Tips from Bloggers: How to Save Time & Money on Grocery Shopping

I so agree with Judith's comment above. Of all things to spend money on...clothing, flat-screen TVs, lottery tickets...wouldn't food always have to be the one thing worth spending money on?

NPR recently did a show about the rising cost of food due to price hikes on corn. Since corn is in practically everything sold at the grocery store, that makes sense. I'm sure fuel costs are also a factor. But the solution is not, as NPR's guest suggested, to buy cheap food at the Dollar Store. It doesn't matter what magic you can make with a can of green beans – that's not good nutrition.

To cut costs, why not skip on costly meats and processed food? Grains sold in bulk like brown rice and quinoa are delicous and will feed you for pennies a day. Combined with locally grown organic vegetables, you'll have great meals and avoid the corn and fuel consumption issues. Eat better, eat cheaper. It's a win/win.

http://doesabodygood.blogspot.com

Be practical and don't waste, yes, but food shouldn't be first on the money saving list. Start with not wasting ever-more-costly energy and excessive consumption of anything. Start with jettisoning non-necessities. I find it absolutely scary that people who don't even understand nutrition will begin a savings program by buying bargain junk foods at box stores and proudly tell you how little they are spending to feed their family of five. Imagine what those kids are learning from dinners composed of corn dogs and oven fries?

It is my contention that a lot of people ought to start with buying a book on nutrition, meanwhile buying only ingredients until they know what to feed their kids. Then they may be able to cut kitchen costs without turning their kids into blimpy zombies.

http://www.judithgreenwood.com/thinkonit/

there, which I suppose if that's what you're buying, should be purchased at the lowest cost available. That said, I spot-checked prices on a couple of items I have in my head -- and they were no bargains. And when they mean bulk, they mean bulk: six loaves of bread, six pounds of raisins, etc. I hope you've got ready access to a place to recycle cardboard cartons!

I also hope you'll post more about your experience, especially since you're careful to say that "carefully planned" purchases are needed. Perhaps you're overcoming the pitfalls I'm predicting.

Alanna Kellogg
Kitchen Parade ( http://kitchenparade.com/ ) &
A Veggie Venture ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )

I recently picked up a copy of Cleaning Eating magazine and tried out their 5 dinner for 60 dollars challenge. I posted about it here ( http://greatwallsofbaltimore.blogspot.com/2008/03/... ). I was amazed to hear that a friend spends upwards of 200 dollars a week for her family of four, when I can feed my family of four for half of that.

I've also found that while coupons don't save me much (because there are rarely coupons for fresh mean, fish or produce), making a menu plan saves me tons. I wrote about that too here. ( http://greatwallsofbaltimore.blogspot.com/2008/02/... )

Adventures In City Living
http://greatwallsofbaltimore.blogspot.com

My wife and I recently started using BulkHome.com ( http://www.bulkhome.com ). It's an online bulk grocery shopping site, like Sam's Club or Costco. It doesn't have membership fees, there's free shipping on orders over $25, and they have a good selection of organic and environmentally friendly stuff.

Buying in bulk, carefully planned, can lead to tremendous time and money savings.