How to Shop for Groceries

The reason that I decided to write this series of posts was something funny that happened. Two funny things happened, actually. The first was that a friend of mine returned to school, and was given the instructions to buy the "standard school supplies." He wasn't sure what that meant, and asked me. Having three kids, and having an unnatural fondness for school/office supplies, he thought I would know what that meant.

I did not.

So we brainstormed, and we got through, and then he realized that he needed an icepack to keep his lunch cool. He asked me where he could find that.

"What store are you in?"
"Target."
"Go to the last aisle of sporting goods. It's in the back of the store, and it is between toys and travel. It's in the last aisle where they keep the lunch boxes, coolers and thermos products."
There was a long pause. "How do you know that?"
"It's Target. Don't pay more than $1.99."

Then today, you know, if you follow my twitter, I had breakfast at Starbucks. I had a coupon that anyone could get online, for one free pastry when you bought a drink, hot or cold, before 10:30am. Right after that, I heard the radio announcer tell us that it was also Free Cone Day at Ben&Jerry's Scoop Shops, so I tweeted that as well.

I heard from my friend, and he wanted to know how I did that. How do I know where the freebies are?

Well, I don't know. I just do. And I'm an amateur. There are people much better at it than I am. If only I could make a living shopping for other people. At least, I can try to teach you what I know.

I'm planning on three separate posts about this. This first one will be on grocery shopping. Others will include eating out, buying school supplies, outlet shopping and whatever else might strike my fancy or yours (or that you might ask for.)

Oh, just while we're on the subject, July 10th is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. Dress like a cow, get a free combo meal. We don't actually have any Chick-Fil-A's here, but we happened to have been in a Maryland one on July 10th one year.

Anyway, onto groceries.

Groceries can sometimes be complicated to buy. I should also mention that some of the advice I'm going to give is advice that I don't take (like checking dates - I'm terrible at checking dates), but it still works. For grocery buying and for cooking for the complete novice, I would recommend the book, The Kitchen Survival Guide by Lora Brody. This was a phenomenal resource when I was first married and setting up my own kitchen and doing my own shopping. While what my mother did cook was delicious, she didn't make a wide variety of things, so for me, it was all new.

1. The first tip is really the most important. Do NOT go grocery shopping on an empty stomach. Always eat first. What I usually do if I'm going alone, and it's in the morning, I will go to the bagel shop right in the grocery store, and get a bagel with cream cheese and a cup of water. That way, I'm already eating and I'll sit at their tables and do tip number two...

2. Make and keep to a list. If you have a list, you're more likely to buy what's on sale and what you need, and you won't deviate from your list often.

3. Review the sale flyer before you go. This will also help you plan your meals for the week. Sometimes, there are great sales (like bottom round roast for $1.79/lb) and you'll want to buy extra to freeze. At that price, I think I bought three roasts.

4. Buy items in season. Yes, it's great to get strawberries in December, but there's a reason that they're $3.99/lb. They also don't taste as good, and depending on where they're imported from, they don't last as long because of their trip here. Strawberries are a summer fruit, squashes are a fall/winter. Vidalia onions are only around for about four to six weeks, and if you've never had them, HAVE THEM. They are sweet and succulent, and we eat them almost every day for that one month they are here. We eat them raw, on sandwiches, mixed into salads, sautéed in butter, mixed into fried rice. There are other sweet onions, but none like Vidalias.

5. Even with a list, follow the layout of the supermarket. It doesn't seem as though walking through the entire supermarket will save you time, but I've done the run around in the order on the list and the follow every aisle, and the follow every aisle method is actually faster. I usually start in produce, then the bakery, then the back wall of meat, and then just go aisle by aisle until I get to dairy and finish up with frozen.

6. Get the supermarket's savings card. On one shopping trip, they took off $25 from my order. This is rare, but now at my supermarket, the card is linked to Sunoco gas stations. We get ten cents off for every $50 spent. Right now, we're up to seventy cents off our gas, so we're waiting for an empty tank so that we can fill up. In that same venue, try out the store brand. I am a brand-name fiend -- I know the difference between Philadelphia Cream Cheese and others. I can taste the difference between Coke and Pepsi. There is no cheese doodle like Bachman Jax, and I can tell Rold Gold pretzels from Bachman Thin&Right, but there are certain things that I don't mind getting in the store brand. Our store's butter is excellent as is their sour cream and milk. I prefer the store's chicken to Perdue's. Try it out. If you like it, there is a huge value.

7. Use coupons. Stores will sometimes accept expired ones if the date is close. It doesn't hurt to ask. If they say no, oh well, but if they say yes, you've just saved money. You should also be wary of coupons. A lot of the Pillsbury ones are buy 3, get $1 off. It's just not worth it sometimes.

8. Plan out your meals. I found that when I was doing that, we ate well and we saved money all the time. This does mean that you will have to plan on taking things out of the freezer, although roast beef and pot roast can be cooked frozen. It just takes a little longer. Chicken really can't, although my mother-in-law has done it and it's always excellent. She should teach a class.

9. Wal-Mart is a great place to get brand name non-perishables, but you must know the prices of these same goods at your regular supermarket.

10. Specialty places like Trader Joe's and Penzeys Spices are good places to find things that you won't find elsewhere. In the case of Penzeys Spices, the prices are very close to supermarket prices, but the spices are fresher and sold in larger containers. I've been using their mail order for about three years, but if I'm in town (I've only been to the ones on Long Island and in Philadelphia), I get them there, and save on the shipping. There is no tax on spices since they are a food (at least in my state and in PA). They also have a great catalog with fantastic recipes. I never throw away their catalogs. Trader Joe's has some unique things that you can't find anywhere else, and their prices are quite reasonable. Another specialty place is the bulk warehouse stores. BJ's, Costco, Sam's Club are just a few of the ones that I know. There is a membership fee, but if you can buy in bulk, it can really save a lot of money. (BJ's has a terrific granola mixture that the kids and I love for $6.99). This is really good for paper products. Their milk prices are under $2. I don't usually buy fresh food there because I have never needed six cucumbers for anything. I've tried. They just go soft. They're very reasonable on candy (great for Halloween) and frozen appetizer type foods (great for New Year's and the Super Bowl).


So, happy shopping.