Basics, part 3: Rotation buying
The biggest hurdle to get over is the transition between buying your food on a weekly basis at one store and buying rotation at two stores.
If you buy your groceries at one store and you are buying just what you need for a week, the odds are against you , about the same as winning at the casino. One of the easiest change for most people is to investigate which two stores in your area have the best prices. If you only have one store, think about going to a neighbouring town once or twice a month and either getting them to mail you their flyers or finding them on line. If it's too far, group them with other errands or carpool with a neighbor or family member. Buying the real specials that you will eat at two stores cuts your grocery bill a lot. Here, Winco and Fred Meyers have the best prices , but that can change.
The biggest difference you can make is to know your prices.
My mother used to say that some people could have a bargain get up and bite them on the butt and they wouldn't see it. Don't be that person.
You don't have to know the prices of everything in the store, but you need to know the RBP of the things you use in a regular basis. That can of cranberry sauce that you buy once a year won't make much difference in the overall scheme of things, but the can of diced tomatoes you use twice a week will.
Make a list , one item per sheet on a small spiral pad. They are three for a dollar at the Dollar Tree. Write the prices off the sale ads for those products and the dates. You will soon see a pattern and can predict when things will go on a good sale.
Take little steps. Start with the first thing you find that you use on a regular basis that is on a RBP. Buy two instead of one ( probably no more capital outlay) . Ditch one on the back of the pantry. Keep doing it. Just plug away at it. Soon you will have a stock built and instead of buying a weeks worth at a time, you can only buy what needs to be replentished and you will be shopping your pantry instead of shopping the stores. That six pack of green beans you bought this week, will be replaced by a six pack of corn next week, and so on. This will be easier if you get your budget amount in one lump sum. Buy your basics and set aside a certain amount a week for the perishables. When you buy your food 1/2 price, it doesn't take long to realize the profit.
Being in a position of not having to buy things gives you the upper hand. You can wait until the price is the lowest to buy your food. This won't work for produce. But it will work for a lot of staples. Watch for dairy sales. I can almost always get milk for 2.00 a gallon. Sour cream for a dollar for 8 ounces, butter for 2.50 a pound. And yogurt for .40 or less. I only buy yoplait light because I watch my carbs and they are the lowest I have found. There is always a coupon for them.
Stocking is a good thing of you know your limits. Have a good idea and a limit set in your mind of how much you use and how much of a supply you are stocking, I have shelves in my pantry and a certain amount of shelf space is allocated to a particular food. I can tell at a glance when I need to watch for a sale. Moderation is the key. Watching pull dates is key. No one needs a whole closet full of pop, or anything else for that matter.
Two major things you can do to cut your food budget drastically and grow a stock is to
1) don't buy snack foods and drinks, 1/2 the average grocery cart is snacks and drinks, Stick to coffee, tea and milk. Give your children the RDA of milk a day including what they get in their cereal and in pudding etc, And, don't buy chips and snack foods, especially the individual packages.
We buy tortilla chips in the big sack at Costco. Anything else has to come out of a entertainment budget.
2) shop two stores and shop the RBP.. Let your meal plans be dictated by the produce in season and the foods that are on a good sale. Note that not everything listed on the "sale " ad is really on sale.
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