Besides coupons what are good ways to save on groceries and shampoo /laundry, etc.?
We have a Sam's and Costco membership (Costco is a gift yearly). We are a family of 4 ( 75% of time 3 as DS is away at college).
I need guidance on how to save on our groceries and daily cost of living expenses. I know it will take time but any small steps to get started would be appreciated.
also a family of 4 with a dd in college (graduates this saturday
).
i wanted to reduce my expenses in the same areas this year so i'll pass on what worked for me.
-take stock of what you already have on hand. it gives you a reminder of what your household considers 'staples' and also sometimes we forget that we already have several backups of a particular item.
-if you have a stand alone freezer consider organizing it by types of products. i have all the meats by types on different shelves so that i can tell at a glance what we have to meal plan/grocery shop around. all the frozen veg/carbs in one area, cheese in another..... i do the same with my 'pantry' so at a glance i know what we've got to plan around using vs. buying more.
-again, if you have the freezer storage, i highly recommend a vacuum sealer so that you can take advantage of sales on meats and then break them down into meal size portions. we eat allot of lamb, not cheap but we enjoy it so i get the legs at costco and dh breaks them down into 1# portions which we bag up and freeze. i used to buy more of our meat at costco but i find that watching the sales i can frequently get better deals.
after this is done-start to track, everyday for a few months exactly what you are spending your money on. it will show you what you are buying/repurchasing vs. buying and not using. i think most of us are influenced unconsciously by the grocery habits of our parents. for years i thought i always had to have certain items on hand (largely baking oriented and certain condiments) because i grew up with it always being on the shelf. i came to realize that we rarely used these and if we did they were spoiled before and had to be replaced. now that i know what we actually use regularly i only buy the occasional need stuff when i am actually planning on using it.
on actual purchasing-
take advantage of sales but only to the extent that you will use the item. as an example-we use allot of catsup so if it's on sale i buy enough for months on end b/c if i can save 30% on the cost it worth it. saving the same percentage on something i only use a couple of times a year isn't so much of a deal for me.
watch for sales targeted to events/holidays-with summer approaching there's lots of deals on bbq oriented foods like condiments and breads. right after big bbq holidays like 4th of july it never fails that my local stores have their end caps filled with rock bottom priced meats that were packaged up with holiday purchasers in mind (i get several turkeys after thanksgiving as well). likewise, if you are into prepared baked goods-those red, white and blue cupcakes that are marked to 50% off on the 5th are just as good as they were at twice the price the day before (and freeze well for future kiddo snacks). i STILL have a stock pile of halloween foods in my pantry. i stock up on the big box (30 or more) trick or treat sized bags of chocolate covered pretzels, cheese puffs and muddy buddies for 2 reasons-perfect for dieting adults/ideal for putting in lunches (used to get the fruit treats and small rice crispy treats when the kids were younger as well). much less expensive than traditional snack sized packaging.
for meats-look to what your plans for a meat item are and then get the least expensive option available.
for example-if i need ground beef i will not pay over $4 per pound for the good stuff if there are nice roasts on sale for less than $3 per pound. i will hand the roast to the butcher at safeway and ask him to grind it up for me (i've also had them cut it up into stew and fajita meat). same item-lower price. chicken-i grab a few whole when they are on a great sale but largely wait until a good sale on value packs of pieces and then break them into individual meal sized packages to freeze. pork-i can get pork roasts on sale for less than sausage sells for. i get the butcher or dh (with the kitchen aide) to grind it up. season it, bag it, freeze it. pork chops-tenderloins are cheaper than chops at costco and they can be sliced into the chops (i've not done it but i've read of people who have costco butchers chop and repackage it for them).
paper goods-i'm to the point where target offers the best deal on the pick your size variety of paper towels (and we go through allot less using these) so i wait until they are doing one of those $5 gift card promos. i do multiple individual orders at a minimum of $30 each so that i get free shipping/a $5 gift card on each order that i can use on a future purchase. i've also found that unless costco has a sale, the charmin toilet paper is cheaper at target on sale (which is frequent).
laundry soap-i haven't found a lower price than walmart for the big boxes of arm and hammer w/oxy clean. orange cleaner and **** and span i get at the dollar store. i also get men's deodorant, toothbrushes and foil pop ups (individual sheets of foil) there.
pet food-my cats only like one brand and it's cheaper to get it (even with shipping) through chewey on auto reorder (which i love b/c they notify me ahead of time in case i want to delay a delivery). cat litter-again it's walmart unless costco or somewhere else is having a killer deal.
shampoo and such-walmart b/c noone beats their prices.
eating out-one of the biggest budget busters. sure we do it but we've tried to limit it more. it's never been the full sit down meals that have killed the budget, it's the fast food and such that adds up quick so we do pizza on $10 tuesdays at papa murphys (and make sure to do the survey so we get free cookie dough or cheese bread on the next $10 tuesday). i always do the surveys on panda express so i can pay for a 2 item meal but get a 3rd item free. i know what my family orders when we go out so i try to keep that stuff on hand, ready prepared to fix as fast as going out-precooked and seasoned taco meat/tortillas/cheese/taco sauce/small can enchilada sauce-less costly than running to taco bell, frozen chicken tenders/bbq sauce/ranch dressing, frozen mozzerella sticks/small containers of marinara, corn dogs-people go nuts when sonic offers them at 50 cents each while i can buy a box of 16 on sale for $4.99. it all adds up.