November 2009

Beth from In Good Cents gives us tips on when and how to shop.

Shop to Stock

Each week, I use part of my budget to buy items like produce and dairy that I need to get through the week, but the other part of my budget is to stock up on whatever is a great deal that week. I’m not living week to week and buying items just to make meals for a few days. I’ve gone with an entirely different method of shopping. I shop to stock!

I recommend an 80/20 shopping method at first. Use 80% of your budget to get through the week and use 20% to stock up on whatever is cheap that week. So, if you have a $100 weekly grocery budget, use $80 to buy what you need to get through the week and use the other $20 to stock. If toilet paper and chicken breasts are an amazing deal that week, buy as much as you can with the coupons you have on hand and the $20 you’re using to stock. If cereal is a steal, walk out of the store looking like you have a cereal fetish! If it’s pork chops, grab a ton and freeze it for later.

One day, you’ll look around your kitchen and realize you have everything you need to prepare meals that week. Maybe you need a few perishables, but that’s it. And that’s when you do it! You drop your grocery budget dramatically, getting only the perishables each week and using the rest of your budget to stock, getting items to keep your pile replenished.

When is a sale a good deal?

The word “sale” doesn’t always mean you’re getting the best deal. Phantom sales are items that are marked on sale in the store or in the circular, but in fact aren’t really a discount at all. For example, Meijer often lists ketchup “on sale” during their 10/$10, 11th item FREE promotion, but if you lift the sale tag in the ketchup aisle, underneath you’ll find that it’s normally priced $0.99. Basically, if you buy the ketchup on sale without buying 11 items, you’re actually paying a penny more than you would when the ketchup isn’t on sale. Another phantom deal are hidden in circulars. Stores like Walmart often just stick regular priced items in their circular, making you think they are on sale, when really they are just advertising their everyday price.

So how do you know when you are truly getting a good deal?

This is a question I get asked almost daily and, unfortunately, it’s one of the hardest questions to answer. It depends entirely upon your shopping style. For example, if you are out of toilet paper this week, any sale going to look like a great deal to you. But if you have a good stockpile, you can wait until it hits rock bottom prices. On top of that, if you are brand-specific about an item, you need to know the rock bottom prices for that specific brand. On the other hand, if you are willing to use any brand, you need to know the rock bottom price for the entire product line. It also depends on what store you shop or if you shop around.

So basically, to answer this question, I’d have to rattle off great sale prices for every brand in every product line at every store. Sadly, I don’t have the time (or that knowledge). However, I can give you the tools to find the best prices for you and your family.

First, when shopping and searching sales, calculate every thing down to the unit price. To figure out if the large value pack of toilet paper is a better deal then the small 4-pack, you have to know how much it costs per roll. Next, start a grocery price list of all the items you buy regularly. With this, you can keep track of sales and see how low they go, so you know when to buy. This isn’t something you’ll have to do forever. Approximately 3-6 weeks of tracking prices will give you a good idea of when a sale really is really a good deal. Remember, to retrack prices as the economy changes and prices alter.

To get you started, here is an example of my grocery price book – Grocery Price Book Example. Use it to track sale prices and find the best deals for you. Remember, stacking the best sales with coupons is how you maximize your savings!

Finally, once you get a good idea of great sale prices, set reasonable limits for yourself and simply refuse to buy the product (unless you can’t live without it) until it hits that set price. You can, for example, refuse to buy regular milk for over $2.00 a gallon. With milk always hitting abut $1.98 a gallon somewhere each week, that’s a very easy and very logical limit to set.

Stack this idea with my tip on Shopping to Stock to cut your grocery budget dramatically!

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Beth Montgomery is very happily married and the mother of two beautiful little girls and a new little boy. She works as a part-time at her church, authors the frugal blog, In Good Cents and frugal cooking blog, Centsible Cooking. She teaches seminars to help others learn how to dramatically cut their budget on everyday items.

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Liz is a Coupons, Deals and More reader trying to save money while planning a first birthday party in metro-NYC

Trying to Save Money while Planning a First Birthday Party

I recently threw a 1st birthday party for my daughter (Sat from 2-5 pm). I rarely throw parties so it took some planning. My time in limited in the day so it was difficult to save as much as I wanted but here’s what I was able to do for 31 people.

I originally wanted to make my invitations by hand, however, the costs (in time) proved to be too much. In the end, I used Evite which was free.

I wanted a variety of foods – snacks to pizza. For snacks, I got Lay’s chips that happened to be B1G1 the previous week at Stop & Shop and I had 2 B2G1 free coupons, so I ended up getting 8 bags for the price of 2, which was $8 ($1 per bag). I also got some Tombstone frozen pizzas which were B2G2 free and a free 1/2 gallon store brand ice cream. Each pizza cost $5.49 so I got 4 pizzas + 1/2 gallon coffee ice cream for $11. We also made dumplings for the party which involved ground pork, Shiitake mushrooms, scallions, chives, lettuce and dumpling skins. That cost $20. I got 3 bottles of soda at Rite Aid for $3.25. I forgot to use a $1 coupon. The veggie dip was $2.99 – $2 discover card coupon and the carrots were free from a S&S promo. The rest of the veggies were $4. Milano cookies cost $1.50 after coupon and the cake was $16.99. $65.74 total. I have a $10 rebate on frozen pizza and $5 on salty snacks so I will get back $15.

I had stockpiled plates when Chinet had those $2 lunch plate and $2 Crystal plate out over the summer when I was able to get them for 99¢ each for the dessert plates and just tax for the lunch plates. However, I didn’t ever stockpile any cups or utensils. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a coupon deal on disposable utensils. At the last minute, I went to Walgreen’s and used my RRs on their 99¢ forks and $1.99 Styrofoam cups. For napkins, I ended up using 50¢ after coupon Vanity Fair Dinner Napkins that I had purchased 3 years ago. Total Cost: $7.50.

The total was $58.24 net. Seven people were no shows so 25 total. I figure it could have been at least 1/2 the cost if I planned much earlier. But in one week and one set of sales, I feel it wasn’t too bad. It amounts to around $2.50 a person – worth it for the memories and the fun. In retrospect, if I had tuna salad sandwiches, I would have saved $15, since I have all this free tuna. Maybe next time.

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Liz lives in the Metro New York City area and is a first time mom to a 1 year old. She has been couponing for many years now, but couponing and saving with a baby feels like a whole ‘nother ball game.

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Candi at Family Stamping and Food is kind enough to share her freezing tips with us today! This is important information every stockpiler needs to know.

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Stockpiling: What Can I Freeze?

When I started stockpiling food and pantry items, I was worried because we have a small house. We don’t have much cabinet space for pantry items. We also have a small refrigerator and I had no idea how I could have room for stockpiling. So I had to get creative without spending alot of money. That’s the idea of couponing and stockpiling, right?

First of all, check your local Craigslist for an inexpensive freezer. We were able to snag one for $100. It’s a nice Kenmore freezer that’s only a couple of years old. Thankfully it’s still working! You can also sign up to local Freecycle and Yahoo groups. Freecycling is a wonderful way to get rid of things you don’t need anymore but are still in good condition that someone else can use. People are always upgrading or moving or downsizing and you might be able to get one for FREE!

So in your freezer you probably have a bag of ice or a tray of ice, some frozen vegetables and maybe, just maybe, if you dig around in there, you might find half a Popsicle lurking about. At least that’s what I found in my freezer when I cleaned it out. I routinely deep clean my Refrigerator/Freezer twice a year. Removing old things to make room for new things.

It’s important to label everything that is not in it’s original packaging. You think you’ll remember what is going into each bag, but trust me, you’ll forget. Keep a sharpie marker in a drawer in the kitchen. You’ll always know where it is and it’s in arms reach from the fridge. Also keep freezer storage baggies in the kitchen cabinets. I keep mine in the cabinet where I store our plastic storage containers (i.e. rubbermaid, tupperware…) You can stockpile storage baggies when they go on sale — you’ll be surprised how often Walgreens has their baggies for $.99 a box.

Keeping food organized in the freezer, prevents it from getting freezer burn and getting too old to eat. Here are the recommendations from North Dakota State University about food items you can put in your freezer and how long each can stay in there. (I also referenced a Weight Watchers 2004 cookbook for some of this information.)

I’m a 35 year old SAHM to my 13 year old step-son, 3 year old daughter and my 1 year old son. I’m very grateful for my husband of 11 years that I am able to stay home with our children, even though some days I can feel insanity setting in. I love to find great deals for my family. And I love to bake and make homemade meals them. I generally have to tweak every recipe (sometimes not completely telling my picky husband everything that might be in the meal) just so he’ll eat it. And while I have a HUGE love of scrapbooking, I have not been able to do it for some time as my little ones need me more (hence the “stamping” part of my blog).

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Shannon from The Grocery Weekly shares tips on how to feed your family for under $50 per week!

How Do We Do It?

So after I posted what we bought this week for food I started wondering to myself “How do we do it?” I mean how do we eat on $50 or less a week and how have we been doing it successfully for over 2 years!??? I realized there are some things I do that I think might contribute to helping in this area. Over the next few weeks whenever I recognize something I am doing that seems to help I will share it with you all.

So the 1st thing I recognize that I do is I keep my eye on portion sizes. Now I don’t weigh our plates or anything but I realize I am always the one to dish up the food. Whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner I am usually the one making it and I am the one determining what everyone is eating and how much. I fill the glasses of milk, the bowls of cereal and scoop out the casserole to be put on the plate.

When my husband and I were first married I would always give him more food than myself because I knew he ate more than me. Over time I started to notice that Ryan really loves seconds. It doesn’t matter how much is on his plate the 1st time, he wants to go back for seconds. This was frustrating at first because it seemed a 6 serving dish could quickly turn into only 3. So since I am the one that usually puts our plates together I started giving him the same amount of food as I gave myself or less even to see what would happen. Sure enough, Ryan still went back for seconds but he never noticed that he was actually eating less and over the course of a year he actually lost 15 pounds… kind of funny huh?

Another great example of portion size is when we have pizza. For the longest time I would always cut our Friday night pizza into 8 pieces. I would start Ryan out with 2 pieces and he would always go back for a 3rd. I tried cutting our pizza into 10 pieces and the same thing happened. I now cut my pizza into 12 pieces and you know what? Ryan always has 3 pieces, but seems to be just as satisfied and I get 2 meals out of my pizza instead of just 1. We eat it for dinner on Friday and then usually leftovers for lunch on Saturday or Sunday.

As for our toddler I notice that I usually give him to much food so then what he doesn’t eat ends up getting thrown away. What I started doing here was giving him a little portion and then if he likes what we are having I just give him more. If he doesn’t like it then that is less food I have wasted.

Now what is funny is that my toddler, nor my husband, have any idea that I do this. They have no clue that I play this little portion size game with them:)

Anyway all that to say watching your portion sizes is probably a good way to make your food last longer. Most meals I make serve us both dinner and lunch the next day.

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Shannon is a 27 year old wife to a high school math teacher and stay at home mom to an almost 3 year old and a 5 month old. She lives in Topeka, KS and weekly post the best grocery store deals for her region! If you live in the Topeka area be sure to stop by The Grocery Weekly

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I have resisted getting a blackberry for years. The email and browser capabilities were nice, but I saw how addicted hubby is to his “crackberry” and know that I could get sucked too. We have Verizon internet, so when the iphone came out all I did was shrug as it was not an option for me. When my old phone died a few months ago, we went looking for a replacement. I was not impressed with anything Verizon had available, so I purchased the same model phone I’ve had for years on eBay and was happy.

Sonny-boy’s phone has been on its last legs for a while now and he finally told us two weeks ago. So, we started looking for a new phone for him and I stumbled across the Droid. Hmmm that looked promising. The reviews have been outstanding, and not only that it has a bar code scanner application!

Well that about sealed the deal. I can now scan barcodes and take pictures of stuff in the store, as well as attach prices to the bar codes and download this information at home! Once I get good at it, I expect my weekly Target and Tops walk-throughs to go from two – three hours each to less than an hour a piece! Walgreen’s new Register Rewards? As fast as the information can be typed, it can be put on the main Walgreen’s page (I should have the opportunity to check that out later today).

We took pictures of the hotel we just stayed in (the Trump, OMG was that nice!) and the camera is sooooo darned clear compared to my last cell phone camera that I never used.

The downside is hubby and Sonny-boy kept asking for the phone in order to play. And somehow ESPN NHL ended up as my homepage. Hmmmm pretty good when the browser is google default and I don’t see how changing it is possible (but apparently it is!) I am practically begging hubby to get one for himself. I swear every new piece of electronics we get makes that man soooo darned happy! I cannot imagine how thrilled he’d be to download 100 apps he’ll never use but can convince himself he made someday “need”.

So, that is my new toy. Welllll it is not actually a “toy”, I got it purely for business purposes *cough* you know, to help the blog along and immediately answer my email.

Anyone buying that? *insert angel face*

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Target Deals 12/6 – 12/12/09
Rite Aid Deals 12/6 – 12/12/09 ($7+ profit + get $87 in merchandise)
Walgreens 4 Day Sale 12/9 – 12/12/09
Walgreens Deals 12/6 – 12/12/09 LOTS of RR profit!
CVS Deals 12/6 – 12/12/09 Free after ECB!

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Sunday Morning Shopping

Well, as many of you know we are vacationing in Vegas. Well, sorta.

Sonny-boy and I were scheduled to leave Thanksgiving morning, connect in Detroit and land in Vegas at about 2pm (pacific time) to head over to the MIL’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Our plane went mechanical, and by the time we were re-routed we ended up landing in Vegas at about 8pm (pacific). Long day at the airport.

All was not lost though… we had dinner with my brother and his family in the airport!

They were flying to Florida on the 2pm flight we ended up getting on when re-routed. If that plane had gone down it would have wiped out seven members of my immediate family!

Sonny-boy has school tomorrow so we just dropped him off for his return flight home, and now hubby and I are off to shop.

Vegas does not have a Rite Aid. They pulled out about 3-4 years ago (time flies and I do not recall exactly when. I just recall shopping there and then my next visit… gone!) They do, however, have a Walgreens on every corner, and a CVS every other corner. The CVS thing is nice because I am low on swiffers and plan on “buying” those today with ECB.

Right now though, I am sitting in the parking lot of Fry’s while hubby is electronic shopping. Since this is the scene of my worst shopping experience ever, I will not go in. There is a Whole Foods next door, and I only have the opportunity to shop there when I am in Vegas and SLC, so I am definitely going to at least wander when he finishes at Fry’s. Whole Foods has some amazing coupons in SLC so I am hoping for the same here.

And, that is all I plan. I had hoped to get 99¢ newspapers for the P&G insert today, but Vegas gets P&G via mail. I think I’ll see if Sonny-boy can get me some on his lay-over. If not, I’ll still have four from the friends & family drop off plan when I get home.

So, how did you do today?

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