Grocery Budgeting

[super807]

My grocery budget took a big hit last year when my dh's teenage daughter moved in with us. Our grocery bill doubled overnight. That's when I started paying close attention to flyers and then coupons. And it has really helped. Even though we eat tons of fruits, vegetables and fresh foods. I actually think that eating healthy is generally less expensive than eating lots of prepared foods that are high sodium, high sugar and/or high fat. And it's definitely more flavourful.

We eat pretty healthy, with lots made from scratch, and I've been amazed at what coupons I can find for good, wholesome food. Granted, those ziplock coupons for fresh chicken, any produce and block cheese were an amazing perk, but there are also coupons for bread (the good, whole grain kinds), butter (I bake a fair bit), flour, real juice, eggs, all sorts of cheese, etc. Combining coupons with sales helps the budget a lot.

And yes, we do eat some prepared foods like cereal, crackers and cookies and the occasional frozen pizza. By using coupons for those types of items, which are even more abundant than those listed above, it brings the overall cost of our groceries down. And toiletteries are almost free now with coupons, which helps too.

[tjthemanto]

There are coupons for bread, milk, pasta etc that I still use. On top of that I pay next to nothing for H&B and that $$ goes toward groceries

Lot of the cpns on these products are usually for the more expensive bread , milk and pasta so even after cpns they are more expensive than the more generic/store brands.

I get my milk at SDM for $ 4.19 for a 4 L bag. Then I see milk cpns like 0.75 , 1.00 off etc but they will be on milk brands which are 5.99 and above.

[lilo0003]

Lot of the cpns on these products are usually for the more expensive bread , milk and pasta so even after cpns they are more expensive than the more generic/store brands.

I get my milk at SDM for $ 4.19 for a 4 L bag. Then I see milk cpns like 0.75 , 1.00 off etc but they will be on milk brands which are 5.99 and above.

Sometimes they do go on sale (i think in some provinces milk can't go on sale) and I save the coupons for that. This week the lactancia was on sale for 3.88 at food basics for 4L. With a 1.00 off coupon 2.88 for 4L and this milk always has a long shelf life so a bought 2 bags. Otherwise I agree SDM is the cheapest place to buy milk.

[FallenPixels]

I stocked up on $2.88 milk too
There are $2 prime chicken coupons that were valid on the $5 packs recently at FB too
Breads with coupons are often on sale for 1.99

[blueeyetea]

Lot of the cpns on these products are usually for the more expensive bread , milk and pasta so even after cpns they are more expensive than the more generic/store brands.

That is such a good point! Reading the Tightwad Gazette recently, the author talked about the savings we think we're getting from store coupons, and she made a valid point that it might not be as much as we think we save. I'll explain with buying a jar of spaghetti. These are the choices at the grocery store:

Brand A at $3.99 with a dollar coupon = $2.99
and Brand B - the cheapest brand available in the store at $3.25

The way she explained it, the savings wasn't a dollar, but 26 cents, i.e. $3.25 for the cheapest brand available without a coupon minus $2.99 for Brand A after coupon = $3.25 - $2.99 = $0.26.

Then she adds, if you make your own version, and the cost per jar is $2.49, there are no savings at all with using a coupon.

Of course, there are lots of reasons why someone might not want to buy the cheaper brand or make their own to start with, but from a frugal point of view, it makes a lot of sense.

[super807]

^^^ This is true. The only way to actually acheive savings with coupons is if you are using a coupon to buy something that you would buy even if you didn't have the coupon. So while Italpasta may be a more expensive brand than other pastas, as I buy that brand anyway, when I had $0.50 coupons for it, for me, it truly was a savings. (I buy that brand because they have some cuts, like verimicelli and capelini that I can't find in the other brands, and our family prefers those. When it comes to shells, it's No Name brand for us.)

As for bread, those Demspters whole grain bread coupons were real savings for our family because we buy that bread (or the Country Harvest) we don't buy the cheapest type of bread available. So again, for my family, those coupons represented true savings.

And even with the more expensive brands, if you watch for sales, can get really good deals combined with the coupons. Like when ItalPasta goes on sale 4/$5. I love those days and stock up.

Some coupons I don't bother with because I would never buy that brand, regardless of price. What coupons are helpful to save will vary from family to family because the needs and shopping patterns of that family are unique.

And of course, coupons can incite you to try a different product (the goal of manufacturers in issuing coupons in the first place), and those times don't really represent savings.

[FallenPixels]

Even $0.26 overall is better than buying the cheaper brand without coupon (provided you would buy either anyway).
Pasta sauce, I stocked up on 77c Primo sauce yesterday, I often make my own but its more expensive than that and its useful to have some as back up - better price than any with coupon. It is not all about couponing for me, but finding the best deals on the items we use, whether with coupon, price matching or stocking up on a sale

[momof5boys]

Buying larger boxes and then using snack sized ziploc bags, one saves a lot of money on kid's snacks. For example, I'll buy a big box of honeycomb cereal and as a treat for the boys will give them a ziploc bag of this to school. Granola bars, if you don't make them yourself, is better bought in those large boxes...usually cheaper than buying a small box with using a coupon. I'll also buy a large bag of mini marshmallows and give them some of those along with raisins in a ziploc bag as well.

[blueeyetea]

Even $0.26 overall is better than buying the cheaper brand without coupon (provided you would buy either anyway).
Pasta sauce, I stocked up on 77c Primo sauce yesterday, I often make my own but its more expensive than that and its useful to have some as back up - better price than any with coupon. It is not all about couponing for me, but finding the best deals on the items we use, whether with coupon, price matching or stocking up on a sale

But the point the Tightwad Gazette was making was, from a financial point of view, you weren't saving anything if there was a cheaper alternative. If baking muffins costs 25 cents each, and you never bake, the purchase price would have to be lower than 25 cents each to be considered a savings.

So, in your case, buying a jar of sauce at 77 cents, and the same recipe for you is more expensive to make , than yeah, it's a saving.

[FallenPixels]

I think most SCers know to go with the cheaper option though, look how often someone posts xyz is cheap with coupons and everyone replies with abc is cheaper this week at this store (even if that store isn't in that person's province)