maybe a helpful shopping idea...save a few bucks.

[mfitzy111]

My wife and I have a 5 year old son. so....she found a tip worth sharing, that helps us save money on these food bills, it's called order everything online, pay $5 to have the order picked by a living person in Weis markets. They set a time, we show up and call them, they walk out and load it in the car. We also are doing the online points system, so each time you take a picture of the receipt you get points on your club card tracking device...for a few cents off gas.

I don't always agree with her logic like getting 1lb of sweet potatoes (meaning 1 big sweet potato). but so far I've found it does something perfect. It keeps us on budget. We order meal plan for the week using a day planner, break those meals down and create the order on Sat for Sun afternoon. We figure out set meals for the week, and I prep them daily. We work together as a team on this stuff. Cooking at home saves money vs going out and having someone else cook your food...plus you don't know what your really getting for food.

So yeah, good news- what we don't have is both of us walking around grabbing items -and toys and tossing them in the cart so if it's not on the list it isn't ordered...no surprises. She's managing to setup a meal plan every week for two adults and a child for around $120/wk. We could probably skimp and not buy stuff like Ribs. but the base idea is keeping the weekly amount steady as things are going up due to inflation. So far this idea has worked better then just going in to the store with lists- because we always find something, or our little guy finds something he wants that we didn't know we needed...like snacks for school...

This week they broke an egg in the big egg pack, whatever. still keeps me out of Weis...it seems to save more then the $5 spent to deal with everything.

~MFitzy111 -(Mike).

[JohnyMac]

mfitzy, great idea! 

[Nemo]

I got my wife to a monthly trip.  Her cousin gave her a Sams Club card and we often go there.  12-14 count chicken breasts, 10 pounds ground beef and such can save a couple bucks on the pricing.

I have her well trained (yeah right) to divide up into 1 pound packs or 2 smaller/1 large chuck of bird.  Sometimes we can get good pricing on pork roast, chops and such also.  Vacuum seal and freezer.

Same with her baking and such.  She gets down to about 10 cups another 10 pound bag sealed up in 1, 2, and 3 cup packages.  Seems we have been getting more and more piled up in the cabinets.  I might have to buy a new one to put in the basement.

Same thing has been going on with salt, sugar, and all kinds of canned stuff.  I guess we must not be eating as much as we used to.

Nemo

[JohnyMac]

Besides the half a steer we buy a year and the one hog we raise, we do a good job buying things when on sale.

We have bulk storage of rice, wheat, oats, etc, etc. however for daily needs, we buy in bulk when items go on sale. Some examples are...

> When chicken parts are on sale ~.99 cents a lb, we buy enough future use. Our goal is to have 21-days frozen
    on hand. We buy, wash, trim, and freeze in two people portions.
> We buy processed flour when it goes for $1.89-$1.99 for a 5-lb bag. We try to keep 5-6, 5-lb bags in reserve.
> Similar with sugar, we try to keep 5-6, 4-lb bags on hand. We buy when the price drops to $1.99 for a 4-lb bag.
> We buy other cooking supplies too when on sale,
    - 1 gallon cans olive oil
    - Baking powder & soda
    - Brown sugar
    - Chocolate bits
    - Bread Machine yeast
    - Salt,
    - Etcetera.
   All on sale.
> We use a local restaurant supply facility to buy spices in 16-ounce containers,
    - Whole pepper corns,
    - Garlic powder
    - Rosemary
    - Paprika
    - Etcetera.
> Vegetables, we wait till canned 14-oz veggies go on sale for .50 cents a can. Buy up about a case of 24 cans per
    veggie. Which lasts about half a year for us.

We date everything and of course rotate our products.

I could go on and on however, you get the idea. Buy as much as you can afford when the items (s) is on sale.

A friend of mine who he and his wife live on a very thin revenue stream, they buy chuck when on sale and "cold
pack" 32-oz canning jars and pressure can them. He told us that canned chuck makes the best stew he has ever had.

There are a lot of ways to store and buy food. 


 

[mfitzy111]

Besides the half a steer we buy a year and the one hog we raise, we do a good job buying things when on sale.

We have bulk storage of rice, wheat, oats, etc, etc. however for daily needs, we buy in bulk when items go on sale. Some examples are...

> When chicken parts are on sale ~.99 cents a lb, we buy enough future use. Our goal is to have 21-days frozen
    on hand. We buy, wash, trim, and freeze in two people portions.
> We buy processed flour when it goes for $1.89-$1.99 for a 5-lb bag. We try to keep 5-6, 5-lb bags in reserve.
> Similar with sugar, we try to keep 5-6, 4-lb bags on hand. We buy when the price drops to $1.99 for a 4-lb bag.
> We buy other cooking supplies too when on sale,
    - 1 gallon cans olive oil
    - Baking powder & soda
    - Brown sugar
    - Chocolate bits
    - Bread Machine yeast
    - Salt,
    - Etcetera.
   All on sale.
> We use a local restaurant supply facility to buy spices in 16-ounce containers,
    - Whole pepper corns,
    - Garlic powder
    - Rosemary
    - Paprika
    - Etcetera.
> Vegetables, we wait till canned 14-oz veggies go on sale for .50 cents a can. Buy up about a case of 24 cans per
    veggie. Which lasts about half a year for us.

We date everything and of course rotate our products.

I could go on and on however, you get the idea. Buy as much as you can afford when the items (s) is on sale.

A friend of mine who he and his wife live on a very thin revenue stream, they buy chuck when on sale and "cold
pack" 32-oz canning jars and pressure can them. He told us that canned chuck makes the best stew he has ever had.

There are a lot of ways to store and buy food.

That is epic...always interested in saving money...buying in bulk at Sams sometimes isn't the best option, but buying when things are on their sale cycle is something I'd read before from James Rawles works. Seems every few weeks something would drop in to a sale level good deal. Hard for me to figure that sale stuff out- but I try. buying big bulk at restaurant store...guess I'm going to search that out next...cause that would be a good deal. 

Thanks -
~MFitzy111