Okay ladies have a few questions about your grocery spending. When you buy lunchmeat do you buy it @ the deli or the packaged lunch meat? Which do you think is cheaper? When you buy paper products like toilet paper, paper towels, etc-do you buy name brand products or generic? Do you use coupons a lot or not at all? Does Sam's take coupons? I thought that they didn't but DH thinks that they do. How often do you buy your paper products & cleaning products?

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Mommy to Ariana 8/11/01 & Davis 4/11/05
I love my kiddos!

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I rarely buy luncheon meat. DD doesn't like sandwiches and I forget to make them for myself. In the odd occasion when I do want or need luncheon meat, I usually buy it from the deli. To find out which is cheaper, calculate the price per pound. Since most deli meats are sold in less than 1 lb packages, it might be simpler to calculate the price per ounce. There are 16 ounces in a pound.

Okay, I looked it up on-line. Albertson's deli turkey is 3.99 / lb for their standard stuff. Hillshire Farms sliced turkey comes in a 6 oz package for $2.50 which is .417 an ounce which is equal to $6.67 / lb. The turkey that they slice for you is MUCH cheaper. Keep in mind, though, that it doesn't last as long. If you want to buy in bulk and use it for sandwiches, I recommend freezing it in sandwich sized servings on a cookie sheet then, when it is frozen, popping those into a freezer bag. That way you'll have only what you need for each sandwich and they'll defrost faster.

Paper products: I have certain brands that I prefer and I buy when those items get to my price point. I try to use cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels or facial tissue but we do have it in the house.

I don't use coupons. I've tried. Eventually I had to decide all the stress and hassle wasn't worth it for me.

We don't have a Sam's membership so I don't know. I know there are Sam's Club specific coupons.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Lunchmeat: I buy the deli meat. Here, sale deli meats are cheaper than packaged (decent quality) deli meats. I LOVE the seasoned roast beef with muenster cheese on a fresh roll- I cannot find a good seasoned packaged meat, so I buy deli meat.

I have purchased generic paper towels and felt so-so about them. Nothing about them stood out to me! So, lately I have been buying the good name brand super packs of them at Target (with a good coupon and a good sale, they are cheaper than the generic and work better in my opinion).
I use TONS of coupons. And not only do i use coupons, I use them on top of the sale prices of items! So, I am a big saver there.
Sams in my area (the 7 stores with in 10 hours of my home) doesn't take coupons. BJ's does and I do believe that Costco does as well. I do believe that BJ's is the best choice (but don't have one in my area) so Sam's works well for us...we did a cost savings sheet on everything that we bought there last month and we saved over $200 on stuff that we actually use frequently (we didn't just buy those items because there was a good sale and we wanted to try it out- we actually got a good sale on items that we need and use on a daily basis)
On how often we purchase paper and cleaning products, it depends. We go to Sams club to stock up on those things once a month. Sometimes we get such a good deal on the items that we use that we get a little extra that month, so sometimes we only need to shop for it once every two months- BUT normally- we get them once a month.

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

Our grocery store has free cutting in the meat dept so I will buy a small ham and have it sliced. It's cheaper per pound and you know it hasnt' been sitting there for a while...

I use coupons and buy when items are on sale.. If you know you use a lot of something buy 2 or 3 and have them on hand.

I also stock up when they run the can good sales. 20 or 25 cents for canned veggies. I buy 12-14 cartons. We (my family of 4) go through them in 8-9 months time. Just in time for another sale.. Plus you have them on hand and can add them to any meal.

I buy the deli meat at the deli counter. I have tried the packaged stuff from BJ's and we prefer the deli counter stuff. However, I only buy certain items and when it is on sale.

I use coupons all the time. I only buy non-perisable items when they are on sale and I have coupons. I need to start a price book; however, I know in my head basic prices of items that are a good deal of items we use all the time. In my basement I have a stand-up freezer, 2nd fridge (with top freezer) and lots and lots of shelves. So I have my own "store" of items we use alot. However, i have noticed that I need to make sure I check the dates on cracker/cereals since the shelf life is getting less than a few years ago.

I have tried generic paper goods and I do not like them. However, i have a bunch of face cloths in a bottom drawer in the kitchen that we use for spills etc (so less paper towels).

Best of luck.

Definetly deli meat, its cheaper than the packaged stuff and you get alot more for your money, and its fresh. It hasnt been sitting in a package for who knows how long in preservatives. The meat at our deli goes so fast you know its fresh.

I do cut and use coupons, however lately, not too much because there hasnt been any good ones to go with what Im buying. :-(

I try to get the bounty when its on sale in the bundle pack. The cheaper brands dont work as well but I have bought them when needed and nothing else is on sale. I do use the store brand t.p. from the grocery store and/or brooks drug store.

1. Lunchmeat is bought at the deli counter because we do not eat it enough and I can get what I need, therefore, less goes in the trash, so for me it is cheaper.

2. Paper products are bought at BJ's 4 times a year. Mixture of name brand and their brand

3. Coupons a lot. Some of my shopping is based on coupons that I have and what the kids eat.

4. Sam's Club with coupons, I do not know.

5. Cleaning products are bought 4x a year while I am at BJ's or when I am at home depot for the bleach.

1) I agree, the pre-packaged deli meats seem a bit gross - I had a bad experience with them as a kid and that feeling has never left me! I only buy in small quantities (usually 3/4 lb.) because the shelf life is not long. I would rather go back to the store and get more rather than having a lb. sitting around for a week turning into a petri dish!

2) Paper products - not fussy on label, but usually get Bounty on good sale. Our Costco does not accept coupons (except their own), but I do use them when it makes sense to. Usually, you can get the store brand cheaper even with a coupon! Coupns are great if you use them correctly and keep them organized! A sidebar here, I was at Walmart last night and they had really low cereal prices, but I knew I had coupons at home so I did not buy. I will make a return trip when I am in the area and use the coupons.

3) Cleaning products - I just look around all year and pick up when I see a good deal. I am not too fussy on brand, as long as it works. I have found great deals on Target endcaps that I combine with a coupon!

luncheon meat~ I buy on sale and will freeze. I don't do the cookie sheet thing, I just put a variety of each in a ziploc and freeze. They thaw just fine.

Cosco~ I don't use cosco. But Bj's does take coupons and you can use two on bulk items. They also have a great deli counter.

Coupons~ I save all the sunday's paper inserts and date them and use thegrocerygame.com to tell me when to use them. I go every other week to store, I find less extras go into the cart. I spent $90 yesturday and saved $55, using coupons and club card. And that was with food for vacation and stamps too. For two weeks grocery's.

paper products~ we stopped using papertowels, I usually buy charmin basic toilet paper using a coupon and buying in bulk at either bj's or walmart, price is about the same.

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"Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body." ~Anonymous

We buy deli now since I tried out a few and we found one my husband loves. He's more likely to make a sandwhich before work, so we save more with deli since it doesn't get wasted as much.

For paper towels we use Bounty and I just HOPE I have a coupon when I go, but I will buy it without a coupon too. I'm a sucker for the Select-a-size. With young kids (3 & 1) I've found we were ripping big paper towels in half for them anyway so now I just get these. I feel I use less too - regular paper towels are pretty big.

Cleaning products I just purchase as needed. I have found though that I had a TON under my kitchen sink. I went thru and cleaned out a lot of it and realized I had a lot I didn't even know I had. My plan is to not buy any for a while now, I need to use up what I already have!

I haven't had a membership to Sam's anymore, they're half an hour away and I never seemed to go when I had the membership last time. I've been wondering if I should check it out again though... hmmm.