How Do You Feed Them All?

(Note--This post borders on "blog filler." Some may wish to skip it :)

Sometimes people comment about how high our grocery bill must be. Grocery prices have gone up and our family size has, too. Even though our little guys don't eat much, the others are getting bigger and eating more and our grocery budget has increased. Thankfully, when Matt and I were first married, I read every book on frugality I could get my hands on and that knowledge has paid off. Back then, our monthly food bill was $100. I couldn't make that amount of money go that far today, but I still can stretch a grocery buck. Here are some of the habits I employ to do so:

1. Coupons. I've always clipped coupons. My mother-in-law gives me the coupons she gets in the Sunday paper so I have two sets. I've always admired those super shopper moms who shop on double coupon days (we don't have stores around here that do that). They regularly swap coupons online and with friends and end up paying $10 for $100 worth of groceries. I don't do that. I've tried to figure out how to work the system that well, but I've never managed it. That said, I do use coupons, but with caution. Often times I can find the store brand for cheaper and if the quality is comparable to the name brand (and most the time it is), I buy it.

2. Loss leaders. Back in my hey day, I'd make the loop to all the grocery stores in town and buy only their loss leaders. Now, with the higher price of gas and much less time on my hands, I don't. I still do buy the loss leaders advertised at the grocery stores that are close by.

3. Clearance. I always check those grocery carts and racks at the back of the store with the black slashes through the bar codes. I've gotten boxes of Kix cereal (Paul's favorite) for $1.00. The boxes had some frayed edges, but the inner plastic bags were still sealed. I'm also not averse to buying dented cans, as long as they're not leaking or bulging. Sometimes items in these bins are just discontinued or seasonal items that the store wants to get rid of.

I always check the meat section, too. Often times I find chicken, beef and sausage that's about the hit the pull date. As long as it looks good, I'll buy it. I don't buy ground beef this way, though. The other day when I was at the store, I saw that the butcher had put "manager's special" stickers on all of the locally grown bone-in chicken breasts. They were 99 cents per pound. Even though I didn't feel I had the time to deal with it that week, I bought ten packages (about 30 chicken breasts). I invested in a good boning knife years ago and I've been de-boning my own chicken ever since. The quality of this chicken is much better than the Southern grown boneless chicken breasts and I have the added bonus of the chicken bones, which I make into chicken stock and freeze. (Sometimes, I freeze the bones until I have time to make the stock).

4. Seasonal sales. Turkeys go on sale at Thanksgiving. I usually buy between two and four to put in my freezer. Hams go on sale at Christmas. After Christmas, they often times can be found even cheaper at the bigger stores, like Walmart. Corned beef always goes on sale around St. Patrick's day. I usually buy a couple of those each year.

5. Just plain. I never used to buy anything that was packaged individually or premade in any way. The more prep the store does, the more they charge you for it. Nowadays, I sometimes can justify the price because my time is worth something, too. In the last couple of few years, I have occasionally fallen prey to the convenient rotisserie chicken, even though I know I can roast a chicken at home for 1/3 of the price. When the price of those chickens went up to $7.00 plus, though, I quit buying them. Those skinny little birds aren't worth it. I'll cook scrambled eggs for dinner instead.

6. Bread store. When I lived closer to the bread outlet, I shopped there all the time. I do occasionally shop there still, but lately I've been finding most of my bread on the "day old" clearance racks or on loss leader sales. We go through a loaf of bread a day when we all eat sandwiches for lunch, so for us, I can't fathom paying upwards of $2.50 a loaf.

7. Check prices. I have lots of prices memorized and I buy the same items all the time once I've figured out the lowest prices, but I've found that sometimes it pays to recheck the prices. About a year ago, I compared the price of Walmart's White Cloud diapers with the Huggies diapers at Costco. Even though the last price check had shown me Walmart's diapers were cheaper, I found that the Huggies diapers had actually come down to the same price per diaper, so I started buying them (and the Huggies are actually cheaper than the Costco Kirkland brand). The whole Costco thing is an interesting one in itself. Is it worth it to pay the membership price to save a few bucks, or is it just a wash? For our family, this one was recently put to rest when we upgraded to an executive membership which will pay for itself (we finally reached the point where we buy enough there to make it worth it).

8. Don't discount the Lord. Last year at this time, I felt myself bordering on panic every time I went to the grocery store and saw the prices increase (again). Meat prices were especially bothersome to me. I know it sounds silly, but I was starting to freak out. The Lord finally got a hold of me, however, and reminded me that He is the Provider of all my needs. The Lord showed me that my freezer was full with His provision for my family. Over the holidays, family and friends had given us a turkey, a ham, sausages and elk meat. My God is bigger than a little old economic recession and I'm so glad He is.

I know you readers out there probably have some good tips for stretching your food dollar, too. Comment and share, if you wish.