies) and then not go back at all. I've found that doing that really forces me to eat out of our freezer, pantry and fridge. When I focus on it, it works GREAT. I couple it with coupons and sales and I can easily do a month's shopping for $350. It's hard and now that I'm not returning to work in the fall, I fear it's going to be even harder!

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Permalink Reply by Shana Dieli on June 11, 2012 at 10:50am

Since moving to OK our grocery bill has gone up about 50 per trip so at least 100 a month if I only go shopping twice. It's hard because I am not a big couponer and lucky if I can save around 5 dollars per trip.

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Beverly Hills Mom on June 11, 2012 at 5:05pm

We spend about $2500 a month on groceries for a family of 5. I have'nt really thought about how to save money on groceries but we do buy in bulk a lot I shop either costco or whole foods for most things. I have however noticed that my daughters milk which has to come from a normal store (whole foods doesnt have it) is $1.50 more the first half of the month. I don't know if thats normal but I have noticed it happens every month. Its not much at all I am still always curious why? So maybe shopping later in the month would help?

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Permalink Reply by Shana Dieli on June 11, 2012 at 6:58pm

Wait $250 or $2500?

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Permalink Reply by Melissa Beverly Hills Mom on June 11, 2012 at 7:05pm

$2500, sometimes more sometimes less but thats about average.

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Permalink Reply by Super?Mom on August 7, 2012 at 11:29pm

I know we used to buy milk and freeze it, mostly when it still came in bags. I never noticed the difference between that and the fresh, but I can't find bagged milk anywhere.

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Permalink Reply by Leah Marie on June 12, 2012 at 7:21am

I think it is hard to save money on food and still eat healthy. We buy in bulk a lot and we shop at the local farmers markets when it is the right season. We're buying a house this summer and are excited to start our own garden in an effort to stay healthy and spend less.

Another way I've learned to save money is to be greener. I make my own laundry soap, household cleaners, facewash, shampoo, sunscreen, etc. It is a bit of work, but saving us a TON of money.

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Permalink Reply by NonMom aka Amy Harrison on July 4, 2012 at 1:13pm

I shop at the 'discount' grocery store as much as possible, I cannot get over how much cheaper it is. We can't coupon quite as much as my American friends can here in Canada, but I try my best. I also watch for sales on staples like canned tomatoes which I use all the time. They usually go on every 3 months for 88 cents so I grab a bunch of them.

I also go for the no-name stuff as much as possible (though there are some I just can't give up like KD) and that makes a massive difference.

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Permalink Reply by April Schroader on July 4, 2012 at 7:56pm

Funny, I was going to put something like this on my A Simple Life blog, but here is a short version. We are a family of five and we spend about $500 a month on food.

- We are finding that eating healthier is actually lowering our bills - we get the nutrition we need so we get full off of simple meals.

- We purchase non-perishable staples in bulk from the low-end grocery store (in the US West, it is WinCo).

- We got rid of our Costco membership - we were actually spending more money per month, as some of the deals are not as good as they appear and we were constantly tempted by all the goodies at Costco.

- We make many things from scratch and I am working on making more.

I would like to drop our bill by $50 or more a month, so I am watching sales more and seeing if I can ask hubby to go to stores on occasion to pick up good deals - I only have time and energy for one shop a week.

@alison - please share more about how you eat off of $340 in groceries per month!

@melissa - $2500 is more than my family makes in a month! Do you live in a big city like LA or NY?

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Permalink Reply by Beth Ayotte on July 6, 2012 at 10:41am

I keep struggling to lower our grocery bill but am not sure what else I can do. We spend about $700-$800 a month on groceries for a family of four living in the midwest. I religiously meal plan and make a grocery list before going to the store. I have tried couponing before, but I don't find a lot of coupons for the items I buy. I am a little picky about reducing the high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils that we eat. Many of the items I find coupons for in my local inserts are processed foods with these ingredients. And the coupons for paper products and cleaning supplies are usually for name brand items and I can buy store brand for less than the coupon discount. ALWAYS looking for ideas other than meal planning and couponing - already planning and not having much luck with couponing! :)