Happy Monday everyone! Did you splurge and overspend this weekend? I gotta admit, I did. Good thing Yay Baby Blog’s resident budget savvy diva is here to help our wallets recoup.
Check out Heather’s tips to save a buck (or $20) at the grocery store! Feel free to contribute your own budget tips in the comments!
Heather says:
When it comes to shopping, there are a few easy tips that can save you lots of money. Since I’ll be regularly contributing money saving tips, budget-friendly meal plans and shopping lists to Yay Baby Blog, I thought it might be helpful to share some pointers on how I shop.
Coupons
I am not an “Extreme Couponer”, but I do use coupons for things I need and know I will use in the near future. Otherwise, I would end up overspending. If you don’t get the paper, I suggest a Sunday paper for the coupons and a Wednesday paper for grocery ads.
Store Hop
I’m a busy mom with a full-time job, so time is limited, but I will go to multiple stores if needed to save some dough. You can usually find the major grocery stores within a close vicinity of one another and it’s true that some stores, such as Wal-Mart will ad-match, but this doesn’t work well with fresh produce and meat. So a few trips might be necessary to get the most bang for your grocery buck.
Store Specials
Look for “Manager’s Specials” in the meat and seafood sections. The packages usually have a bright orange sticker and are often marked down 50% or more. Don’t worry – it doesn’t mean the meat is bad, it just means it may expire soon. You have two options with this – 1. Cook it right away or 2. Freeze for later use.
I recently scored on a “Manager’s Special”; the store had packages of fresh Copper River salmon (that sells for $19.99 a lb.) marked at 50% off! A few of the packages were marked at $5.79, PLUS the 50% off! I got each package of salmon for less than $3 each and each package fed two people. The best time to find these deals are around 9-10 a.m., when the store is putting out the fresh meat and seafood for the day. You might not always find these types of deals, but it’s worth a look when you’re shopping.
Additional Tips
Try to shop alone and make a list and stick to it. Bringing your kids and compulsive shopping can really cost you. Also, eat something before you shop, grocery shopping on an empty stomach is a definite wallet buster and you will most definitely overspend.
I hope these few tips come in handy.
