Groceries and Savings

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My sweet friend Jordan asked me how I saved money at the grocery store so I thought I would do a post with my favorite ways to save! Are you like me and think that you spend a ton at the grocery store? I know that each time we eat at home we are saving money, calories and sodium (you would not believe how much sodium is in food at restaurants!). However, that doesn't make our grocery bill (for two!) any easier to swallow.  I really try to shop 'around the perimeter' of the grocery store - meaning not go down the center aisles for food. We do not need to eat the crackers, chips, cereal etc that are found on the center aisle. Although I love Ritz, my thighs and my wallet do not. I try to buy frozen veggies instead of anything canned since it cuts back on sodium and BPA. Don't get me wrong, I still have tins of tomatoes and corn and beans in our pantry to use but I would prefer us to only use frozen or 'whole' products - as in make the beans from scratch (soak overnight and then throw in crock pot - takes forever but its delicious!). We try to eat a lot of fruit, vegetables, 'natural' starches - potatoes, corn etc., and meat.  I found that ground turkey is actually less than ground beef so we normally eat ground turkey in all our recipes.  My sibling actually joke that poor James doesn't get any red meat and when we are with my family my mom makes it a point to either take James to eat a steak dinner or to have one for him to grill at home.

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I have found a great site to help with savings at the grocery store. In our little neighborhood in Columbia we have 3 grocery stores within walking distance and quite a few more that are on our way home from work or just a short drive away.

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Southern Savers has made my grocery shopping so easy! It gives you a list of all the weekly ads for the different grocery stores and also matches the coupons with the store specials.

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Southern Savers also has deals for different freebies that are found on the web - I was able to get my Mother's and one of my Father's day cards for free thanks to Southern Savers! They even have coupon databases so that you can print them at home, in case you don't get the Sunday paper with coupons in it.

I (usually) try to make sure I buy fruit and veggies in season. As much as James loves apples- I only buy them in the fall when they are in season, and not $2.99 a pound like they are now (sorry love!). We buy peaches in the June and July, along with zucchini and squash. We enjoy juicy watermelon on our porch in the summer and grapefruit in the winter months! I think just buying 'in season' we save quite a bit!

Learn to relax, let go and have some wine and enjoy your extra large grocery bill!

Another great saving mechanism is our farmers market! I can usually only spent $15 on fruits and vegetables if we go to the farmers market. There is a farmers market that comes to USC on Tuesday's that I take full advantage of (I even went in the rain this week!) and they have deals where you fill a basket for only $5; with fresh, local produce that helps stream money back into the local economy (so does the Pig! Its "local since forever").

Delicious and healthy snack - red bell peppers from the Farmers Market on campus!

Do you shop local? Are you a firm believer in 'investing' in healthy food to keep you healthy longer?