The Juice Deal?

[AnalogWife]

I've been buying Apple Juice for DS...organic when I can, if not, then store brand or Mott's or Apple and Eve, whichever has the best $Under 2.00 Deal$.

Now our income just got slashed again, so I'm looking for an even better juice deal. Presently the least expensive I can find is WalMart brand frozen concentrate for $0.87. Is there a better/comparable deal out there? My DH really despises WalMart. TIA

[leavemealone]

If you live in a coupon friendly area, you can use coupons for good deals on all kinds of food. In my area, almost all the stores will double coupons so I watch sales and buy extra coupons for products I need. I know not all areas are as coupon friendly as where I live, but if it's a possibility, then give it a try. I also water down my kid's juice partly for money, partly for health reasons.

[Drummer's Wife]

What about just buying it every great once in a while? that would be cheap . I just say that b/c my kids rarely drink juice, so I honestly don't know how to find a good deal on it. That said, .87 cents doesn't sound bad.

[Ola_]

Around here juice in those big cans in much cheaper than juice in the plastic bottles. Not sure what brands you have as I'm in Canada, but the big cans are often here for 99 cents (not sure if they are from concentrate though, you'd need to check).

[SunshineJ]

How much does a can make? We're *very* limited on freezer space so I always buy the jugs. If you know the qty of the cans I may be able to tell you if there's a better deal or not.

[Fuamami]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

What about just buying it every great once in a while? that would be cheap . I just say that b/c my kids rarely drink juice, so I honestly don't know how to find a good deal on it. That said, .87 cents doesn't sound bad.

Yep, there was just some news out lately about how juice has no real nutritional value. It's digested the same as refined sugar, I think it said.

I occasionally buy concentrate, especially orange juice so I can make a yummy OJ chicken recipe.

[notneb]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

What about just buying it every great once in a while? that would be cheap . I just say that b/c my kids rarely drink juice, so I honestly don't know how to find a good deal on it. That said, .87 cents doesn't sound bad.

That's what we do. Nutritionally, juice falls into the same category as other sugary drinks - soda, kool-aid, sports drinks, etc. It's a nice treat on occasion, but all you're getting from it is extra calories and a ton of sugar. It's less expensive and much healthier to drink water most of the time and save the sugary drinks for an occasional treat.

[BetsyS]

My kids think of juice as a treat, too.

That said, our Kroger has 3 or 4 day sales sometimes (every couple of months), and they put apple juice on sale for $0.99 then.

[boheime]

I rarely buy juice. When I do buy it, I dilute it. My kids won't drink straight juice because they think it's too sweet. 50% diluted and they think it's a nice treat.

[AnalogWife]

Thank all. Really, I was just looking for tips on avoiding Walmart. I feel like some of these posts insinuate that I throw junk down my son's throat, shoulda known to not ask MDC, my bad.

[Smithie]

I throw LOTS of junk down my son's throat. He's eating chocolate teddy grahams right now But yeah, I don't keep juice in the house on a regular basis, my kids think of it as a treat, and I think that works well for us. I know for sure that it works well for our budget to have the two regular kid drinks be water and organic milk.

[Drummer's Wife]

Originally Posted by AnalogWife

Thank all. Really, I was just looking for tips on avoiding Walmart. I feel like some of these posts insinuate that I throw junk down my son's throat, shoulda known to not ask MDC, my bad.

Hey, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. Totally not my intentions. My kids don't eat all healthy foods, by any means. Juice is one thing, though, that I know my 3 boys especially would guzzle down in a matter of hours if I let them. I've seen it with a gallon bottle before when I have bought it. I know it doesn't have any real nutritional value, kinda like soda (which I do sometimes buy), so I guess my thoughts were just that if .87 cents seemed high, you might as well skip it all together. When I do buy it, I can get the organic $4 bottle, because it's not a staple in our house. I do understand the walmart thing, though, as I am considering going there to pick up a couple things today as they are cheaper than my other option, Albertsons, and I am trying to stretch my $ right now.

But again, I'm sorry. If I came on here and asked how to buy alcohol frugally, I would hope for good suggestions on where to find it on the cheap, not just people saying skip it all together.

[leavemealone]

I think pretty much all stores will have a store brand frozen juice for about $1. This post inspired me to look at Kroger this morning and their frozen juice was $0.96 a can. I think I can still do better with coupons and sales, but if money is super tight, then frozen is an option I hadn't really thought of before.

[BetsyS]

I didn't mean to make you feel bad, either. Just saying that I save money by depriving the buggers.

[luv-my-boys]

I think that a can of frozen under $1 is a good deal. I've seen most frozen a lot cheaper than the jugs I guess because of pkging and having to ship/re constitute it. Sometimes I will see a sale for say 2/1 deal and stock up. I do however water down the juice and frankly the kids the know the difference. I also have a large freezer so space isnt a issue.

You might want ot look into a warehouse store if there is one near you. I go to Costco (similar to Sam's) and Im able to buy some larger quantity frozen juice cans that are about .80 a can but their selection was limited on those, I think apple/orange/grape only as opposed to wally world that had every imaginable mixture. LOVE kiwi strawberry....yumm.

I personally dont have a problem ith Wally world. I'd like to avoid the agrravation of going there (the poeple) but sometimes my budget dosent allow it.

[Fuamami]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Hey, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad. Totally not my intentions. My kids don't eat all healthy foods, by any means. Juice is one thing, though, that I know my 3 boys especially would guzzle down in a matter of hours if I let them. I've seen it with a gallon bottle before when I have bought it. I know it doesn't have any real nutritional value, kinda like soda (which I do sometimes buy), so I guess my thoughts were just that if .87 cents seemed high, you might as well skip it all together. When I do buy it, I can get the organic $4 bottle, because it's not a staple in our house. I do understand the walmart thing, though, as I am considering going there to pick up a couple things today as they are cheaper than my other option, Albertsons, and I am trying to stretch my $ right now.

But again, I'm sorry. If I came on here and asked how to buy alcohol frugally, I would hope for good suggestions on where to find it on the cheap, not just people saying skip it all together.

I totally agree with Drummer's Wife. Didn't mean at all to make you feel bad, was just trying to explain why I left it out of the food budget.

Do you have a Costco card? They have coupons for juice quite frequently.

[SunshineJ]

Originally Posted by AnalogWife

Thank all. Really, I was just looking for tips on avoiding Walmart. I feel like some of these posts insinuate that I throw junk down my son's throat, shoulda known to not ask MDC, my bad.

Yeah I was getting that too. I know that for our family juice isn't a "treat" or "optional" but it is for a lot of families here, so I don't bother asking about deals, best brands, etc. on it here.

As for the juice, don't forget to do a ratio comparison. If I remember right, it took about 2.5 cans of concentrate to make 1 gallon which would be a little over $2, but the premade stuff runs 1.97 or so at Walmart for the same amount, so don't let that trip you up. (And one of our grocery stores usually has it for around $1.50, so I'm sure it varies by region. OH and also check out the prices if there's a Big Lot's near you, they may carry it for less.)

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

Do you qualify for WIC? Each of my kids gets 2 bottles of juice per month.

[AlwaysByMySide]

If you're going with the cans, add more water than it calls for, to stretch it a bit further. Even outside of the nutritional value, adding extra water will stretch it and kids (at least mine!) don't notice. Start off adding a little bit of extra, and then up it every time, so it's not a drastic change.

(I know juice has no nutritional value, but WIC gives it to us, so the kids drink it, but it is HEAVILY watered down - as in 75% water/25% juice.)

[cschick]

When I was a kid, my mom always made those cans with twice the amount of water called for. It's healthier to do it that way, less sugar per glass.

Nowadays, I can't even drink regular juice undiluted, it's just too overwhelming sweet for me.