28 Supermarket Tips

[druthb00]

I found this article on MSN. The beginning "7 tips" are kind of no-brainers (esp. for all you FV folks ) and not very impressive or very "ah-ha" kind of tips. The tips at the bottom are better though. I never even thought to weigh the "5 lb." bags of potatoes to get the best deal. I've also never heard of buttering cheese to make it last, or putting lettuce in a pillowcase (this still seems odd to me LOL) to get rid of excess moisture.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com..._blg=1,1647270

[madhen]

Cool tips, thank you!!

[Ceashels]

I never thought about adding cottage cheese to hamburgers to "stretch" the serving. It adds protein as well as moisture. Thanks for the link.

[Libby]

I agree the weighing the prepackaged produce and adding cottage cheese to hamburger are great tips!

Thanks for the article!

[Contrary Housewife]

Interesting ideas there. The pillowcase is just a cheap salad spinner. I disagree with her about beans being "better" than meat though.

I would add: check your receipts to make sure you got your sale prices and coupons rung up properly.

[Mom2-3]

Interesting article. Thanks for the read

I've never thought of using cottage cheese to stretch hamburger meat. We have always used crushed beans and/or oatmeal. I can get 6 nice sized burgers from 1 lb of meat.

[frugalwarrior2]

Last year i would have said i agreed w/ the 7 tips but this year I disagree w/ all of them. The diff.= coupons
-warehouse clubs are not cheaper because if you buy smaller packages and have multiple coupons (from buying multiple paper or trading) you can save more. I will not renew my membership this time.

Generics-There are diff. in the items mentioned (bleach has a tinge coloring to it w/ generics. I have irony well water and you can SEE a diff.) If you use coupons w/ sale name brand is cheaper and you have a company to complain to if the product doesn't measure up.

Lists-only buy what is on your list is bad advice. If you have a coupon file,carry it w/ you and snag closeouts and markdowns while adding coupons to the subtractions. You also can run into unadvertised managers specials. ( bought 40# of ground beef at .79# still frozen @ Kroger last year.)

Salvage store are not avail. in my area. You also must be careful where they are dinged. Do not buy canned goods w/ rim dents and peel back labels to check if the dent has breached the can.

Coupons are an excellent way to try new products. Just be smart and pair them w/ a sale.

The rest of the tips are good although not new. Well,maybe if gramdma is still alive. Us next generation back have Depression era parents. I was raised on stuff like- Put an appple in the cookies to keep them moist or put a pan of water in front of the register to keep a room moist (no room or furnace humidifier needed) or cucumber slices repel ants.

I guess i mentally divide these tips into tiers. News articles-1st tier,FV followers -2nd tier,Grandma(depression era adult) third tier.

[Grainlady]

-They forgot the BEST way to save on groceries is to have a set amount of money - PERIOD - and sticking to that amount.

-Use everything. Wasted food is the most expensive you'll buy. When I was "doing" the Macrobiotic diet I learned to save all the vegetable parings, limp outside leaves of lettuce/cabbage, the skins of peeled onions, etc., accumulate them for a few days in a zip-lock bag in the refrigerator, and made a small amount of vegetable broth out of them (make sure you thoroughly wash all produce before using). In Macrobiotics we consumed 1 or 2 bowls of soup every day. Using the vegetable broth, you can toss in some leftover cooked grains or beans, seaweed (especially wakame or kombu), leftover cooked or raw veggies, spices, etc. It's something new everytime you make it.

Make over-ripe fruit into fruit leather (with your dehydrator). You can also make vegetable leather. Fruit leather can be made into fruit sauces, or used as a snack, and vegetable leather can be added to soup/stew/chili/casseroles... Don't waste that produce, dehydrate it!

-How many people throw away the leafy ends of celery? Dry celery leaves - lay on a cookie sheet lined with a white paper towel or parchment paper and put it in the oven with the light on, or on the top of your refrigerator (towards the back). Any where it can quickly dry. Use them much like you would dried parsley.

-AVOID the Standard American Diet - junk-food, soft drinks, high-processed foods that come in a can/box/bag.

-Another way to save on the grocery bill is to keep in mind what a SERVING SIZE is and to know how many servings of something you need for a day. Unbridled eating is a total waste of money.

-Feeding young children adult-sized portions that get tossed in the trash is a waste. Make mini-muffins for children, not regular size ones. I also made tiny dinner rolls for kids or serve them 1/4-1/2 a slice of bread. A little rule of thumb, if the child is 1/4 your size, then serve them foods that are 1/4 the size of an adult serving.

-If produce is sold by the single item (i.e. watermelon or cantaloupe) for one price, purchase the largest one/s. If produce is sold by the pound (i.e. bananas) purchase the largest number of them per pound. For instance, one banana is generally considered a serving. When you purchase bananas by the pound, get small bananas so you'll get more "servings" per pound.

-Use dried onions or dried garlic powder when fresh are expensive. Sacrilegious to some, budget-wise to others.

-Instead of buying lettuce, grow your own leaf lettuce, spinach, and other greens. You'd be surprised how much you can grow in a flower pot in a sunny south window.

-Are beans really a cheaper source of protein than meat? Not when you consider the BV of beans and meat. The Biological Value (BV) is a scale of measurement used to determine what percentage of a given nutrient source is utilized by the body. In short - BV refers to how well and how quickly your body can actually use the protein you consume.

On a scale of 100 where whey protein is 100-150 and whole eggs are 100, both of these foods would be a better protein bargain than beans because you get more protein for your $.

Beans rank 34 (which is the same as white potatoes), which is towards the end of the protein rating scale. Lean beef - 81, chicken/turkey are 79, fish-70, milk-91...

And don't forget foods like nuts, beans, seeds, grains are an incomplete protein. But saying all this, I still use a large percentage of grains/seeds/beans/nuts in our diet for a lot of reasons, as well as the non-meat boost in protein they add to the diet.

I also keep meat prices to no more than $2/pound, AND I spend no more than $10/week for meat (for 2 adults).

[frugalwarrior2]

Grainlady-tier #4.lol thx.

[Ceashels]

Grainlady-tier #4.lol thx.

rofl

exactly. She is made of awesome!

[frugalwarrior2]

ceashel-I always find her posts overwhelming because she knows SO much. She is one of the few women that could have given my Dgrandma a run for her money. And thats saying something.

[bumplett]

Thanks all!

GL, you amaze me, as always

[Grainlady]

You guys crack me up (in a good way) and give me WAY too much credit (LOL). I spend an awful lot of time studying these subjects, have had a lot of years of practice at being frugal, and I have lots of years under my belt teaching much of what I share. But many thanks for your kind words. I had a dear friend tell me years ago that knowledge isn't knowledge until you share it...

[AmyBoz]

Thanks for sharing!

Whether or not we agree with all of them, I think it's always helpful to read these types of articles to keep our own ideas of what is frugal in the forefront of our minds.

They are like a little, mental tickle file!

[MomsaBasketCase]

Great thread!

I had to laugh at weighing the produce...I always weigh potatoes and apples, etc. I get some funny looks but I almost always end up with an extra 1/2 to 1lb of food.