Let's face it, continuing to shop at the run-of-the-mill grocery stores isn't going to take us to the next (lower) level of food savings. I propose the following for 2009 ...

~ Make a commitment to shop - at least once a month - at a 'third tier' food outlet. This can be a local dairy / butcher, a farmer's market or CSA farm subscription, a dented can store, or a warehouse store like Cash n Carry or Smart & Final. Also look into getting cleaning supplies at a janitorial outlet.

~ Plan NOW to plant a garden and how you're going to preserve the harvest. Even an apartment dweller can grow something and even the family living in the smallest house can find somewhere for long term food storage. Winter is a great time to plan the garden. What does your family eat? What can you grow? What will you need to buy in bulk from a grower so you can preserve it (or glean it free from freecycle)? How will you preserve it (can, freeze, dehydrate, cold storage)? Where will you put it? How will you use it during the year?

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-I love the farmers market here but it only runs from May-October.

-You can also try warehouse stores associated with food distributors. There is one about 30 miles away that supplies hotels with food. They have a store on site that anyone can shop at that has food that can't be sold to hotels because it's close to exp date or the box got damaged. I have some coworkers that swear by this place.

We have a garden and it is now January and I am still eating corn, brussel sprouts, beans, squash and zucchini from the garden. This does not count the preserves (relish, pears, beets etc.) that are downstairs.
It is the most cost efficient way to eat in the summer/fall. We are lucky in that we have a farmer who does a lot of the work for us. We plant our own small section of the garden though. We spend about $10-12 on tomato plants and eat literally hundreds of them. Every year DH says we shouldn't plant so many cherry tomatoes, because a lot do go bad. I remind him that the price we pay for 4 plants is about the price of 1 or 2 baskets (quarts?) from the store. It is very worth it!

I wish we had another store to shop at, but we don;t I've got Walmart and the local grocery store. We do have a Farmers Market in the summer, but its soooooo expensive and we just can't afford it. We get free apples from the neighbors that I can and I take anything that anyone will give use. I wish we had an Aldi's or dent store, but we just don't.

And we don't even have Walmart, cheapest store here is Fred Meyer. We hunt, fish, garden, can and dehydrate extra, and accept donations . We had an apple tree back in Idaho that was awesome. Quarts and quarts of applesauce, apple butter, etc. I miss that.

Think good thoughts! There is always a way to obtain food inexpensively without going to a traditional grocery store. It just takes pre-planning and some asking around.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

My blogs:
Oh!: http://oh-cookie.blogspot.com/
The Foundation Club: http://thefoundationclub.blogspot.com/
12 Months to a Homemade Christmas: http://12monthstoahomemadechristmas.blogspot.com/
Experiences, Not Things: http://experiencesnotthings.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to be friends on Facebook, PM me.

Talk to people you know who garden. I have got lots of free produce from coworkers and friends who just ended up with too much and where glad to give it away to someone they knew would use it.

The Grocery Outlet is great for canned food, even perishables if you are going to use them right away and watch the exp dates!

Well we don't have room to grow a nice garden, but dh got an herb grow kit that we are going to use, it is supposed to grow basil, parsley, chives, thyme, and cilantro. This will save us a little in the produce area. And my fil is going to grow some vegetables again this year, probably things like tomatoes, squash, cabbage, etc...that really helped us last summer.

There is a Mennonite store that sells canned goods/pantry items much cheaper than at the grocery store. We try to go there about once a month.
We also go to a Phillipine food store every couple months for things like soy sauce, sweet & sour sauce, rice, etc...it is much cheaper than buying those items at the local grocery store.

Sometimes you do really have to shop around and look for new places to shop at, but it is definately worth it!

Oh and if anyone has Biglots in their area, they carry alot of pantry items and you can find some grocery items/cleaning items cheaper there as well.

Cookie2, I like your out-of-the box ideas.

Perhaps I will try and go to Aldis or Big Lots once a month.

Another low-cost option I thought of it to try Angel Food Ministries (discussed more in other threads here, just do a search).

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