BEST WAYS TO SAVE ON GROCERIES THAT NO ONE TALKS ABOUT

*Thank you to Pelican for sponsoring this video

In this video, I'm going to show you some strategies for grocery shopping that no one ever tells you about.

I've found that by using these secrets, I can usually save a lot of money on groceries. Whether you're looking to save on specific items or on your entire grocery bill, I have a strategy for you! Check out this video to learn about the best ways to save on your groceries without ever having to break a sweat!

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00:00 INTRO
00:45 Costco
1:35 Kids Snacks
2:45 No Juice
3:40 College Savings
5:46 Specialty diets
7:30 Organic?
8:50 Penny Pinching
10:45 Expensive area

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#frugalliving #grocerybudget #frugalfitmom

[sarasullivan]

When I go to Costco I portion it down and store… so for example I DO buy my garlic there… all 15 bulbs… then peel it all, put in a blender and spoon onto a cookie sheet, freeze for 24hrs and then put the little nuggets into a zip loc. When I need garlic I always have it in the freezer, peeled and portioned and I saved $$ 😊

[snuassauns]

1. Cook from scratch. You can make many foods from the same basic ingredients. It's great for teaching kids how to cook and fractions.
2. Instead of chips, buy popcorn kernels and pop them in a heavy pot over the stove. A bit of oil and pop corn kernels in a pot with a lid on high heat. Shake the pot while they pop. Once they stop, take off the heat and pour into a bowl.
3. Shop the sales.
4. Eat seasonally. When a fruit or vegetable is in season it will be much cheaper.
5. If a product is shelf stable, on sale and you use it a lot stock up. Buy enough to last until the next sale but only if you are not carrying credit card debt. Do not pay interest in order to save money.

[lilykitty]

Grocery shopping in Puerto Rico IS really a challenge!! I have switched from doing a monthly haul of over $500 for 3 people to looking for the weekly sales and working and cooking wt what the stores have. Hubby works in construction and eating fast food is out of the question!! So I make him breakfast and lunch (for him AND his helper, yeah yeah I know 😂) and it saves TONS of money...bc of course I'm a good cook (yes I'm tooting my own horn😂😂😂) This week I only spent $112 (I was trying to spend only $100 but it's my first time doing this, so I think I did pretty well. Plus I bought chicken breast at .97 cents a pound bone in and pork chops also bone in at $1.27 a pound!! I did fantastic😊😊😊 BTW Christine I love your videos!!💕

[olderandwiser]

I agree with everything you have said. I have been blessed with good health and I attribute it to my mother who always cooked good healthy from scratch meals. She learned to cook in the 1930s by her foster mother who was an old German lady. When I was learning to cook my mother preached about how unhealthy it was to eat fried food and too much red meat. She insisted on removing the skin from the chicken before cooking it. We only drank pop as a special treat and eating sweets was not done everyday. Each week we ate at least one meatless dinner. The produce came from our garden and was canned or frozen for future use. Our favorite sandwich was peanut butter and apple. I continued cooking as my mother did and my 3 kids who are now in their 40s and 50s have never had any health issues either. Mom was just shy of 99 when she passed.

[uphillhomestead]

I agree wholeheartedly about bigger meals instead of snacks and better food choices than junk food. My kids are healthier and I do save money.

[cookshackcuisinista]

Bulk stores add to the stress of the home because then you have huge inventory and you may not have the space. Thank you Christine.

[kristathehungrymelon]

If you have to have snacks for your kids, you can save money by packaging them yourself. Like buying the huge box of goldfish instead of the individual snack packs, or buying a gallon of applesauce instead of the cups with foil lids. Or take it a step further and bake a huge batch of mini muffins yourself. It's okay if you're not ready to cut out snacks, you can just find cheaper ways that work for you

[marilyns]

I’m with you on the bacon question. When I open a packet of bacon for my son and myself - I cook the whole thing and we have it as we need it throughout the week. A) it’s convenient b) nobody in their right mind has ever opened the fridge and said ‘wow - raw bacon - yum”. Might as well cook it all and have it handy!

[lethiapage]

I have a bacon hack...ends and pieces. My brand is wrights and the price is going up but I bet there are brands and sales that help. If you find it under 10 for 3lb bulk buy!

I buy them 2 at a time 3lb packages...for about 8-10 dollars each and put them in my oblong crockpot. Half cover it with water and let it go at least overnight. The water evens out the cooking, helps render the fat, and mostly cooks off. It's not boiled bacon! When you are done use your spider or tongs to lift out the meat to a paper towel. You will have nice crisp bacon hunks. Not pretty slices but great for cooking. Freeze them! You'll get about 4lb back from 6lb total. Then for the added savings...move your grease to a slope sided bowl and add more water. Let it harden. The water will drop to the bottom and will take the crusties with it thus purifying your bacon grease. You can render again but there's no real need to. Once it's ready you'll have about 2lb of beautiful grease that is perfect for cooking and makes a nice grilled cheese. Tupperware it. To the fridge. That's about 8 dollars worth of butter you don't need to buy. Then back to your dirty crockpot. Add your dried beans and add water\stock and seasonings, cook them in that dirty crockpot! It will deglaze the muck turning your mess into flavor for free. And zero effort.

[Cassandra-ij]

I buy the bacon at costco and precook 2 packs at a time until they're about 3/4 done. I use parchment and a ziplock to store them in the freezer and just take out however much I need at a time and pop em in the microwave. Works really well.

[makeit]

Costco is 100% worth it for us. We easily make back the cost of an annual Costco membership simply by purchasing a whole roasted chicken for $4.99 each week or two. Costco openly admits that these are loss leaders, which is no big secret since I can't even buy a whole raw chicken these days for much less than $15. These make wonderful dinners and leftovers, depending on the size of your family. My husband usually eats two legs with thighs, while I eat two wings and part of a breast. The remaining breast meat is chopped up and used in salads for lunch; in curry, pasta or rice dishes for dinner; or to make chicken salad for sandwiches. Where else can you get dinner AND leftovers for $5? That's not even possible at fast-food aka fake-food chains anymore!

Buying in bulk and portioning it into the smaller serving sizes also saves us money on gas (not to mention impulse purchases) because we don't have to shop as often. With the Costco credit card, we receive $1, 000+ cash back annually because we use it for everything (and pay it off each month).

All that to say, membership stores can work for you if you want to put in the extra work that goes with bulk-buying, and if you are disciplined to not buy all the things in the store that you don't really need.

[christinalund]

I am a mother of 4 and registered dietitian, and I 100% agree with everything you said, especially about the convenience and junk food items and how to manage medical nutrition needs like celiac disease. I shop at Costco and the weeks I do, I spend WAY more than other weeks. I go there because I like the stuff and we can afford it. Great video, Christine!

[Melissa-cyxy]

Welp, I planned out our meals & school snacks for the next week just this morning and went to Aldi and spent less than $100. Family of 3. We actually have more than 7 meals for the week based on my pantry & freezer stash. I'm dedicated to make this work!

[sondrad]

YES regarding the 529. I setup a 529 for my son when he was 4 months old, as soon as I got his social security card. I’m so happy I did because almost 2 years ago the company I worked for, for 34 years shutdown and I lost my job. My son is a senior in college and I had enough between 529 and scholarships to pay his tuition, books, room and board. I did not want my son to start his adult life in debt due to student loans, like I did. This was a good decision for my family.

[User-]

I started watching your channel when I changed jobs and had to cut my food budget in half. I have always prioritized good eating no matter what else is going on and I love to cook, but even though now my food budget is higher than ever, I still shop that way. My last grocery trip I saved $60, buying on the last day of the weekly circular, grabbing up a ton of clearance/reduced meat and produce. I have more than 2 weeks of meals for 100 bucks. We invested in a small deep freeze and its probably the smartest thing we've done for our household. I'm portioning and freezing stuff all the time! You are doing a service and it is appreciated.

[StarWarsFans]

I am gluten free and was so excited to find gluten free bread on clearance at Walmart yesterday for $1.99. I bought both that were left and put them in the freezer! It will be the first time I've had store bought bread in years. I've learned to live without bread for the most part, but I will make 90 second Keto bread or a chaffle if I'm need something for a sandwich. A lot of the time I just use a large lettuce leaf as a wrap instead. So much cheaper!

[ellendunn]

Some people choose to go gluten-free. Others (like my husband) eat GF because of a medical condition and have no choice but to eliminate gluten (and other things) from their diets. I have been trying to feed him healthfully for 20 years, and while I don’t buy a lot of GF products (because they’re expensive and often not good), I’m SO GRATEFUL that we actually have CHOICES now, and I keep a few on hand. Husband still goes to meetings and events where food is served and there is literally nothing that he can eat, but overall, it’s MUCH better than when we first figured this out. P.S. King Arthur GF mixes are the best on the market.

[santafe]

Lots of great feedback! I’m an old mom/shopper/food handler and for the most part, I cook everything. You won’t need less food as you age, so my best advice is to become the best and most savvy procurer of all products, not just those in the grocery store. And after all these years, I celebrate all my grocery hauls and savings. I am always working on the long term food storage. It’s a survival strategy.

[lindaw]

I already figured out the costco thing on my own, but your bacon vs rice savings analogy has prompted me to think about where we are overspending from habit, not out of necessity

[sherrieivanov]

I agree absolutely 100%. My husband has been a Type 1 diabetic since 1976 (yep 47 years!) and we don’t buy “plastic wrapper food”. I cook mainly from scratch and we grow over 1/2 of our yearly vegetable budget. We also splurge on raising our own pork and chicken just to have a little better quality. Yes, we have less variety, but we have wonderful quality.

PS - we don’t shop bulk stores.