This is a guest post by my friend Holly of iGoBOGO, When You Rise Up, and Food Allergy Cooking. Holly is going to share great wisdom with us!
Saving Money on Groceries for Busy Homeschool Families
This is the first article in what will be a series on saving money on groceries for busy homeschool families. As a homeschooling mom to 6, I realize that there is a fine balance between cost savings and convenience when it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning.
There is not one single way to shop for groceries that is the best. So many people live such different lives that what works for one wouldn’t work for another. Some may live on a farm with an abundance of fresh produce, eggs, and meat. Another family may live close to the grocery store and shop weekly while still others shop once month. You have your extreme couponers, and your non couponers and everything in between.
With that said, I think there are a few general principles we can all use to help save money on that grocery bill. Are you ready to whip that grocery budget into shape?
Let’s get started.
Following Sales Cycles
If you watch grocery ad sales weekly you will notice that each week the stores will have several items on sale at a really low price. The next week there will be different items and so on. You’ll notice that most items are on a cycle with prices fluctuating up and down. At some point during the cycle the item will be at it’s rock bottom price. THAT is when you buy. Stock up. On average, most items will follow about a 4-6 week cycle. That means that you want to stock up on about 4-6 weeks worth of that item. Most likely it will be back down again within 4-6 weeks and you can stock up again.
Building and Maintaining a Grocery Stockpile
This is one of the biggest ways you can save money on groceries. I’m not talking about one of those extreme couponing stockpiles here. You’ve seen them with the garages full of food that will expire before they have a chance to use it all. If you are following the sales cycles, and buying products when they are at their rock bottom price you will have a pantry and/or freezer full of groceries. A well stocked pantry is a MUST for saving money on groceries. Most of our grocery budget leaks involve running to the store to grab something that you’re out of. Not only is it likely not at it’s rock bottom price, but you might be tempted to buy things you don’t need as well.
Once a Week Shopping
I do realize that this is not for everyone. If you live out in the country or far from the stores it might be a hassle or cost too much in gas to justify the trip. I totally get that. However, if you can make a run to the store each week you can add it to your savings strategy.
How?
Stores typically have new ads each week with a new set of items at rock bottom price. Now I’m not suggesting you make a huge shopping trip each week, but stopping by each week to stock up on what’s low can help in keeping that stockpile going.
Bulk Buying
Some couponing experts will advise you to stay away from warehouse stores like Sam’s Club or Costco. I disagree. There is absolutely savings on many items found at these stores, but you just have to know what to buy and what NOT to buy while you’re there. Bulk baking items, organic items and more are some examples of what TO BUY. We will go into this more fully later in this series.
Another great place to Bulk Buy is the farmer’s market! It’s always awesome to get a great deal on fresh produce, and if it’s something you can freeze or can then all the better.
Strategic Menu Planning
I don’t know about you all, but for us meal times can really put a kink in an otherwise smooth homeschooling day. It seems like our day goes much more smoothly when I have our meals planned out.
Just plain menu planning alone will NOT help you save the most money on groceries. I could easily go to the recipe books or foodie blogs and create a meal plan for the week based on what sounds good. Then I could go to the store with my list of needed items and easily spend hundreds of dollars.
The first thing you should check when meal planning is your own freezer and stockpile. Then you check the sales ads. If you base your menu plan off of those things you will be able save TONS of money.
Bulk Cooking and Scratch Cooking
One of the biggest complaints I see when discussing stockpiling and couponing is that sale/coupon items are always for junk and/or processed food that their family doesn’t eat. If you see me talking about stocking up on items when they are low please know that I am NOT talking about only processed or junk foods. All items follow similar sale cycles and that includes organic and natural products. This is where bulk and scratch cooking comes in.
Even with coupons and sales you can usually still save tons of money by cooking from scratch. Plus..it’s much healthier. While meal planning helps a lot with the dinnertime crunch even more helpful is bulk or freezer cooking. It’s great to be able to pull out a meal from the freezer in the morning and have a ready made dinner in the evening. We’ll talk much more about this later on in the series.
Couponing
I will admit that couponing is not for everyone. If you follow the above strategies you can definitely still save on your groceries without touching a coupon. However…Couponing is a great way to kick those savings up a few notches. You don’t have to be an extreme couponer either. If you’re already following the sales cycles and buying when items are at their rock bottom then adding coupons on top of that will only make it better. It’s never been more easy to start couponing now that there are many places online to find coupon matchups for your favorite stores. I offer coupon matchups for many popular stores like Walmart, Target, Publix, CVS, and more on my site iGoBOGO.
What about you?
Do you have any questions, concerns, or tips for saving money on groceries? Please post it in the comments. Who knows..maybe your comment will end up in a blog post. 🙂
Holly is a Christian, homeschooler, blogger, coffee lover. She is wife to 1 awesome hunk & 6 little kiddos call her mommy. Oh, and she love to help people save money! You can find her online at iGoBOGO, When You Rise Up, and Food Allergy Cooking.
Latest posts by Free Homeschool Deals (see all)
- Top 10 STEM/STEAM Activities for the Winter Months! - December 2, 2024
- FHD’S Advent Resources for Your Homeschool! - November 18, 2024
- List of our Top Winter Resources - November 4, 2024
- Why We Love All About Learning Press + a Giveaway!! - November 1, 2024
- How to Introduce Anatomy to your Preschoolers & Kindergartners - October 20, 2024
I wonder if you have any tips for going low carb, low sodium, and low sugar? We recently went this way to be more healthy, and have also started reading about portion sizes. I love your blog!