Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[LittleMissPurdy]

Does anyone do the monthly grocery shopping?
What is your strategy for not running out of things?
How did you get started with this?
How to convince hubby that he will not run out of everything?
Average bill and how may in the family?
Would it pay to shop different places on that day?

I do the Notebook full of coupons thing (some call it "extreme"..i don think so), and watch the adds...when we lived in Lanc CO. it was easier to shop..so many stores and all in close proximity!! We had 4 adults, (that would equal 6 people), and 2 young adults, ....We are extremely frugal, we have to be. But, now that we are back up here and it is just the two of us..we do not eat like 'normal' people..very little for me and DH only eats really one full meal a day, a few snacks, but that is pretty much it. Living up here -it is alot different ...30 mins to get to lock haven for different places..yes, there is ONE grocery store near us..a Dollar General and Family Dollar, oh, a "farmers-market" just opened to..very small....I will get back to you on how we did it in Lanc. co....I have to get going ...on the road all day today

...running around...sorry...
**hope everyone has a great day, and all chickens have been found and are accounted for!! Laters-Danielle

 

[chiques chicks]

Does anyone do the monthly grocery shopping?
What is your strategy for not running out of things?
How did you get started with this?
How to convince hubby that he will not run out of everything?
Average bill and how may in the family?
Would it pay to shop different places on that day?

I don't shop monthly, but normally have a month's worth of food available. I stockpile canned and frozen items when they are on sale. I also buy meat in large packages and put it in vacuum seal bags. I do most of my shopping after midnight and find certain days they have managers specialists on meat about to reach expiration. Great buys! Coffee, sugar, flour all keep
Fruit and fresh veggies and bread require quick trips.
I didn't do it all at once, I simply added a few items each trip until I had excess to store. Growing up in the country, there were times we would be snowed in for a week, so I like to be prepared. I'm not a fan of canned veggies amd fruit, but have them, as well as canned meat and fruit. Pasta, rice, instant potatoes, oatmeal, snacks,etc.
Not a prepper, just grew up being taught to be prepared for emergencies.
I do most of my shopping at one store, not big on shopping or driving around.

 

[chiques chicks]

They had pet picture day at tsc. I had to be different.

Happy Halloween!

 

[chiques chicks]

Took my dog, too. Can't believe she behaved.

 

[stake]

Just to add to that,,,I have kept track
Never shop on the week that food stamps come out, you will not get bargains
Same for social security checks, just not as bad

Wing:

I have three large chain supermarkets near me...I have cut coupons, but, I find it just as good to to get the weekly flyers and buy the lose leaders....and if its cheap, I buy a year's supply...I also have a chest freezer...(yes, you'd laugh at the amount of toilet paper at my house)...also for Acme and Giant, sometimes they discount meats if they are near date....buy it and freeze it for later....

Wegmans is nice because they put stuff on sale for months at a time and certain items are always cheaper than at other stores: ie canned veggies are always .50 cents a can... Also you can buy 2lb blocks of sharp cheese...about $2 less than Acme or Giant...other stuff at Wegmans is always a bit more so you need to know what things cost before you shop...

I guess the way that I save is (aside from fresh veggies) I don't shop on a week by week or month by month basis....its more like if its cheap and I know I will use it...buy a years supply....I always have 6-12months of food on hand...

 

[wingstone]

Thanks for all the ideas,,,
I hate grocery shopping and have not done it for the last 20 years, hubby was in charge of that,,,,well I have started looking at the weekly receipt and realized the bill doubles with things that are of needed and basically junk food...can not convince him that the sslad bar is a rip off...or that you do not need to go weekly...seems to think that you have to as part of a routine...this is an area that we always argue bout...he has daily routine, I prefer whatever the day brings..

Stake,,,at one time, I swear we had more toilet paper than the store did......this is because he buys the same basics weekly, whether needed or not.

 

[Brittany7]

I do the Notebook full of coupons thing (some call it "extreme"..i don think so), and watch the adds...when we lived in Lanc CO. it was easier to shop..so many stores and all in close proximity!! We had 4 adults, (that would equal 6 people), and 2 young adults, ....We are extremely frugal, we have to be. But, now that we are back up here and it is just the two of us..we do not eat like 'normal' people..very little for me and DH only eats really one full meal a day, a few snacks, but that is pretty much it. Living up here -it is alot different ...30 mins to get to lock haven for different places..yes, there is ONE grocery store near us..a Dollar General and Family Dollar, oh, a "farmers-market" just opened to..very small....I will get back to you on how we did it in Lanc. co....I have to get going ...on the road all day today

...running around...sorry...
**hope everyone has a great day, and all chickens have been found and are accounted for!! Laters-Danielle

Hi everyone I have been MIA for awhile!!!!

To answer your question. I feed me and my hubby for about 200 a month. Maybe even less and its def less in the summer time. This is what I do. I make a trip to Sams club about every 6 months give or take. I buy things like paper towels and TP. I buy their brand which is members 1st or memebers mark. I forget what its called but its just the same as name brand products. My mom wont use anythng other then quilted northern and she couldnt even tell the difference. I foget off hand how big these packs are but they run around 15 dollars each and thats enough to last the two of us plus visitors (which in the summer is almost every weekend we have a pool and in the winter my parents come visit once a month give or take). I also will buy other stuff like shampoo you can get bigger bottles for the same price you would buy else where. sometimes they dont always have the same brands everytime you go. My mother in law has the member ship so thats free for me.

We have an BB Grocery store near us. There are others throughout south east/central PA. The one in newville used to be closer when i went to ship so when I go now its a longer drive and I usually spend more now when I go. This place has stuff that the boxes have been smashed or things that are close to the end of their shelf life. They also have fresh cheese and lunch meat along with some other stuff. You can get pretty much anything. I stopped in yesterday cause i was down that way. The single serve oatmeals in a bowl nomrally around 1.99 at the store i think were 10 cents a piece yesterday. Only thing wrong was the bottom of the bowl had a small dent. So 20 for the price of 1....i think its a deal. You can get sandwhich bags for 79 cents for a box of 50 garbage can bags for 1.25. They arent the top of the line but they get the job done.

We buy our meat in bulk. We bought a quarter cow last November it cost around 300 or 400 I think...They packed everything for us and pre froze it all for us to. it was somewhere around 2.39 a lb. Thats everything from NY Strips to hamburger...and when I cooked up my burger I go little to no grease outta it. So it wasnt junk like some of your leaner grocery store hamburger. Plus the taste and quailty of the steaks you cant beat it. Our local butcher uses local cows. We still have a few things left from this one but we are close to out and its almost november again.

In the summer we have a ton of local markets around us. I try to buy what i want fresh from them. Right now honey crisp apples in the store are 1.49 a lb and at the market they are .99 cents per lbs. I also have a garden in the summer we eat alot of fresh from there. I also can sauces, jellies, salsa and pickles. I dont go crazy but I do enough for us and even some to share to family.

So I do use cupons. But once a month I do go to the store and spend about 100 to 120 on stuff we need. And maybe every week sometimes every 2 weeks I will go to the store and buy things like bread and milk. Stuff that goes bad quickly. And now that its winter I will buy some of my produce from the store.

But when I can I buy local and from the farmers markets or local butcher shops. I think you spend less and the quailty of food is better. PLUS keep it local and help out small business. It does help to shop around and learn the best place to get what.

And another thing I try to do for money saver is when I make dinner I try to make extra so we have lunch for the next day. If we dont pack you can spend 7 dollars easy on lunch somewhere else. Times that by 2 a day 5 days a week. thats almost another 300 a month that we can save!

 

[chickencowranch]

Quote:
it feels like an accomplishment when animals cooperate.

 

[sharron]

Just to add to that,,,I have kept track
Never shop on the week that food stamps come out, you will not get bargains
Same for social security checks, just not as bad

ahhh for the good ole days when you would check off what you wanted on a printed list and how many and they would bring it right to you house, you paid them and then started putting things up, when i first moved up here, my mil did that, they brought all the groceries except for bread, milk and fresh fruit, we had milk men come twice a week, bread and fruit men once a week. my mil would spend over five hundred for everything but it was for every four months.

 

[SilkieSensation]

Does anyone do the monthly grocery shopping?
What is your strategy for not running out of things?
How did you get started with this?
How to convince hubby that he will not run out of everything?
Average bill and how may in the family?
Would it pay to shop different places on that day?

This is pretty much what I do. We are on a pretty limited budget so have to really watch what we spend. I go to 3-4 stores over 2-3 days' time at the beginning of each month. I save back about $50-75 for bread, milk, fresh fruits & emergency items. I grab the cheapezt items from each store that are on my list. I have not had to buy chicken since we started doing our own birds this year. Egga are another item I no longer have to buy. Jopefully milk will also join that list this spring when we breed the goats. I feed 2 adults & 2 children (plus snacks for sports, 4-H, etc.)for about $550 per month. We shop discount stores like Aldi's. I also go to Wal-Mart for some items (mostly the paper & soap products) that tend tp be more expensive in stores that are primarily food. I make about 2 trips per month total for groceries. If my freezer were bigger I wouldn't even go that often because I would freeze bread, milk & fruit/veggies like I used to when I still had the big freezer. I am 1 of those people who learned to stock up as well. I grew up in an area that flooded frequently & roads did not get cleared in winter. You could easily survive on what I have stockpiled for 3-4 months if necessary. We never go hungry here. If all else fails, the birds feed us...lol