Saving Money on the Grocery Bill

I’m sure you have all seen these “Extreme Couponing” shows and thought it must be nice to get your groceries for 80 – 90% off as groceries are probably our number one biggest variable expense. I know I have tried to cut coupons and have found they rarely have coupons for anything that’s actually on my grocery list (and there is no ‘doubling up’ on coupons in Canada) but there are other ways you can save drastically save on your weekly grocery bill.

I have found that meat is the most varying expense. I never pay full price for meat but always buy it when its on sale and freeze some for when I need it. Now I’m sure prices vary in your region but for example chicken breast is regularly about $6.99 all the way up to $9.99 but it goes on sale every couple of months for $3.99 and sometimes even for $2.99/lb so I watch the flyers and when its on sale I make sure I stock up. The same goes for all your other meats as well although I don’t like to freeze steaks as I find they don’t taste as well once frozen and only buy enough for that night.

The same can be said for almost anything even bread freezes fine (if you have the space) I like to stock up on canned foods and pasta when they go on sale as they keep well. I’m not saying don’t cut coupons I always do from the free weekly paper but just don’t buy something you don’t need because it’s cheap or you have a good coupon it will end up costing you more in the long run and do try to remember to give the cashier the coupons when you’re checking out as they aren’t doing any good forgotten in your pocket (as mine often are). 

And if you want to keep track of how much you spend on groceries you can print out a budgeting spreadsheet here:
http://www.picable.com/Transportation/Trains/Budgeting-Worsheet.3800681