Grocery Tips

Hey all! Today I want to talk about grocery shopping. We went to the store Sunday and got some great deals. I just want to walk you through how my husband and I shop. We eat great food, nothing luxurious, but still delicious and do not spend much on groceries every month.

Tip #1 Find a grocery store that you like that has great deals and takes coupons. We personally love HEB. If you do not live in Texas you have never heard of it. I am so sorry for you because this grocery store is amazing! ;) I am sure you will hear a lot about it on this blog.

Tip #2 Try branching out and trying the store brand items. Before I was married, I was used to having mostly name brand food items, so I was a bit hesitant to buy store brand for some things. But, it turns out that the store brand stuff is pretty good, especially at HEB! I was scared to try items such as cream cheese and sour cream but have been pleasantly surprised so far. There are still some items, however that I still buy name brand. Next time you go shopping switch out 1 or 2 name brand items and try out the store brand. It doesn't hurt to try.

Tip #3 If you are a soda drinker like me, you know how expensive they can be. $5 for a 12 pack? No thank you! Try to only buy sodas when they are one sale. If it is a fantastic deal, say 4 for $10, buy 8 and stock up. Most of the time we are happy with the store brand. HEB even has several flavors made with real cane sure with regular price $2.97. They frequently have a $1 off coupon on top of that! This week I bought some Coca-Cola, my absolute favorite for 3 for $9. I have been waiting for it to go on sale!

Tip #4 Have you ever thought about reducing cost on your main item which is usually meat? The main meats we buy are ground turkey, chicken breast, tilapia, and frozen cooked chicken such as chicken fillets, nuggets, and strips for fast meals. Ground turkey is a great solution to ground beef mainly because it is a LOT cheaper and healthier. We get a pound for $1.97. Chicken is also right around that price - $1.99. Tilapia and frozen cooked chicken are a bit more expensive. We try to ration these items. The frozen chicken items make a great option when no one wants to cook as an alternative to going through a drive thru. You can put some nuggets and fries in the toaster over and have a quick meal. It is always cheaper to buy raw meat rather than meat that has already been cooked, but we all need easy options for meals sometimes. Try the ground turkey though. It will save you a lot!

Tip #5 Limiting the number of times you make big shopping trips each month can help you save money. We make a big shopping trip once every 3 weeks. Sometimes we make a quick trip to the store for milk or lunch meat in between if we need to. If you go to the store every couple of days, you tend to spend more because it feels like you aren't spending much. If you go to the store 8 times a month and spend $60 each time, it may not feel like a lot each time, but you will get to the end of the month and realize you spent almost $500 on groceries (I realize this number will not be high for larger families).

Tip #6 If you see a great deal on something that can be frozen or is non perishable, STOCK UP. A couple months ago we were able to get Jennie-O turkey (of course it's cheaper than beef!) bacon for $0.52 for 12 oz! We bought 9 lbs worth and froze the rest.

Tip #7 Clip some coupons before heading to the store. We save a lot by printing out coupons and checking deals before we head to the store. I frequent Faithful Saver's blog for current deals and tips. Check it out! Also, if your store price matches, check a couple ads before heading to the store.

Tip #8 Buy the produce that is on sale that week. We love buying fresh fruits and vegetables, and my husband loves blueberries, which happen to be quite expensive. We only buy the more expensive fruits when there is a great sale. I got 3 lbs of grapes this weekend for $3.98. ;) We also got a great deal on zucchini - $0.98 a lb I think. You can save a lot by using the sales to your advantage.

I know I have more tips, but I will leave you with that tonight. In the future I will post some meal ideas with cost breakouts by serving.

How do you save on groceries? Let me know in the comments.

Auto: Pay cash for your car

In my opinion, it is a waste of money to pay interest on a car loan. I have taken out a car loan before, but luckily I did not have it long before I sold the car and paid off the loan. Save for a car and then buy a car you can afford. A brand new car will depreciate in value so quickly, you will probably owe more than it's worth within the first year or two of owning it. There is a special peace that comes with buying a car and owning it with no strings attached. You don't have to worry about making payments on it if you lose your job, and you just don't have to make payments, period.

A couple months ago, my husband's car stopped working properly. We decided that fixing the issue would cost more than the car was worth and sold the car. We needed a replacement for him, so we had to buy another car. We had not anticipated needing to buy a car, but we luckily had our savings started for buying our first home. We set a limit on how much we wanted to spend and set out to find a car.

We ended up getting a great deal on an '04 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP that my husband loves. The dealership even knocked off $500 for paying in cash. We got a great deal and owe nothing to the bank, which is amazing!

Let's look at a scenario. Let's say you buy a new car for $20,000. According to bankrate.com, for a new car, 60 month loan, interest is 4.03% on average right now. After five years, you will have paid $2,116.08 in interest for a total of $22,116.08 for a car that is now worth much less than the original $20,000. You take the hit of interest and depreciation!

Tip 1: Don't forget to account for tax, title, license, and any dealer fees when budgeting for a new (or new to you) car.
Tip 2: You can usually save some money by doing a private sale rather than buying from a dealership. Make sure the paperwork is properly done in a private sale.

Let me know your opinion in the comments. ;)

EDIT: Thank you Diego for finding the mistake in my calculation. ;) It has been fixed now.

Not our actual car, but it looks like this :)

Eating Out: Take your lunch to work

If you are trying to save up for a goal, a great way to cut out expenses is to limit the amount of times you eat out each month. My husband and I are diligent about not spending money on fast food very often - almost always under $15 a month. This is something that works for us because we just make food at home and are happy with that. One area where people tend to splurge on eating out is at work.

You work 40 hours a week, and when it gets to lunch time, you do not want to stay at work. Everyone that works understands this concept well. When I go to lunch I do one of two things. If I need to get out of the building, I go home to eat. I understand this is not reasonable for everyone, as sometimes you do not live close enough to work to do this. If I do not go home, I go to the break room, watch some tv, and eat. Doing this may be hard for some people, but if you can be diligent in doing this, you will save tons.

A normal meal at lunch will probably run you $5-$10 depending on where you go and if you get a drink, etc. If you were to go out every day during lunch, that's $25-$50 a week you are spending on fast food. In the span of a year (assuming you work about 47 weeks like me), that's a whopping $1,175-$2,350 a year just for lunch during the work week. If you compare that to making a sandwich or buying a frozen meal, you will spend $2-$3 a day on lunch - or less if you are frugal. That's $470-$705 a year, or a savings of $705-$1,645 a year! You do not have to eat lunch at work every day, but if you brought your lunch 4 days a week and went out on Fridays, that is still a lot of savings. An extra benefit is that you will probably be healthier bringing your own food than eating out every day.

I realize this is not for everyone, but this is an area my husband and I are willing to cut out while we are saving for a home.