Maximum Return on Investment- The Supermarket

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

Well as a semi savvy shopper these are my rules.

1. Learn to ready the small panels of products the price per pound/quart/gallon whatever. You may easily find store bought brands are not cheaper than brand names and other times they may be. And to be 100% honest, if store brand ketchup is 35 cents a quart and Heinz is 37 I'm buying Heinz and keeping it.

2. If on sale, stock up on non-perishables. Or I should say takes a long time to perishable. Mustard and Canned Tomatoes are great examples of this. They have shelf lives of over a year at least. Whenever a grocery store around me drops Guldens to 88 cents a bottle I pickup 5 or more so I have enough mustard to last me 6 months or so. Canned tomatoes, every year shoprite runs sales on Tuturosa (sp) canned tomatoes 27 oz cans 12 for like 7 dollars. I get 12, and they last.

3. This one is hard for me to follow because of limited freezer space but I try to. As someone who often has a smoothie for breakfast, I have a lot of frozen fruit in my freezer on a given week. Frozen fruit isn't too expensive compared to offseason fruit (strawberries usually run around 2 bucks a pound for example) but some things are horrible. Like Blueberries. Frozen Blueberries almost always seem to run 3+ bucks a pound. So what I do is every year during Blueberry season in NJ, I stock up on blueberries. First I love blueberries I can down a pound of them without thinking (until I wind up regrettign it a little later when things move a little quicker) second is I love smoothies. Some grocery stores have deals where you can get a whole flat of blueberries (9 pounds I believe) for like 6 or 7 dollars. So I buy several flats. This year I'm gonna add one more to make a blueberry mead, but last year I bought 2, one to eat, and one to freeze. My family all also buy the same and we usually just enjoy snacking on them.

3. If you can spend a little more to support your local farms. Sometimes not the ultimate money saver (especially for meats) but fi you have a little wiggle room for your budget the end product you get is so much better. For example we just bought this hot italian sausage for 5 bucks a pound, a good buck or 2 more than say Johnsonville or store brand sausage, but the quality was out of this world different. Next time I go back I'm buying their breakfast sausage even if it's 3 bucks more than what I usually pay for on sale bulk sausage.

I have many more tips, but unfortunately most involve lots of coupons and having enough money to afford to have a massive shopping day every 2 months, which I don't now so I'm a little rusty.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

One more to add. Look up local CSA. Some you have to work at (or get a discount if you do) others you just pay a fee. It is often very cheap in terms of cost and if your'e an adventurous eater it can pay off. An example of a local CSA and a weekly haul from them

Lots of Lettuces, Baby Carrots, Beet Greens, Radishes, Hakurai Turnips & Greens, Oregano, Sage

You pay upfront and it works out to be about 28 bucks a week for that one. They're one of the less expensive ones (probably cause it's run by a university so the overhead isn't too high) but you can find similar ones where you can often get the cost of your weeks produce relatively inexpensively.

Also we joined a local egg CSA where you buy a months worth of eggs for 16 bucks. 4 dozen free range eggs. And there is a big difference between those and a 2 dollar a dozen kind.

 

[BetterSense]

2) Clorox costs $4.99 a gallon. The store brand costs $0.99 a gallon. I can't imagine Clorox being a bleachier bleach (though I'm not a scientist and I could be wrong) so this is a definite UP YOURS Clorox.

Only suckers buy liquid bleach in any form...who wants to pay for water?

Buy the pool tablets in the pool section; you can get enough to make an entire POOL of bleach for $5...

 

[DrunkleJon]

Great points all of them. I like to extend the storage life of what I buy as much as possible.

Another thing that I find a lot of people do not know or waste food due to. Pull dates are not magical dates that the product will go bad. Eggs in most cases are weeks to months old when you pick them up at the store. I being a bachelor who does not eat breakfast except on weekends do not go through the eggs I buy sometimes for months at a time. I have eaten eggs that are 4+ months expired with no ill effects. As usual if it smells off or is cracked toss it, but the only difference you will find is a larger air bubble at the narrow end and less egg white. Keeping perishables like milk in the back of the fridge will slow them going bad, as the constant warmup/cool off from opening and closing the door so much takes a week+ off the shelf life.

Foodsavers are godsends. You can make up a big old vat of chili and split it up for wuick meals, or break down the costco meat packs that no single person in their right mind can consume before they turn. If you do not have a food saver, I find marinatable meats, if bagged in the marinade and having the air sucked out of the bag (with a straw) will keep down freezerburn and the refridgerator thaw will save you the marinade step.

Another cost saving thing I do is avoid buying soda, gatorade, single serving packaged drinks in exchange for making iced tea, and the occasional soda water or my personal favorite tonic water. Maybe I should look into making my own...

 

[Varmintman]

I grow or shoot a lot of the food I eat. Sure thing in the winter I buy some fresh food but you can save a ton of money if you have the space and are willing to put in the effort

 

[naga77777]

Does your boston butt have a bone or is it boneless? Skin on?

It had some skinn, I believe, either that or was just fat. But I trimmed it off when I cut it up. Was bone-in (discovered after I started cutting, lol). I was thinking of putting the bone-in portion in the crockpot.. Hoping it would make it easier to pick the stuff off the bone after it cooks for 8hrs.

I grow or shoot a lot of the food I eat. Sure thing in the winter I buy some fresh food but you can save a ton of money if you have the space and are willing to put in the effort

That's cool. I'm not very good at gardening (don't chop grass enough, or pull weeds enough).

....and I'm a big 'ol softie when it comes to shooting things. I hunted quail a bit as a kid with dad, and shot some, but that's about it. I had a deer within range at about age 12, but couldn't bring myself to shoot it. I have a bad habit of empathizing too much with animals-- as in "what if I was just trying to have lunch, and all of a sudden BLAM! My lungs are soup.."

 

[Jayhem]

Excellent thread to revive!

I pride myself at thrifty grocery shopping and food provision!

The 5 biggest tips I have:

1. Aldi! This store rocks, their off brands taste just as good as name brands and cost 50-70% less! Example: Aldi brand tortilla chips: $1.09/lb v. Tostitos at $2.99/lb taste is almost identical. Aldi also has decent produce if you go on the right day of the week! My total grocery bill is down about 35% thanks to Aldi

2. Meat sales! I check the local supermarket meat sales every week. When whole chicken or leg quarters get to $.99/lb or less I will buy 10+ lbs in bulk packages, break up the packages at home and wrap them in meal sized portions in freezer bags. Pork and London broil are other meats that sometimes go on great sales...I stock up and we never have to pay full price for chicken or pork!

3. Vegetable Gardening! Every year I grow about a 50' row of green beans, 15-20 tomato plants, 10-12 pepper plants, 10 squash plants, 30' row of cucumber, 30' row of onions, a few pumpkins, and lots of herbs for cooking! Since I do mostly organic gardening my investment cost per year is <$50 and the return is $600-$1000 worth of produce, much of which we can or freeze for the next 12 months.

4. Hunting! My inlaws have a 1,000 acre beef farm loaded with deer. The past 3 years in a row I have processed 3 deer / year into the freezer. That is roughly 200 lbs of red meat per year for basically free! We eat a lot of venison jerky, burgers, pasta sauce, pot roast.

5. Find a local farmer who sells beef cows! You can sometimes buy a half a beef cow for $3.50/lb processed. With the average cost of ground beef at $3.99/lb and good steak at $8.99/lb that is a great deal and over the course of a year you save hundreds if you like red meat!

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I was thinking of putting the bone-in portion in the crockpot.. Hoping it would make it easier to pick the stuff off the bone after it cooks for 8hrs.

I was going to suggest just that. I take roasted and pureed jalepenos, onions, and tomatillos and add it to the pot at the end of the cooking process to make a poor man's green chili. Great with a little sour cream.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Necro-bump.

Just curious for those who mentioned the foodsaver-- anything special about freezing produce? I got really scared when I saw not to food-save garlic or mushrooms because of anaerobic nature of the botulism spores that's on those veggies. Now I'm scared to vacuum-seal any kind of produce. Advise?

Also very interested in these stocks y'all are making from carcasses. I've never actually bought a whole chicken, because I lack any experience whatsoever with separating it into parts. (Sad, I know). So I did feel proud of myself for buying bone-in chicken breasts on sale, and removing the bones and skin myself . Could I have made something out of those bones?

I also bought a Boston butt roast, and cut it into 3 manageable sized portions, and food-saved it. No clue what I can do with that, I just bought it cuz it was >50% discount per lb.

Oh another thing I wanted to mention to you is that Alton Brown did a whole demo on breaking down a chicken on Good Eats. If that isnt on youtube I would be shocked.

 

[DromJohn]

1) While SWMBO makes a list to match recipes, my preference is to see what looks good in the store (at a good price) then figure out what to do with the the purchases.

2) While people have suggested planting herbs instead of cut bunches, a compromise is to buy the herb plants without intending to plant them. Almost always the herb plant costs less than the cut herbs, and are fresher.

3) Wait for sales to buy staples.

 

[cheezydemon3]

+1 to freezing meat in marinade to avoid freezerburn.

If I know I am making soup (chicken and dumplings, etc.) I freeze meat in just plain old water and then use that water as the soup base.

 

[naga77777]

Excellent thread to revive!

I pride myself at thrifty grocery shopping and food provision!

The 5 biggest tips I have:

1. Aldi! This store rocks, their off brands taste just as good as name brands and cost 50-70% less! Example: Aldi brand tortilla chips: $1.09/lb v. Tostitos at $2.99/lb taste is almost identical. Aldi also has decent produce if you go on the right day of the week! My total grocery bill is down about 35% thanks to Aldi

Wow, had never heard of Aldi. The closest one is about an hour away from my house, but ironically <10min from where I'm working at the moment. Think I'll check them out today Thanks for the tips!

 

[Jayhem]

Wow, had never heard of Aldi. The closest one is about an hour away from my house, but ironically <10min from where I'm working at the moment. Think I'll check them out today Thanks for the tips!

Yea they are not in every town. Fortunately mine is a 3 minute drive from my house! I can literally get all my grocery shopping done in about 7 minutes because their stores are small, not a lot of selection but they have all the important stuff! I even find that their dish soap and laundry detergent works just as well as the name brand stuff costing 2X as much.

Heck our Aldi even stocks some odd things you wouldn't expect like 1-dozen roses for $6! I bought my wife 4 dozen roses on Valentines day for $24! She was impressed! Shhh, don't tell her I get them at Aldi.

 

[427Cobra]

I have learned a lot of tips from this thread. Thanks everyone!

Most of my tips have been mentioned but if you have some potato chips that are stale 10 secs in the microwave and they taste almost like new!

 

[autobaun70]

Heck our Aldi even stocks some odd things you wouldn't expect like 1-dozen roses for $6! I bought my wife 4 dozen roses on Valentines day for $24! She was impressed! Shhh, don't tell her I get them at Aldi.

Not to sidetrack the tread, but the kegerator is a great place to hide flowers. Pick them up 1 day in advance of valentines to avoid the rush, and pull them out that morning. The florists typically prepare the arrangements a few days in advance and store in the fridge anyway, so there is no real loss in quality.

 

[dkwolf]

Not to sidetrack the tread, but the kegerator is a great place to hide flowers. Pick them up 1 day in advance of valentines to avoid the rush, and pull them out that morning. The florists typically prepare the arrangements a few days in advance and store in the fridge anyway, so there is no real loss in quality.

Or simply don't buy them for valentines, instead buy them randomly several times a year. You'll get more flowers of a higher quality, at a lower cost.

(And probably score more brownie points for the random flowers than the flowers on v-day)

 

[tx-brewer]

I work for Heb grocery store (texas chain).and many of our store brand products are actually bug name products in different packaging. The aluminum foil is made by Reynolds and batteries by one of the big name battery companies. There are many mire but these are a couple that I know for sure

 

[turvis]

I like heb's meal deals buy one item and get 3-4 free. The mahi mahi fish tacos they had last week were good once you add a little lime juice and a couple of slices of avocado.

 

[mrkrausen]

It's kinda funny, I was just talking to a buddy at work the other day about buying in bulk to save money and I just searched on here and ran across this thread. They had a pretty good meat sale at Price Chopper the other day so I bought a couple of pork loins to cut into pork chops and other bulk meats. I picked up a whole chicken today and broke it down and have to say I'm sold! It was easier than I thought and the savings will add up quickly. Gonna use the bones to make some stock tomorrow and freeze for later use.

We've done herb gardening for a while and now that we have the room, we've planted a garden to supply probably more than enough vegetables for us. They want about $2 per red/yellow/orange bell pepper at the store and we got a start of each of those for $1.75 each. I've also been making laundry detergent for some time now after running across a thread about it on here. That has been a great savings. Next I want to try my hand at making some cold process soap.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

The TradeFair by me has manager's specials on jalapenos just before they go off. For $1 I get several pounds of them and make hotsauce. Problem is, I have way too much hotsauce.

And before you say so I know jalapenos arent that hot... but the sauce still has a nice taste.

 

[DrunkleJon]

The TradeFair by me has manager's specials on jalapenos just before they go off. For $1 I get several pounds of them and make hotsauce. Problem is, I have way too much hotsauce.

And before you say so I know jalapenos arent that hot... but the sauce still has a nice taste.

If I have to choose, I will choose flavor over heat anyday. Now, flavor and heat is best.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Thats another tip really... manager's specials. If its going into a soup or a stew or sauce, it doesnt need to be unblemished. If I am making melomel, btw, peaches that are a little soft (a little, not black) are sweeter anyway...

 

[gdbrewer]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but medicines! Although not food, they are still purchased at the grocery store. Store brand versus name brand. Check the drug facts label and active ingredient(s). I bet 99% of the time they are exactly the same and of course the store brand is considerably cheaper!

Baby formula also. Although I haven't bought any in a year or so, the HEB brand formula is exactly the same as similac and enfamil. Same quantity as well. I studied the labels and ingredients of all three one day for 30 minutes in the store to see the difference. I could not find one.

Similac and enfamil - ~$30/can
Store brand - $12.88/can

 

[Whsoj]

1. Food savers, buy meat in bulk from butcher separate and freeze my butcher always has bundle specials.

2 I freeze left over soup in muffin tins with silicone liners pop them out and keep them in a plastic bag toss to in a coffee cup and nuke it .

3 You can start a never ending soup with food scraps from all week in a crock pot on low keep it all winter long. Creamy you should try this. Start a soup leave a little in there add from your following meals, exa. dice up left over pork chop. Toss in some green beans. Hibachi shrimp and rice. Left over fajita fry, its good. You can even use the goyo stuff you like so much, everything cooks down like a Brunswick stew. Good for people with few teeth.

4. Learn to can (safely) dry and smoke food stuffs.

5 I would say fish and hunt but to get started in that can be expensive, but if you already have the obsession I mean hobby. 100 pounds of wild red meat can cost only the gas and the bullet to get it. Don't take it to to a game processor if you have the space. Its easier than it looks if you read a book on it. "or web page"

6. Learn how to make things for your self. Like preserves, jams, there's a way to make everything you want.


7. cut out paper towels napkins, plates, & solo cups.

Will someone teach/tell me how to make sourdough, starter and all? I suck at making bread badly I just cant get it.

 

[Melana]

I grow my own basil and make pesto for winter use (frozen in ice cube trays).

 

[Melana]

I haven't seen this mentioned, but medicines! Although not food, they are still purchased at the grocery store. Store brand versus name brand. Check the drug facts label and active ingredient(s). I bet 99% of the time they are exactly the same and of course the store brand is considerably cheaper!

Baby formula also. Although I haven't bought any in a year or so, the HEB brand formula is exactly the same as similac and enfamil. Same quantity as well. I studied the labels and ingredients of all three one day for 30 minutes in the store to see the difference. I could not find one.

Similac and enfamil - ~$30/can
Store brand - $12.88/can

Or you could save $12.88/can and breastfeed.

 

[Whsoj]

I grow my own basil and make pesto for winter use (frozen in ice cube trays).

I'm Stealing this sorry That's awesome!

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Or you could save $12.88/can and breastfeed.

Melana, I think its safe to say that gd is incapable of breastfeeding...

 

[gdbrewer]

Melana, I think its safe to say that gd is incapable of breastfeeding...

Very safe to say!!

Or you could save $12.88/can and breastfeed.

My SWMBO tried and tried to breastfeed but it just wasn't working. She even had a lactation nurse help. Obviously you have to feed the little one somehow.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

I was just being a wiseacre.

The wife told me the other day that "when" we have a kid (when huh?) we're going to make baby food at home. Sounds good to me.

I'm an idiot though. A few months ago my wife's coworker and husband brought their new baby over for brunch. "Should I make her a little plate?" "James, she's 2 months old" "Oh". We told the couple that story and the dad said "well, indirectly you did"

 

[DrunkleJon]

Melana, I think its safe to say that gd is incapable of breastfeeding...

Poor kid. After DGD's last attempt it looked like this.

 

[Melana]

Very safe to say!!



My SWMBO tried and tried to breastfeed but it just wasn't working. She even had a lactation nurse help. Obviously you have to feed the little one somehow.

Sorry she had trouble... it happens.

 

[Bensiff]

Once upon a time I told myself that I will save money and have fun by brewing beer...

Then I told myself I would save money if I went all-grain and cut the cost of DME...

Then I told myself I would save money if I got a 3 roller mill and could buy bulk grains...

Then I told my wife that we would save money if we I upgraded to make 10 gallon batches...

Then I told my wife we would save money if I didn't have to keep buying propane and I changed over to electric...

I think even she stopped believing we would save money when I came home from Portland with my Stout Tanks in June...ah, who am I kidding, she realized brew toys and projects cost more than the beer long before I stopped trying to convince myself we were saving...

But, I was right about having fun

 

[OmmeGerd]

Once upon a time I told myself that I will save money and have fun by brewing beer...

Then I told myself I would save money if I went all-grain and cut the cost of DME...

Then I told myself I would save money if I got a 3 roller mill and could buy bulk grains...

Then I told my wife that we would save money if we I upgraded to make 10 gallon batches...

Then I told my wife we would save money if I didn't have to keep buying propane and I changed over to electric...

I think even she stopped believing we would save money when I came home from Portland with my Stout Tanks in June...ah, who am I kidding, she realized brew toys and projects cost more than the beer long before I stopped trying to convince myself we were saving...

But, I was right about having fun

My father-in-law lets me come over and use his 3 kettle Blichmann setup. I order bulk base grains which we share. Score.

 

[OmmeGerd]

As far as saving money on food;

1. Couponing. Get a three ring binder and clear plastic inserts for holding trading cards. Use one insert for each aisle at your regular store. Nice way to keep organized. Only cut coupons for stuff you will actually get. Wait for the items to go on sale then use coupons to get a further discount. Use this method to stock up on nonperishables. Most stuff is on sale and has a good coupon about once a quarter so get at least 3 months worth, 6 months to a year is better.

2. Buying in bulk is usually cheaper. Always look at the price per portion number to find the best deal.

3. Gardening. We live in the city, but the father-in-law lives in the suburbs. I put in a 600 sqft garden in his backyard. I set up an automatic drip irrigation system so I only need to tend it on the weekends when we go visit. So far this summer I have harvested $300 of produce. There is at least that much, if not more, that still needs to be harvested. We had 43 lbs of acorn squash harvested so far. I gonna use 10 lbs to make a "pumpkin" beer this week. 20 lbs of squash was cooked and put up. We'll use that as the base for makin baby food. Had lots of zucchini. Shredded it all, bagged in 2 cup portions, and froze for making zucchini bread in the winter.

4. Bread. Make a triple batch of dough, but make it so it is moist and sticky. Let it rise once, knock it down then put it in the fridge in covered container. Will last for 2-3 weeks. The longer you keep the dough, the more flavorful it gets. Kind of like a sour dough. Also makes great easy pizza crust. For the cost of cheap bread from the store you get tasty, crusty fresh bread.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Necro-bump.

The fresh pork shoulder.

My local Trade-Fair sells small pork shoulders at a thrilling $0.99 a pound. I remove the rind/skin, dust with Sazon goya and Adobo powders and throw into my crockpot on high. There are probably better ways to cook this, but the plus side here is all I have dirtied is a knife, a cutting board, and the removable crock-pot "crock".

Day one- Tacos with sriracha or hoisin sauce and sliced radishes with radish greens salad. (Portions for 2 people)

Day two- Shredded pork sandwiches with vinegar dressing (Portions for 2 people)

Days three to (?)- Pork soup. (at least 10 soup bowl portions)

Assuming you have spices, cider vinegar and a quart of homemade chicken stock already in your pantry, the investment is spelled out below. Please note for the soup, my vegetation was carrots I already had in the fridge that were getting limp, celery the same, and a half box of frozen peas that were kicking around the freezer. I am going to count these as $0since I had them already and was about to throw them away, but you might want to factor that in.

@5 lb pork shoulder- $6.35
12 pack of flour tortillas- $2.29
1 bunch radishes with greens- $0.99
hero rolls (3 for $1.39)

Total- $11.02

This comes out to roughly $0.80 a portion...

 

[kaconga]

Speaking of stock. We buy a rotisserie chicken from the store and eat that then make stock with the bones. The price difference between the already cooked rotisserie and the uncooked chicken is about 70 cents.

 

[Zepth]

I'll toss in one. The dedicated old school butcher shop. Believe it or not the prices they have there are at worst comparable to the main grocery stores, but eclipses them in quality. Extra lean ground beef (regular price) is cheaper than the store brand medium on sale! Farm fresh eggs are $2.79 dozen vs $3.19 in the grocery store. You can tell they're good because the shells are thicker. Or so it seems anyways.

Another great thing is they have the end cuts. For those not in the know you have seen the cold cut deli section. The ends of the salami that are all domed, or that funky park of the roast beef that is left and just can't be sliced without getting mangled - those are your end cuts. My butcher of choice offers these in a price point about half of what the cheapest cold cut in the store is, and keeps them all in a single bucket. Ham, turkey, roast beef, salami, all go into the bucket. Order by the lb, every sandwich that week will be different at a fraction the cost of generic ham from the grocery store. Even better is the bacon ends. The edge pieces that are trimmed off post-smoking before slicing. $5 / kg compared to $9 for over salted crap at the grocery. Everything in this paragraph could use some home slicing if you're so inclined, but taking an extra 5 minutes to slice your own bacon in the morning is very worthwhile.

 

[podz]

I have two deep freezers. When meat or fish is cheap, I buy a lot of it. I just bought 20 chicken breast filets the other day because the price per kilo was really good. When salmon filets are 6,99 EUR per kilo, I buy 10 kilos or so. Same with octopus - it will appear on discount within the next month or two (half the normal price) and I'll buy about 50 of them to the freezer for grilling throughout the summer.

I grow all common cooking herbs right in my kitchen (basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chives, parsley). They sell them live at the supermarket, straight from the greenhouse so no need to even start seeds - just transplant them and go.

In Finland, there is no such concept as "discount for quantity purchase". If you buy 100 cans of beer in the store, the price will be 100 times the cost of a single can. Non-negotiable. In fact, here they charge more for the larger packages because they believe that it's a convenience for you to only have to carry home one package instead of two. Plus, they know that apartments are small and only people with money have storage space, so they try to impose "rich tax" on you. For example, a tray of 30 eggs will cost more than twice the amount of two trays with 15 eggs each, even though they save on packaging materials. So, I don't buy bulk packages for this reason. One exception to this rule is dry dog food - the big bags are cheaper.

In one of my local supermarkets which is EXTREMELY overpriced on meats - I'm talking like 2-3 times the normal price - they run a "loss leader" aisle with various items very cheaply priced. They had bottles of La Costena chili sauces there for 50 cents each, so I bought 100 of them and put them to my pantry. Same thing with one of my favourite mustards (French's Spicy) - 1 EUR per bottle, so I bought 50 of them. I refuse to buy any meat at all from that store, though, because I am a cheapskate and I only go there to raid their "loss leader" aisle, which has no purchase quantity restrictions but then again doesn't always have items in which I'm interested.

Never buy marinated meats, ever. The marinade is of very poor quality, they only marinade meat that is not prime cuts and the cost of the marinade is 3-4 times that what you would pay to just buy or make your own high quality marinade.

 

[Kharnynb]

Marinated meat is just a trick so the meat keeps longer, it saves THEM money on throwing away crap.(the fact that the marinade tastes crap is just another reason to never buy it).

I have a 200l freezer just for moose and other hunted meat, plus whatever i fish myself.
God's gift from germany ie. LIDL is making the finnish chainstores wake up to the fact of what competition actually means...ie. it doesn't mean lowering one product a few cents while raising everything else.