Category Archives: Groceries

15 Ways to Wreck Your Food Budget

15 ways to wreck your food budget - tips for saving money

Learning to manage your food budget is one of the fastest ways to start turning around your family household budget. We see so many families practice grocery shopping habits that drive their food costs through the roof.

If you’ve never been shown how to master the art of food shopping and meal prep, don’t feel bad.

It’s a much easier game to learn than you realize.

Take the Quiz and See How You Do

Put a checkmark next to any statement that describes something you’ve said or done in the past six months:

 1) I go to the store several times each week.

Going to the … Read more »

Organic Food on a Budget: 12 Secrets to Save Money and Eat Healthily

Organic Food On A Budget #OrganicFoodSavings #OrganicOnABudget #SaveMoneyOnGroceries

Are you looking for ways to eat healthier organic food on a budget? Have you ever asked, “How can I save money on organic food?”

We are always asked about how to save money on organics every time we do a grocery seminar or take phone calls during a radio interview on grocery savings.

Why Does Organic Food Usually Cost More?

Organic food products, on average, cost 50 percent more than standard foods. But you could end up spending 100 percent more, especially on dairy products and meat.

According to Fox … Read more »

Use a Crockpot for a Year and Save $3400!

Crockpot Savings - Use a Slow Cooker for a year and Save $3400

Using a crockpot for a year could save you a ton of money. But even if you used it just a few days each week, it could still save you more money than you ever imagined.  We’ll show you how this works and give you some other tips too.

This is the third of a 5-part Kitchen Tools series that will empower you to save thousands of dollars on your food budget.

What’s at stake when it comes to feeding a family?

When it comes to feeding a family, there is a lot of money at stake. The average family is spending $200 … Read more »

Pack a Lunch in Glass Bowls: How I Saved $40,000 Bringing My Lunch

Here's a lunch time hack that could save you $1000 per year?

If you pack a lunch consistently you’ll be surprised how much money you can save.

Glass Bowls Provide Lunch Values

Having Glass Bowls so you can bring leftovers for lunch, is the second of our Kitchen Tools series. It will empower you to save thousands of dollars on your food budget.

Why glass bowls?  When it comes to feeding a family, there is a lot of money at stake. The average family spends $270 per person each month on groceries. That means that a family of four will spend nearly $13,000 on food this year! And using glass bowls for lunch can help … Read more »

What is a Spoonula and How Can It Save You Money? Kitchen Tool #1

Clean up in your kitchen by using SpoonULas, they save time and money.

If you’ve never heard of a spoonula, hang on because you’re going to love it. In this article, we’ll tell you what a spoonula is and how it can save you money and we’ll introduce our kitchen tool series.

5 Kitchen Tools That Will Save $6000 #1 Spoonula

Saving money on groceries could revolutionize your family budget! Really, it’s no hype. And kitchen tools such as a spoonula, can certainly help save time and money!

As a matter of fact, there are dozens of simple strategies that can cut your grocery bill in half without clipping a single coupon. But, instead of shopping … Read more »

14 Cheap, Easy & Quick Snacks for Kids—Homemade & Store Bought

12 inexpensive and healthy snacks for kids.

Are you looking for some more affordable or cheap snacks for kids? This list of 14 different easy-to-serve snack foods should do the trick. Some are homemade and others are store-bought, but all are inexpensive.

These snack options have been time-tested with our five kids and should do well for your family.

Do you ever feel like you’re feeding a bottomless pit?We’re talking about those kids or teens with “hollow legs.”

Remember when they were babies and we fed them every two hours?  Well, the two-hour feedings start all over again in the pre-teen and teen years.

You want to provide nutritious and healthy snacking … Read more »

6 Reasons Why Eggs Are So Expensive? Where to Find Cheap Eggs

Why Eggs Cost So Much and How to Buy them Cheaper

Are you wondering how to save money on eggs? In the past 12 months, egg prices have shot through the roof! And we’re getting asked regularly by friends and media people, “Why are eggs so expensive and how can I get eggs for less?”

In Arizona, we’ve seen prices as high as $10 per dozen.

Are you wondering how you can still eat eggs without going broke? Or are you wanting to find ways to still have eggs in your weekly menu, but stretch them further? Or do you want to reduce the number of eggs in a variety of … Read more »

18 Grocery Stores that Offer Senior Discounts

Grocery Stores with Senior Discounts - Woman selecting fruits and veggies

Are you wondering which grocery stores offer senior discounts in your area? Do you know which days and what ages qualify for the senior discount?

Grocery shopping can be one expense that is difficult to trim down. Luckily, there are many ways to cut back on your grocery costs.

With the use of store sales and coupons, you can dramatically reduce this line item in your budget. However, these money-saving grocery tips can be even more powerful if you are able to combine them with a senior discount. 

Watch the video at … Read more »

Surviving Grocery Inflation! How to Shop Smarter and Save When Prices Skyrocket

Grocery Store produce in wooden crates.

The price of groceries is constantly changing. But how do you survive when grocery inflation drives the price of groceries in your area through the roof? Or how do you adjust when you have changes in your family size?

A Reader Asks about Grocery Inflation and Our Grocery Budget

I have all three of your books, and in your grocery book, you said that your grocery budget was around $350 per month. But as I’ve listened to interviews and your videos on YouTube, I have heard you say that your monthly grocery budget increased. Would you mind detailing … Read more »

Expired Meat: How Long Is Meat Good For After Expiration Date?

Is Expired Meat Dangerous or a Deal?

Are you concerned about food expiration dates on meat? Want to see people question your sanity? Just mention that you often purchase expired meat or meat that is going out of code.

“Code” refers to the date placed by a grocer or manufacturer on a grocery item revealing its use-by, sell-by, or freeze-by date.

We did an interview on ABC’s 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas. When she saw a video clip of Steve selecting some discounted ham in a grocery store, she was puzzled.

She said, “You are picking up bargains on items most of us would avoid, like expiring meat.”

She continued, “Most … Read more »

Thanksgiving Grocery Sales & Deals: Discount Food to Stock Up On!

Thanksgiving Stock Ups - A Great Time to Capture Sales on Grocery Food Items!

Are you looking for Thanksgiving Grocery Deals? You’ve come to the right place. It’s time to stock your pantry and freezer!

Even with prices soaring due to inflation and supply chain issues, we’re still seeing some loss leaders and great sales.

Buying up Thanksgiving grocery deals is a great way to save money and make those savings last for several months.

Get Those Holiday Loss Leaders

Grocery retailers will be featuring loss-leaders on many of the trimmings for your Thanksgiving meal. This means they put a lot of food items on sale, to lure you into their grocery chain store for shopping.

There is … Read more »

Grocery Store Sales Cycles: How to Save a Ton Of Money Stocking up with Holiday and Monthly Deals

Grocery Store Sales Cycles - brown grocery bags stacked on the floor and counter full of sale items.

Knowing the Grocery Store Sales Cycles by month and for each holiday is a great way to save tons of money on food and to fill your pantry and freezer with bargain-priced groceries.

One of our best money-saving grocery strategies is to stock up on loss leaders around the holidays. Grocery stores drop the price of various food items each month and on each holiday to entice shoppers to come to their stores.  That’s the time we swoop in and pick up deals to last several months.

Every holiday brings an opportunity to find great bargains because most grocers put traditional foods … Read more »

Meal Planning: 6 Easy Steps to Make Tasty Menus and Save Time

Easy Meal Planning to make menus

Meal planning seems to be one of the trendiest things to be doing now. Whether you’re into weight training, catering to a specific lifestyle choice (vegan, keto, paleo, etc.), eating organic or just doing menu planning to save time—this will help you eat healthier for less.

Annette and Steve started meal-prepping more than 30 years ago to feed their growing family of seven. Annette has tried many different ways of doing meal planning and has fine-tuned it to be efficient and tasty.

What the Difference Between Meal Planning & Meal Prepping

Menu Planning and Meal Prepping are two amazing tools that will help you … Read more »

A Grocery Budget Makeover? The Easy Way to Budget for Food

A Budget Makeover with Groceries is the fastest way to find cash to improve your finances.!

If you’re looking for a Grocery Budget Makeover – start by changing how you shop for groceries.

Because most of us go to the grocery store several times each week, making a few changes in how you shop is one of the fastest ways to rehab your finances.

How can I lower my grocery bill so I can get ahead on my budget?

Question from a Free Email Newsletter Subscriber:

I want to start rehabilitating my finances which will include a grocery budget makeover for my trips to the store. So following your advice, I’m revamping my grocery shopping. I homeschool our 4 … Read more »

Grade B Eggs – How to Save on Buying Eggs at the Grocery Store

3 Ways to buy Eggs at the Grocery Store for Maximum Savings! Learn what Grade B eggs are and how they can help you save money.

Do you know what Grade B Eggs are? And do you know how Grade B Eggs can save you money?

Eggs are a regular breakfast food in our house and millions of other homes across the country. But Egg prices go up and down on a regular basis and can sometimes rise as high as $7.00 a dozen. This can put a strain on the family’s food budget, especially if you like eggs.

How to save money with Grade B Eggs

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 How to save money with Grade B Eggs2 Knowing the Egg Lifespan Can Save You MoneyRead more »

Couponing for Beginners: 5 Easy Ways to Start Saving with Coupons

Couponing for Beginners - how to save lots of money on groceries by using coupons

Are you looking for tips on couponing for beginners? Have you ever wondered how to start couponing so you can begin saving some money?

Or are you just a beginner in couponing and want to up your coupon game to save even more money?

Learning how to maximize the use of coupons is a great skill. Because the retail landscape is always changing – learning about coupons will be an unending journey.

Couponing for Beginners Quick View

There are 5 Tips to becoming successful as a beginner couponer

Start Slowly – Focus on one area at a time

Set Up Your Filing System

Organize Your Coupons … Read more »

How Long Can Fresh Store Bought Eggs Be Left Unrefrigerated?

How long can eggs last unrefrigerated?

Have you ever thought long and hard about the eggs we eat?

What About Questions Like:How long can eggs last unrefrigerated and refrigerated?

Or, “How can you tell if the eggs you have are going bad?

Does the nutritional value of an egg change as it ages?

How long can eggs be left out on the counter?

In this article, we’ll answer all these egg questions and more.

Egg Storage Around the World

One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to visit local grocery stores. I enjoy comparing the similarities and differences. In Iceland, grocery stores have a line of cookies called … Read more »

Want to have fun around the Dinner Table? Try these 11 Different Ideas!

Around the dinner table: Making Eating Together Fun. A family making pizzas for dinner together.

If you want to make eating together as a family fun, you’ll love some of the things we do around the dinner table.

The family dinner hour is going the way of the dinosaur and black & white movies. But is the desire to eat meals together an old-fashioned, outdated notion? And with today’s faster-paced, non-relational lifestyle is it even possible?

Eating meals together is a mainstay of a cohesive family unit. Without this time of connection, you could end up with a group of disconnected people just living under the same roof.

Many families aren’t able to do a sit-down family dinner … Read more »

Home Meat Slicer Uses that will Save you $500 or More

Save $500 each year by slicing the cost of lunchmeat. Find out how

There are dozens of uses for a home meat slicer and the savings you can bank are amazing. In this article, we’ll talk mainly about how much money you can save using a meat slicer to cut your own lunch meat.

With food prices soaring, we’ve got to use every strategy possible to save money!

And we’ll also share other things that we use a meat slicer for — you may be surprised.

Plus we’ll tell you how much our meat slicer cost and what you can expect to pay for a new one.

This is the fourth article of a 5 Kitchen Tools … Read more »

How to Save on Lunchmeat: Slicing A Shank Ham!

A shank ham on a cutting board.

Are you looking for ways to save money on lunch meat?

Steve wanted to see what kind of “deal” we could get on ham lunch meat if we sliced up a smoked, shank ham for our sandwiches. Could we get quality sandwich slices for less?

We bought our shank ham on sale for 97 cents a pound. Because the Smithfield ham we bought was smoked, it was ready to eat (no need to cook it.) So we’ll show you how we sliced it and let you know what our final cost was after removing the bone and fat.

In this article we’ve also … Read more »

Once A Month Bulk Cooking to Make Easy Freezer Meals

Discover the Freedom that once-a-month cooking brings to your life

Have you heard of Once-A-Month Cooking—where you prepare a month’s worth of meals in one day?

How about Bulk Cooking where you prepare large batches of several meals that are divided and stored for later? 

Or lastly, freezer meals which are essentially the same as Once-A-Month and Bulk cooking, with all meals being stored in the freezer.

Do these ideas sound impossible or just too overwhelming? We’re talking about making meals super efficiently so that you can experience Cooking Freedom! 

Well, Annette felt completely overwhelmed with the idea of Once-A-Month cooking when Steve first mentioned it to her more than 30 years ago. But … Read more »

How to Find Cheap Meat: Best prices for Beef, Pork, Ham, & Chicken

Discounted cheap meat - family sized.

Are you looking to save money and find cheap meat near your home? These strategies could save you thousands of dollars this year.

In this article, we do mention prices, but with the current inflation cycle, you’ll need to establish your own pricing table for your area of the country or world.

Putting Meat on the Table History:

Years ago, it was the man’s “job” to hunt for the meat to provide for the family. All it cost was a few days’ trudging through the forest, and some bullets or arrows. Then there was time to clean and dress the meat, a man’s … Read more »

Which Dish Soap is Cheapest & Best: Dawn, Ajax or Walmart?

Two bottles of dish soap with a ruler in front of them - Dish Soap Testing

Have you ever wondered which dish soap works best and gives you the best value for the money?

We love saving money and were wondering if we should buy the cheapest dish detergent or a more expensive one. Our curiosity finally got the best of us and we put together this test.

Have you ever thought, “Hmm, this name-brand product costs twice as much as the generic; is it twice as good? Oh, it’s all just advertising hype, there can’t be that BIG of a difference — I’m going to save the money and buy the generic.”

Well, when it came to dishwashing … Read more »

Buy Meat in Bulk Online & Easy Way to Save Money

Buy Meat in Bulk to save money/

We have always thought about buying meat in bulk online, but have never jumped in until now. We were recently introduced to The Savory Butcher and their local fresh meat deliveries.

You know that we are bargain shoppers. However, the quality and the pricing that The Savory Butcher offers really piqued our interest. This is a really great way to lock in a good price on a large quantity of quality meat. If you don’t have time to hunt for meat bargains in the traditional way, this could save you a lot of time and money.

What is Savory Butcher?

Read more »

14 New Grocery Shopping Tips to Help Survive a World-Wide Pandemic

Pandemic - Grocery tips for difficult times.

Have you been affected by grocery panic buying?

The worldwide virus has created upheaval and overload on our medical community and economy. Panic buying has hit the grocery stores and as a result, your grocery strategies will need to change.

We’re sharing multiple grocery strategies to help you survive a Flu Pandemic and Panic Buying. We’ll also help you with Stocking Up and Emergency Preparedness.

During this time of uncertainty, there will be hoarding, supply chain disruptions, fear, and shortages … in the short term. 

But if most of us can stay calm and realize that your local grocer will not run out … Read more »