Once-a-month grocery shopping.
I would consider myself an expert shopper; I do the research on every penny I spend on food and toiletries, and the first Wednesday of the month I make the trek...
I start with Business Costco, because they sell things like Tahini and Coconut Milk that I have not been able to price-match anywhere!
I then continue on to Regular Costco, because they carry things like Almond Milk, if I am not going to make it myself. The next leg of the trip is to Winco, where they carry a vast array of healthy bulk items for the best prices I’ve encountered--this is where you will get your oats and beans that you don’t want to have to buy in a 40 # bag!
I round out the trip with a quick stop into my local Asian Mart for silken tofu (for yummy spreads and dips that I will divulge later) and noodles, because seriously, where else are you going to get a 5# box of noodles for $3?!
Which brings me to my final destination: Fred Meyer, where I pick up anything I found on sale, veggies, and a couple backup things, like salad dressing and peanut butter, should I run out of time to make those.
Currently our food budget is $300 for a four person family, and by four people I mean 2 adults and 2 children under age 3 (although the soy milk purchased for said children makes them cost as much as a couple adults!). That budget is recently up from $200, because it now includes energy drinks, or fancy things like cream cheese (vegan style is triple the price of neufchatel), but I digress, I will detail our expenditures based on the $200 budget that makes the individual pay for things like Red Bull.
Since the beginning of the month is upon us, I will dive right into the inner workings of grocery shopping, that way you can work out your budget for next month! A couple tips to beginning your shopping list:
1) Start your list a week or so ahead of time, the point is not to make more than one trip out to Costco, and it would be a bummer to forget coffee!
2) Make a monthly menu to be able to account for all of your necessary grocery items, for now I will provide a general grocery list that I know contains a variety of menu options, but is easily tailored to your eating style.
3) Figure out your neighborhood grocery store’s restock day. For my Fred Meyer, that day is Wednesday, and the reason we want to know is because turning over product and restocking shelves will mean a surplus and clearance of last week’s items. So if you drink milk, you can find your supply at prices lower than Costco! Same with veggies, bread, dressings...just don’t buy it if you don’t need it.
4) Now it’s time to go online! Snag coupons, or load them onto your “Rewards Card”...the coupon sites I use are:
Don't forget to keep any you find useful out of the circulars!
Most of these sites will be wrought with packaged, processed, pathetic junk that you don’t need, but there will be a few gems! For example, there is a vegan bread I buy at Fred Meyer that is $2 a loaf, but sometimes a coupon will be available that brings it down to $1.50, which adds up when you buy 4!
When purchasing spices, you will probably have to start out slowly, accumulating them one by one. Thankfully, Costco sells most spices for a few dollars for a bottle of at least 25 oz, so it will last as you accumulate more! Or if you are unwilling to wait, buy them in bulk at Winco!
And if you are not Vegan, which was our case not just a year ago, we forwent all of the beans, tofu, soy and almond milks, and most fresh veggies for 40# boxes of chicken at $1.40 a pound, cheddar cheese at $8 for 5 pounds, and milk at $2.40 or less per gallon, from Costco, which we separated, portioned and stored in the freezer (aside from the milk) for future use!
No comments:
Post a Comment