Spending money hand over fist--can't figure out how! - Page 2

[rebeccalizzie]

I used to do the grocery game and I like it, but my grocery bill has not gone down at all. Most of the coupons out there are for processed, prepared, expensive foods. I can get free toiletries by using coupons, but I already cut out the good coupons for deodorant/toothpaste/soap and waited for a sale to use them, that part isn't hard.

The thing that has changed for me is that now we can afford some "junky" foods that I wouldn't buy before. An occasional frozen pizza, some chips or crackers, Cascade dish soap instead of the cheap stuff. Yesterday I went shopping, so I have my receipt in front of me. The groceries I had coupons for (combined with sales) were: Bob Evans frozen rolls, Bob Evans sausage, Green Giant boxed frozen veggies (4 coupons so I got 6 boxes for $.50 each), Dunkin Donuts coffee, Eagle sweetened condensed milk, Huggies disposable diapers. The thing is, before couponing I wouldn't have gotten the frozen rolls at all (I can make them), and it would be cheaper to buy store brand bagged frozen veggies, coffee, and diapers, even with the sale and coupons. I "saved" $10 off my $60 grocery bill, which is pretty good considering most of what I bought was meat, produce and dairy...except I spent MORE yesterday with coupons than I would have buying generics. I'm fine with that because I like the name brands for those particular items better, but I'm not deluding myself that I truly saved a penny.

I occasionally get a free item or two, but the monthly savings have rarely covered my Grocery Game fees and cost for the Sunday paper. So I cancelled Grocery Game and do it on my own now, so I miss an item here and there but nothing major.

Basically, if you buy a ton of processed foods, snack foods, paper products and toiletries, grocery game can help. Probably a TON. If you don't buy that stuff to begin with, or you stick to store brands anyway, it probably isn't going to do much for you. I'm super stocked up on toiletries because of couponing, and that was where most of my savings were.

[Mom2Wilmo]

Exactly, RebeccaLizzie. I just don't buy that kind of stuff. I have started to clip coupons and I have to be really disciplined about asking myself "would I have bought this item if I didn't have a coupon for it?" or "is this replacing some other item in my cart?" It is very easy to spend more using coupons.
We just stopped our milk delivery service. I went to the store to buy milk-it was $4.32 a gallon for generic!! Granted I was paying more for the milk delivery but it was hormone free antibiotic free and came to my door!
Why does it cost so much to live?

[wonderwahine]

Originally Posted by Mom2Wilmo

Exactly, RebeccaLizzie. I just don't buy that kind of stuff. I have started to clip coupons and I have to be really disciplined about asking myself "would I have bought this item if I didn't have a coupon for it?" or "is this replacing some other item in my cart?" It is very easy to spend more using coupons.
We just stopped our milk delivery service. I went to the store to buy milk-it was $4.32 a gallon for generic!! Granted I was paying more for the milk delivery but it was hormone free antibiotic free and came to my door!
Why does it cost so much to live?

if I was you, i would continue the milk deliuvery, hormone antibiotic free milk can be really expensive and hard to find in most stores. I use oberweis, and thankfully we live right near a store, so we buy from the oberweis store, and they have a reward card, so eventually we'll get something free. But every 4 bottles of milk, if i save up the bottles, it pays for one whole new bottle of milk.

[Mom2Wilmo]

The milk delivery was $3.31 for a half gallon. Plus a $1.50 delivery fee each week. It was costing us almost $60/month for milk. That's just something I can't afford right now. Bummer too b/c the company is local and very ethical. Plus the milk was local.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom

One thing that is getting me, I think, is the idea of "stocking up" on good deals. So, I stock up on one thing one month, but the next month there is something else that needs to be stocked, and it could go on forever, me spending lots of money stocking up. :

Actually you are stocking up wrong if you are stocking up to save money. This is where the price book comes in and it is invaluable. You need to figure out your loss leader items, how much you use and when it goes on for sale. For example I know that every 6 months boneless chicken breast go on sale for 99 cents. I also know in my family we eat two pounds of chicken breast a week so we need 48 pounds of chicken breast to last us until the next sale. There is no way you can learn this overnight but if you take small steps pretty soon you will start spending less. It is how we have managed to spend $200 a month feeding a family of 7 (well now that we are GF it is more but soon I hope to take that down with the purchase of a grain mill).

[mrskennedy]

Originally Posted by Amys1st

The grocery game is fine if you buy processed foods etc.

If its that much of an issue, take cash to the grocery of what you can spend and see what is eating up your budget. You will be surprised how much silly things you throw in the cart when its on a card or debit. But if you have only so much cash on hand what you buy. Try it for a week and slowly add it into a habit.

: And having an exact monthly amount helps some people too. It helps us anyway. When $240 is gone, we just don't buy any more food. Well it's not just that we don't, it's that we *can't*.

[wonderwahine]

Originally Posted by Mom2Wilmo

The milk delivery was $3.31 for a half gallon. Plus a $1.50 delivery fee each week. It was costing us almost $60/month for milk. That's just something I can't afford right now. Bummer too b/c the company is local and very ethical. Plus the milk was local.

that sucks

[Shoe]

From the replies here it's apparent that all of us are dealing with a rise in food prices. I am truly afraid that we are headed into another Great Depression. We've got to support one another and offer ideas as well. :

[cappuccinosmom]

For example I know that every 6 months boneless chicken breast go on sale for 99 cents. I also know in my family we eat two pounds of chicken breast a week so we need 48 pounds of chicken breast to last us until the next sale. There is no way you can learn this overnight but if you take small steps pretty soon you will start spending less.

That helps me a lot! I can only do it in a limited way anyway, because we have only one small freezer. But I do have about 2 years supply of toothpaste and a couple months worth of dish soap. Those I did good on-1/4 to 1/3 of their normal prices.
But food is a killer.

I know December is going to be baaaaaaad. I bake.


Thank you for all the responses. I'm saving this thread to show to my dh when he takes a look at my accounting for the last couple of months. :

[MidwifeErika]

Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I just about choked on how much we spent. But, I spent it anyways and gave myself permission, I am changing my attitude about groceries and increasing our grocery budget. Before, I would spend half what I spent yesterday, but we never had anything really to eat or the meals that were planned were so cheap and boring to us, that we would instead decide to eat out, which in the end cost more and was less healthy. I decided that we should plan out really delicious meals that we want to eat and then Taco Bell won't sound so tempting! So, as you can see.... I am allowing my groceries to go up and up and up! But, I am also taking the reciepts for the next month and going to really watch how I spend my money.... how much on produce, how much on coffee, cheese, paper products, etc. Then I will have an idea on where we can maybe make some positive cheaper changes. It will also be motivation to cut out certain junk foods such as Coke if I can see that we spend a large amount a month on it.

Grocery prices really have gone up. I live in the dairy state and milk is $3.89/gallon for just plain milk. It helps me justify running out to a farm and buying raw, organic milk for $4/gallon though! Kefir is now $1 more than it was last winter, bananas are about .06/lb more, Ben and Jerry's ice cream has gone up at the local store by about .40/pint..... just small things that add up when you have a whole cart filled with food.