How to balance food STOCKING with grocery shopping?

[baby-makes-3]

We live near an awesome discount outlet food store where stuff is really cheap. For example, when they have it, a block of polly-o mozzarella is .99, which is like 75% off. It's the most expensive thing about the pizza we make, so that's a huge savings. They don't always have it, so I want to stock up!! So I have a hard time figuring out how many to get and then thinking I'll kick myself if I don't get enough and run out.

They had a 1/2 gallon of Almond Breeze Almond Milk for .99 and I went nuts and I'm sure everyone thought I was crazy with like 15 of those things in my cart.

I really only go to the regular grocery store for for a very few brand favorites and to catch the clearance/markdowns. But we still end up spending more than I would like because I can't leave a good deal on the counter.

Anyone with the same problem??

[eirual]

I have no answers, but I do have the same issue.

DH has taken over the grocery shopping because I can get carried away too easily (If I go with a plan, a calculator to add as I go, and only the set budget amount in cash- NO PLASTIC) I can make it out okay.

DH's completely logical thinking is that even if it's a steal, it's still money you otherwise wouldn't have spent, so really it's not saving you anything. I also find it helpful to remember that ultimately the store is benefitting no matter how you slice it, otherwise they wouldn't do it.

I personally TRY avoid sales 'cause it means I'm acting on impulse, not the plan.

I would like to try to stock up at bulk stores or sales, but I worry that we'd just end up with more 'stuff' that we don't really need and spending just as much if not more.

I was debating making a weekly grocery budget, but also having a set amount set aside for "stocking". I don't know how the logistics of that would really work in the grocery store though. Maybe it would have to be reserved solely for researched and pre-planned good buys that we'd be buying anyway.

This is an issue I haven't found balance with yet.

[cristina47454]

Ugh. i have this same issue. I have set price points, where I make an effort to stock up, but then I end up way over budget. WHich would be okay if I then ate out of my freezer/pantry, but I tend to continue to stock up. I'm thinking the pps idea of having a food budget of x and a stock-up budget of y might work. Esp since my stock up items are usually canned goods, frozen veggies and meat.

[mamadelbosque]

I only stock up on stuff that I will use when its a good deal. So, like, the other day the grocery store had garlic bread 5/$5, so I bought the 4 they had I was buying garlic bread anyhow, and as it was on sale I bought extra.

[bluebunny]

There is probably a delicate balance but I haven't figured it out, yet.

I shop sale items, primarily, and end up spending over my loose budget. Then I have a pantry full of stuff and no plan as to how to cook it all. I have gone two to three weeks without grocery shopping, except for perishables (produce, milk) because of my over-stocked pantry. I just can't seem to figure out how to do it on a regular basis.

I think you (and I!) forget that eventually you will find that item on sale again. Not sure about discount/clearance centers but grocery stores have items on sale cyclically. I haven't figured out how often things rotate--six weeks? four weeks? I guess I should meal plan and write shopping lists so I can see how quickly we go through items.

So, after all that...my suggestion is to meal plan and see how long it takes you to finish three blocks of cheese or whatever then you know how much to buy the next time it goes on sale. On the other hand, you could cook according to how much you stockpile but I have a feeling you might be eating cheese for every meal if you didn't balance it somehow.

[SummerLove]

I always stock up when I see a sell (on things I use).. it balances itself out when you do it long enough, I think.. when we run out of our grocery budget, I usually have plenty of food storage to last until payday.

[greenmulberry]

We stocked up on sale items that were easy to store for a of year or so while grocery shopping, using them up slowly when not on sale. It made it much easier when DH lost his job, we could eat for a long time with no grocery trips, just the pantry and fresh veggies from the garden, with a rare trip to the store if quality meat was on sale.

I say if it is something you are going to eat anyway, and won't go bad any time soon, stock up when on sale. For instance, I prefer to buy organic olive oil in large jugs. I only will ever purchase them on a great sale, and I always buy them if I see them on a great sale, even if I already have one or two. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to use such a quality product.

However, I would not buy something I wouldn't routinely eat anyway, just because it was on sale.

[Mulvah]

I don't have an issue budget-wise (I end up spending less in the following weeks), but I have an issue with overbuying when there is a clearance sale or a fantastic coupon deal. I would have purchased 800 things of cheese to make for pizza and then kicked myself because I couldn't use it all. :nana

I can't leave a good deal on the table either, so I still buy the 800 packages of cheese (), but now I set items aside for my parents. They appreciate it and I'm happy because it gets used.

[gabbyraja]

Originally Posted by Mulvah

I would have purchased 800 things of cheese to make for pizza and then kicked myself because I couldn't use it all. :nana

I can't leave a good deal on the table either, so I still buy the 800 packages of cheese (), but now I set items aside for my parents. They appreciate it and I'm happy because it gets used.

You can freeze cheese!

[GuildJenn]

When we were starting our pantry I just budgeted $10-12 for sales. So if something was a great $1 price I could buy up to 10, but no more.

[happysmileylady]

One key is to make sure you have good storage and that you know how to use it. Meaning-in your pantry, make sure the is stored air tight and make sure you are rotating it so that the stuff that expires soonest is always up front ready to use. Have a big freezer and know exactly what can be frozen-cheese, meat, even milk can be frozen (though milk can seperate)

Another key is to plan around the sales. Get ahold of the sale flyer and plan around it before you go into the store. Also check all the coupon blogs and info sites you can, many will have previews of sales flyers and also info on what's on sale at those places that don't put a flyer out.

And finally, start yourself a price book. When you see a rockin sale, write it down-the date, the good price, the regular price and any other important info. If you keep track over time, you will notice that sales go in cycles. You may discovere that that particular cheese shows up every six weeks or whatever. Then you know that you only actually need to stock for six weeks worth because you can get more next go around.

[yeahwhat]

I don't really separate stocking up and grocery shopping because my goal is to do mainly stocking up on items that I can store and use over time. I try to buy enough to last until the next sale or the amount we'll use before the item expires for eggs. Sales seem to happen every 6-12 weeks depending on item. This time of year is great for finding baking items, especially boxed cakes and icing tubs if you use those. I buy 3-4 of each because I do like to make cupcakes the lazy way once in a while, but I'm not going buy 20 or anything because I'm not going to go through 20 cake mixes or tubs of icing even in a year. Canned tomatoes, canned beans, tomato paste, pasta, rice, tuna, and juice we go through regularly, so when I find them at a really good price I buy enough for 2-3 months. Meats I buy on sale and freeze, and the meat that we have to eat at any given time is dictated by what has been on sale recently. I don't have a big enough freezer to keep a huge variety on hand. I only serve meat a couple of times per week since I don't eat it.

Some items, like fresh produce and milk (since it doesn't go on sale here at all), I buy week to week while still relying mainly on sale fruits and vegetables.

[newbymom05]

I was going to come on and post the same thing. I've been doing some crazy stocking up and I have a seriously full pantry, so why is my weekly grocery bill still so big? After reading some of the responses, I think it's because I'm always willing to go for "the deal." I like the idea of budgeting $X for sale items and then sticking to it.

[PoetryLover]

Originally Posted by happysmileylady

One key is to make sure you have good storage and that you know how to use it. Meaning-in your pantry, make sure the is stored air tight and make sure you are rotating it so that the stuff that expires soonest is always up front ready to use. Have a big freezer and know exactly what can be frozen-cheese, meat, even milk can be frozen (though milk can seperate)

Another key is to plan around the sales. Get ahold of the sale flyer and plan around it before you go into the store. Also check all the coupon blogs and info sites you can, many will have previews of sales flyers and also info on what's on sale at those places that don't put a flyer out.

And finally, start yourself a price book. When you see a rockin sale, write it down-the date, the good price, the regular price and any other important info. If you keep track over time, you will notice that sales go in cycles. You may discovere that that particular cheese shows up every six weeks or whatever. Then you know that you only actually need to stock for six weeks worth because you can get more next go around.

Sorry to sound silly, but I've been reading about price books. Does anyone have an example of what one would look like? Is it an excel spreadsheet or something? Do you incorporate cost comparison between various stores? Exactly what information do you include? I think that would be helpful, but the prospect of creating one is overwhelming to me.

[happysmileylady]

Originally Posted by PoetryLover

Sorry to sound silly, but I've been reading about price books. Does anyone have an example of what one would look like? Is it an excel spreadsheet or something? Do you incorporate cost comparison between various stores? Exactly what information do you include? I think that would be helpful, but the prospect of creating one is overwhelming to me.

I just keep a notebook in my coupon binder. I have heard some foks have an app or something in their phone. My mom just has a little $0.50 notepad that she keeps in her purse.

The most important info to have is the item, it's "regular" price, and it's sale prices. You want to have enough room in whatever method you choose to record many weeks of prices, because you want to be able to see the price changes over time. Couponmom.com has information on them. She says to keep it for your ten most commonly purchased items, but I think that a lot more than that are necessary to see big savings.
ETA: I forgot your question about different stores. I go to several different stores, I am lucky that all the major places-Target, Walmart, Meijer, etc etc, are all on the same street within a few minutes of each other, so I am able to hit them all in one trip. But, I don't bother with price comparisons from different stores because it doesn't matter to me what the lowest price is at each store individually, just the lowest overall price.

[Norasmomma]

For me the stockpiling goes in cycles. Last month it was meat, I bought 10lbs of extra lean burger, sausage, roasts, chickens-all were on sale at the best prices I could get them at. My shopping is purely around sales and coupons, if it is not one sale I won't buy it unless absolutely necessary, like my half and half for my coffee.

I am currently stocking up on pasta, pasta sauce, stock, baking supplies-those things are on sale right now, so this is when I buy a bulk of what I am going to get for the year. I just used my last bag of organic sugar I got last winter on a smokin sale with coupons.

When I first came on the F&F forum we were in a financial pickle, things were kinda bleak and I needed to learn how to make a really working pantry and stockpiling price points, I now have that knowledge. Plus from couponing sites I've gotten good at what I do, I'm not 200 bottles of free shampoo good, but I am good.

Organizing is key, right now my small freezers are both questionable in organizational tense, they need some help, so I'm in the pantry challenge.

Another thing is expy dates, I've overstocked on things and not used them before the dates or forgotten them in the back of the fridge-I hate that, so I am pretty diligent on arranging by date. This summer I bought 2 cases of Woodstock farm og tomatoes that don't expire until 2013, I think we will have used them by then and they were an amazing deal.

People do look at me a bit cross eyed when they see me with 10 bottles of laundry soap or 10 lbs of butter, but YK whatever, if it can freeze or is non perishable and we need it-I buy it.

[doubledutch]

i have the total opposite problem - i *can't* stockpile. i have a limited grocery budget, so it's hard for me to think about spending any of it on stuff i don't need this week. however, i got a good tip to just buy one extra thing each week and it will add up over time. i used to do that so i do have a little bit of food stashed. i used to also have a few gallons of water, which i used when our water went out. i'd like to get back to buying a gallon of water a week (cheap! it's less than a dollar) and an "extra" of whatever i'm already buying for that week's meals that is on sale (non-perishable or freezable). sigh. i need to make room for this. it's nice to have a stash to fall back on when needed!

[PoetryLover]

Originally Posted by doubledutch

i have the total opposite problem - i *can't* stockpile. i have a limited grocery budget, so it's hard for me to think about spending any of it on stuff i don't need this week. however, i got a good tip to just buy one extra thing each week and it will add up over time. i used to do that so i do have a little bit of food stashed. i used to also have a few gallons of water, which i used when our water went out. i'd like to get back to buying a gallon of water a week (cheap! it's less than a dollar) and an "extra" of whatever i'm already buying for that week's meals that is on sale (non-perishable or freezable). sigh. i need to make room for this. it's nice to have a stash to fall back on when needed!

It is hard to stockpile when on a limited budget. I think I'll try to get t least 1-2 sale items a week for the purpose of stockpiling. That's a great idea.