Hi Ladies! I've been reading your boards, trying to learn to save the best I can. I feel like I just scramble around and am not really making a dent on my grocery budget.

I clip coupons, shop the sales but mostly stick to SuperWalmart and Aldi. I live in a small town and all we have is Jewel and Walgreens...great. So I drive just a little bit further and get most of our groceries at Aldi and use coupons for anything else I need at the SuperWalmart, the only other thing around.

I see posts for people getting huge deals or bargains and paying nothing for groceries. That isn't happening for me. But I also do not buy packaged food due to health reasons and we eat at home for almost every meal and most things are homemade.

I do not stockpile on food, only toiletries. We did once and ended up giving most of it to the homeless shelter.

Am I missing some trick? Oh, we also live in the Chicago area, so I know prices are higher around here and I should factor that in.

I know the feeling. I hear people on here telling me that they spend $80 a month on groceries (exclude household goods) and I am excited if I can spend $200-$250 a month and it is just my DH and me, no kids yet (need to save up for those, I've heard they are spendy

I have been cutting coupons, printing coupons online, searching for the best deals, making homemade meals, eating left overs every day for lunch etc.

Oh good! I don't feel so alone then. My stepson lives with us on weekends and eats everything out of the fridge. But during the week it's just me and dh and I'm jealous of all these low grocery deals I hear!

We have the same problem. Groceries are high here. We do all we can but with dh and a hungry nearly 10 yr old boy (and dd and I), we go through a lot of food. We also have company a lot (expecting someone again for dinner tonight ~ should be here an minute) so that adds to it as well.

Paying in cash really really helps as does not paying for liquid anymore (other than coffee ). We drink water. No pop. No juice. No drink boxes. No bottled water. We drink tap water. Saves a ton of money.

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Im lucky that my shorpite doubles coupons. I go through the flyer every sunday night and I clip coupons. I usually buy 2 sunday papers just for the coupons. I also print out my coupons from Smart Source. I get lots of free items this way. We are healthy eaters so I dont buy a lot of prepackaged food. I usually spend about $75 a week in groceries for my family of 4 with 2 small dogs. I usually save around $40 with my coupons.

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The one thing that I do is I go to my local farmers market. If one vendor has something for say $1 a lb. go to the next vendor of the same product and ask them what their price is. In most cases they will ask me what did so & so tell you and then they will cut their price.

Also, buy in season at the grocery store. This cuts down a lot on your grocery bill.

Buy the store brands if possible and if you like the store brands. There are store brands that I like better than the name brand. Like Kroger frozen vegetables, I like those better than Green Giant. I also like kroger or walmart milk, bread, eggs and Kroger cheese.

Buy in bulk if you can, and if you can't use it all, share it with a friend or a family member and split the cost.

Also, try to match prices at wal-mart, I have a whole bunch of flyers with the different things circle. Tomorrow I have to do my grocery shopping so off to wal-mart to price match I go!

The main thing is to enjoy getting bargins and don't stress too much, if you don't think you did to good that week.

I feel like this too when I read about people's savings. I clip coupons, bargain search, shop at Aldi's, CVS, etc. From what I was spending in November & December 07 to what I'm spending now I'm saving about 50%! Our budget for groceries/toiletries/household items is $500 per month for a family of five. I work outside of the home, have a baby, 2 school aged kids, dh works full-time, we volunteer, etc. A lot of the ideas on here just aren't practical for me. I glean what I can use, and store the rest for later when I might need it.

It's like dieting, if you try to jump in with both feet & eliminate everything you will hate it & revolt. If you slowly make lifestyle changes it will feel nature and become who you are. That is what we are doing & so far dh & I are THRILLED with our savings & our kids haven't really noticed a difference. Even cutting out cable didn't effect them much because we have videos & video games. For us the baby steps are working great.

Maybe we are all doing the right stuff! I mean...I spend $350 a month on food, toiletries, cleaning supplies...etc. That's probably about $300 in food for a family of 3 (my 1 year old drinks like 2 gallons of milk a week!). I actually think that is pretty dang good! My husband mentioned something about cutting back the food budget and I said, "NOT A CHANCE!" See I love to cook...and eat. We don't eat out much..when we do...I use my entertainment book (BOGO coupons) and we also share meals too...to keep it under $10. We have to get creative but it works! So anyhow...I like to eat really tasty meals, but sometimes slighly unique ingredients cost a little more. So I told him that I though $25 per person, per week...was totally awesome! I know lots of people who spend alot more!

I do have a HUGE pantry. I call it my "personal mini-mart." It's a whole wall of shelves in the laundry room of my finished basement. It took me a year to build up, but I bought things I pretty much use all the time so that I cycle through it...ex...I cook alot w/ chicken broth, pasta, rice, spagetti sauce, etc. So I have lots of that stuff. I also keep lots of condiments since that stuff really ads up! I buy in season...ex...ketchup is on sale during the summer...plus the papers have coupons for it...baking supplies are on sale during the holiday season...plus coupons. So I buy what I think I could use within a years time. It seems to work well!

Don't be so hard on yourself! I know people that eat out almost every night (my mom's cousin and hubby). Think about how much they must spend! And I'm sure most of it probably isn't good for them!

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Bekah
Co-founder and CEO of the NOVITZKE FAMILY INC.

"If I could escape, and create a place that's my own world..."

Some of those claims give the wrong impression. Like when you see the diet aid ads on tv, the fine print says "results not typical".

These boards are full of the most frugal people that I know of and I bet that the vast majority here spend more than $200 a month on groceries.

Keep reading because there are terrific suggestions all the time. Try the ones that appeal to you. Identify your bad habits and replace them with good habits.

It sounds like you are doing good things already like Aldi's and cooking from scratch.

Cathleen

Oh how I wish I could do this!!! But I don't have room for more than two week's worth of groceries (and with that I usually have bags of canned goods sitting on the floor in the kitchen for a week waiting for a home in the cupboard). Count yourself lucky for having the space to do this!

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~~Amanda~~ Mommy to Elijah (3), TTC #2