Shopping Tips From Mr. Mom

Since I became Mr. Mom, I have done the majority of grocery shopping for our family, and I have come up with a few tips to help anyone who wants to make their food budget go farther.

1. While coupons can be of use, don’t buy an item simply because you have a coupon.  In our house we tend to use certain name brands, like Hellman’s Mayonnaise and Heinz Ketchup, but you won’t find many coupons for these products.  Their makers know they have the market cornered, so they don’t often offer discounts.  And many coupons only offer a discount when you buy two or more of their product.  This will only increase your food bill.  You have to comparison shop, which leads to my next tip . . .

2.  Check out the house brands.  No matter where you shop, be it Big Y, Shop Rite or Stop & Shop, all stores offer an alternative to name brands.  Cereals, canned goods, deli meats and even chicken can be bargain shopped by store.  Why spend extra for Perdue chicken when the store offers a better deal than old Frank’s kin are willing to make?  Same goes for Boar’s Head in the deli.  And my kids still eat cereal in the morning before school, so why should I buy Kellogg’s at four dollars a box when I can cut the price in half with the store brand.  And look for deals, which leads to  . . .

3.  Use the store flier before shopping.  I check out every store flier I can find before I formulate my shopping list.  Often, my meals will be dictated by what is on special.  Once a month or so, Big Y has a flier that offers buy one get two free specials, and I load up on meats and frozen shrimp because I can reduce the price by two-thirds per item.  Under this logic a bag of raw frozen shrimp that regularly sells for $18.00 becomes a $6.00 bag.  Use one and pop the other two in your freezer.  Same goes for the meats.  But you will need to use the store’s discount card to avail yourself of these deals, so you need to . . .

4.  Get discount cards from all the stores in your area.  These are the little cards that go on your key chain, so you will always have them on your person no matter where you are.  I have saved as much as sixty percent in a week when using these cards.  I once saw a well dressed woman spend over two hundred dollars on a cart full of groceries, while I, with about the same amount of stuff in my cart, spent a little over ninety dollars.  Why spend more if you don’t have to?  Take the time to apply for these cards, because it allows you to  . . .

5.  Go for the best deal.  I often go to three different stores a week, and not all their specials are listed in the flier.  I was in Big Y one day and happened to see that the deli was selling imported ham for $3.99 a pound, but you needed the Big Y card.  And last week I ran to Shop Rite for a half-dozen donuts as a treat for kids when I saw grapes for $.99 a pound with your card, a great deal.  But you need to comparison shop, which leads to my final hint . . .

6.  Frequent the discount stores such as Aldi’s and Xpect.  These stores are great for milk, bread, frozen vegetables and the like.  During the summer I found a package of 100 freeze pops at Aldi’s for $2.49.  That same package at a regular grocery store goes for $5.00 or more, and a low price makes it easier to give every kid hanging at your house a freeze pop on a hot summers day.

These are just a few tips to stretch your dollar a bit farther.  I have reduced our food bill to the point where it now costs me about $125.00 per week to feed my family of four, and we don’t eat badly.  In the last five days or so I have made shrimp and broccoli over pasta with a cheese sauce, crab stuffed chicken breasts, my home-made beef tacos and also the beef and bean burritos my kids love.  (I found a box of Goya yellow rice with three separate pouches for $3.99 at Xpect, and it goes great with both the taco and bean burrito recipes I wrote about in previous posts.  Plus, at $1.33 per meal, it’s in the budget.)

Well, time to run, as I just realized it’s early afternoon, and we need milk and bread, amongst other things, before the kids get home from school.  So, I bid you happy shopping.  I am Mr. Mom.