DH just sent me this link.
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/7-ways-to-save-money-on-groceries-1.aspx
These are the tips:
1. Become an 'extreme couponer'
2. Stockpile sale items
3. Shop at the drugstore
4. Form a wholesale buying club
5. Cook from scratch
6. Plan your meals
7. Plan a pantry week
Do you do any of these?
We do #1 (although not extreme), 2, used to do #3 so we plan to get back to that, 5 and 6. Really interested to do #7!
pomegranate / 3729 posts
Meal planning is a huge saver for us. Plus, it gets me to also really look in my pantry and see what we have that I can use. My Mom is an extreme couponer, and she saves an average of about 85% on groceries and toiletries. When meat is on sale we ALWAYS stock the freezer. It's crazy to pay full price when we don't have to.
kiwi / 742 posts
See I find when I shop at CVS/Rite Aid/Walgreens drugstores I don't get as great a deal as I would at Target. I need to really get back into 6. I do 2 and 5.
pear / 1693 posts
Meal planning is the number one thing I do that saves grocery money. When I started doing that our bills went down a lot.
I also cook a fair amount from scratch, but I like the convenience of things like canned beans and pre-made pizza dough.
kiwi / 612 posts
@regberadaisy: good tips! We've been trying to eat as much as possible from the pantry the last two weeks, and it really is surprising how much food we already had on hand!
I was surprised at the drug store one because I always feel like I spend more when I buy our toiletries there, but I haven't been looking at the weekly ads, so maybe that's my problem.
I love money-saving articles!!
honeydew / 7811 posts
@regberadaisy: we do a little bit of stockpiling (limited because we don't have a pantry!), a little bit of coupons (prefer buying generics), and are trying to get better at 5 & 6!
I have gotten into the habit of buying toiletries at the grocery store just for convenience's sake. I should get back into the habit of CVS and my extra care card.
I'm thinking of making a price book - anyone ever do that?
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@sotofamilia: @TheReelDeal: it's really about picking and choosing what you do buy. Only when it's on sale or BOGO combined with store and manf coupons and register rewards! Often time you are making money off items like toothpaste. 
@cmomma17: my DH has a good idea in his head but he also keeps a running list on his phone!
honeydew / 7303 posts
I wish I could be an extreme couponer. I just don't have the time or energy! I do a lot of the other ones though.
kiwi / 711 posts
I wish we could be extreme couponers but we don't really eat processed foods which I feel most food related coupons are. If they had coupons for meat and produce then that would be awesome!
We do #5 & #6.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@WALLAROO: I wished there was coupons on mats & vegs! But not all coupons are for processed foods. ie toothpaste, pasta (still processed but who has time for homemade pasta on a weeknight?), toiletries, household stuff, eggs, breads, etc.
eggplant / 11824 posts
@WALLAROO: I agree! I don't want or need 10 cases of toothpaste and toothpaste is only like $3 anyway, which isn't going to make or break my budget by paying full price for 1 tube every 4 months.
We do try to buy stuff in bulk, and somewhat stockpile sale items.
Also #5 and #6, but I think saving money on those depends on what you make and what sort of food you buy in the first place. Sure, meal planning helps, but when you start out with better foods (more expensive), it isn't like you suddenly spend the same as someone who eats hamburger helper every night just because you planned ahead.
pear / 1992 posts
@WALLAROO: There are coupons for fresh meat and produce but they're rare!
Last week there was a coupon out there for $1 off any package of fresh pork. I bought 4 small packs and the cost ended up at about $2/lb for chops. (I would have linked it right here but the promotion just ended). I also just got an email from Driscoll's berries with a $0.50 off coupon because it's my birthday and I've signed up for promotions with them previously.
I also try to use dollar amount coupons like $5/$25 purchase and count that towards things like this that don't have traditional coupons available very frequently.
We do pretty much all of these. I wouldn't call myself an 'extreme' couponer though... maybe super couponer? 
And I don't have a wolesale club but I do go to Sams with a friend who has a membership about twice a year to buy a 25lb bulk bread flour bag and a giant block of parmesan cheese to split and freeze.
kiwi / 711 posts
@lindseykaye: See that would be some coupons I could use
@yoursilverlining: In order for us to save money, I'm trying to be more simplistic with my meal planning but still eating healthy. So basically just meat, roasted veggie, and maybe a salad.
@regberadaisy: pasta and bread is yummy! But we don't really eat much of that anymore.
The wholesale buying club sounds interesting. I've heard of people that go in on buying a whole cow with another family and splitting it up. We just don't have the freezer space for it - maybe if I had a deep freeze!
pear / 1570 posts
We:
3. Shop at the drugstore
5. Cook from scratch
6. Plan your meals
I guess I could be better about this list ha!
grapefruit / 4235 posts
I coupon but not extreme. I do 2/3/5/6 - rolling extra bucks, holla!
We also bought a half of a grassfed cow with friends of ours, and are going in on a half of a cow from my uncle whenever the next butchering season is.
And in the summer I'm just lazy and don't go to the grocery store weekly - more like every other week. So sometimes 7?
grapefruit / 4213 posts
I do 5 & 6. Unfortunately couponing doesn't work for us since you usually have to buy several of an item and the store we shop at doesn't stack coupons.
kiwi / 711 posts
@dagret: I am interested in buying a 1/8 of a cow since that is all our freezer space will allow. What was your experience like? Was it cheaper than buying beef from the grocery store/Costco?
grapefruit / 4235 posts
@WALLAROO: definitely cheaper, especially b/c it's grassfed beef - but we got the hookup b/c the "farmer" is really a surgeon, and our friend sells him medical supplies. It really helps if you know someone.
You can also save money if you can cut down any meat in particular yourself, or in some cases you can wrap your own meat.
eggplant / 11824 posts
@WALLAROO: Just wanted to chime in too, since we buy a portion of cow and pig at a time, too. Its been cheaper for us than the organic (who knows if it really is, or not) grocery store meat, and sometimes cheaper than the regular grocery store meat.
It's great too because at least with our farm, you can specify what cuts you want so you don't end up with tons of meat you won't really use.
With our pig, it comes out to about $3.99/lb. across the board, which is a good price on chops and roasts, and we also get house cured bacon which you'll never see for $3.99/lb!!! score!
honeydew / 7916 posts
I do 2, 5, and 6. Some of the others are kind of tough for us because so much of what we eat is local and seasonal!
pomelo / 5228 posts
We do 5 & 6. I don't have the patience for couponing, but we mostly shop at Whole Foods anyway (stopping that would be a good way to save ). This summer we're getting most of our produce from a CSA, which I imagine is a big savings. And I disagree with shopping at the drugstore, I've always found it to be MORE expensive.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I do a lot better at the drug store for health and beauty aids and cleaning supplies than I do at the grocery store. I am not brand loyal, which helps and I try to buy stuff that can cross over, like face wash as body wash. I also buy off season, so while it might be winter, if there is a coupon or sale on sunscreen, I buy the deal, but only 1 set. No need for 25 bottles of sunscreen...unless you're going to donate them to a charity.
I think the best price for laundry detergent was at Costco, though, if you calculate the price per load.
honeydew / 7687 posts
I used to do 'extreme' couponing in college! I had a HUGE stockpile of free stuff and donated a ton of it. I know a lot of people sell their 'stash'. Now I'm pickier about ingredients, colorings, etc. so I stock up on Tom's toothpaste when it's on sale but it's rarely free I'm looking into a buying club but the closest drop off is 1 hour away.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
1. Become an 'extreme couponer' - we have a sunday paper, but most of the coupons don't apply to us because we don't like a lot of the processed and junk foods that pertain to most coupons. i do use some coupons for toiletries and haircare, but most other things i can find them cheaper on amazon or costco.
2. Stockpile sale items - yup, we do this
3. Shop at the drugstore - nope... never thought to do this.
4. Form a wholesale buying club - yup, costco 2x a month!
5. Cook from scratch - almost daily
6. Plan your meals - weekly
7. Plan a pantry week - nope
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
1. Become an 'extreme couponer'-Nope. It's never for the stuff I want (meat/fresh veg) and the stores here don't do coupons usually.
2. Stockpile sale items--no space!
3. Shop at the drugstore--sometimes!
4. Form a wholesale buying club-sam's club, definitely
5. Cook from scratch-almost always
6. Plan your meals-always
7. Plan a pantry week--no, we eat too fresh
I really want a deep freezer and i want to buy meat in bulk. We eat a ridiculous amount of meat and fresh veggies.
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