Putting Things Into Perspective

Around $55.00 for all the groceries in the pic. About three boxes of brownies, five bottles of Honest Tea, paper towels, four bottles of Axe shower gel, four cans of Chef Boyardee, three bottles of handsoap, two bags of salad, four loaves of bread, four boxes of popcorn, six bags of M&Ms and almost ten pounds of meat. The meat really pushed my out of pocket (OOP) costs, but I couldn't resist all of the mark downs, not to mention the fact that this will probably last an entire month..... or two...

MMMM. Beef, it's what's for dinner!

Yep. I paid $55.00 for everything in this picture. I entitled this entry "Putting Things into Perspective" because I want the confusion surrounding the show Extreme Couponing. I hate the show, but like any catastrophic car wreck, I've slowed down a few times to take a look at it. The show has encouraged stores to tighten up their coupon redemption policies and has given me a lot of grief at the register. Every time I pull out my binder in a store or take my coupons out of my envelope at Target, I get a comment about being an "Extreme Couponer." I usually smile and say that I'm not as good as the folks on TV, but after someone says it to you for the umpteenth time, you tend to get a little peeved. It's especially unnerving when I'm going through the checkout line and everyone is watching me to see how much money I've saved. Sometimes I do work a little magic and end up saving 90%.

However, 90% of the time, when I go shopping, I expect to save around 50-65%. Yup. I'm not walking out of the store without paying, I usually just save a lot more than the average person. I'm pretty proud of my 50 dollar haul. I was completely out of protein and I have a thing for watching TV with a bowl of popcorn.

Listen people. Extreme Couponing show is unrealistic (not to mention some of the participants are engaging in illegal coupon redemption but that's another blog post for another day). Don't feel disheartened when you gather up all of your coupons and find yourself only (and I say "only" with a smile on my face) saving 50% off of your grocery bill. This is actually a normal amount of savings anyone should expect if they plan to purchase healthy foods for their families. Produce, meat and dairy are all items that are usually a full-price purchase.   Now that I've said that, let me tell you how you can save some of your hard earned money. 

How To Save On Meat & Produce:

How can you save money without drowning in free BBQ sauce and deodorant each month? Well first off, don't be afraid of discount meat. I chuckle when people pass off the Manager's special section to pay twice the price for the same quality of meat. Discount meat in the store isn't bad meat. The store isn't legally allowed to sell you any edible items that isn't safe for human consumption.  That's why recalls exist people, because the food was bad and they weren't supposed to sell it to you. Many times the food that gets recalled wasn't marked down in the first place. 

Stores mark down meat and produce because they need to sell them quickly before the "Sell by X" date.  My rule of thumb is to buy it and either cook it the same day or place it in the freezer. If you live alone, like myself, be sure to buy plenty of freezer bags and separate the meat into single serving portions. Use a sharpie to mark the date you bought the item as well as what exactly is in the bag. All meat begins to look the same after a few months in the freezer, so setting up a system of expiration dates and labels will help you keep track of what you need to eat quickly and what you can save for a rainy day. Meal planning is also crucial to saving money. The more last minute trips you make to the grocery store, the more often you'll find yourself spending over your grocery budget. 

Shop the sales ad. The best way to save money on both produce and meat is to take a look at the store's sales ad each week and buy what's on sale. The store takes a loss for the items shown on sale to draw you into the store and sucker you into making a lot of unplanned purchases. Well, you're smarter than that because you will make a list of all the sales items and stick to the list when you get to the store.

As for produce, always purchase produce in season!!!!  Do NOT buy strawberries in December or pomegranates in the middle of June.  Buying produce locally and in season will guarantee that you will save money because you aren't paying for the damn strawberries to get shipped from Florida to the Mid-West. If you can't live without strawberries in December, why not freeze the extra strawberries purchased in season? Be sure to take a look at your farmer's market and check out how much you can buy in bulk at a discount. You can also join a farmer's co-op and purchase items in bulk at a set price. Frozen vegetables are also a great choice and often come with fantastic coupons to boot. Studies have debunked the whole "fresh is better than frozen" theory, so don't feel bad about filling your freezer with a few Steamers from Krogers (check out this article here if you don't believe me: Frozen vegetables more nutritious than fresh, study says - New York Daily News)

Well, I'm off to plot another fantastic week of savings. Lots of laundry detergent and peanut butter this week. I'll post pics when I get a chance.  Damn Krogers and the 3 coupon limit.

P. Manolos