Save Money on Food

Here are a few tips that Smart Money listed as part of their piece on how to save $100 a month. Today, we'll talk about their list of saving on food bills. Their suggestions:

• Convenience is overrated and overpriced, says Susan Westmoreland, food director at the Good Housekeeping Research Institute. You'll spend at least twice as much on items such as prewashed mixed greens and a jar of pasta sauce vs. a head of lettuce or the ingredients for your own marinara.

• Avoid those handy snack-sized treats.

• Go generic -- according to Consumer Reports shoppers can save up to 50% when they buy store-brand food items.

• Buy in bulk.

• Bring your lunch to work.

My thoughts on these:

1. I think you need to pick and choose when you're going to pay for convenience. I wouldn't advocate doing it all the time, certainly, but there are times when it's worth paying more to save a bit of time. Case in point: we were shopping this weekend and were in a superstore to buy shoes. My wife mentioned that we also needed milk, so I said we should get it there. She was aghast that I'd pay full price for milk, but I would have rather paid for it there instead of saving $0.70 by going and buying it at another store. It was worth it for me to save the time.

2. This is really the same tip as #4 in my book -- buy in bulk -- just positioned a different way. We buy stuff in bulk all the time -- we're big shoppers at Costco. Not only can you save a ton (usually -- not always -- read Money Saving Tip: Calculate the "Per Use" Cost for details) by buying larger sizes there -- but you can also save on meal expenses by eating the free samples they give out.

3. We buy generic all the time. Most stores have a "you'll like it or you can return it" policy that makes trying generic food products easy and no-risk. BTW, this tip works well with non-food items too.

4. See #2 above.

5. Bringing your lunch to work is a great way to save money (and time)! I'm eating my lunch as I type this post. ;-)

Comments

[Foobarista]

Some of mine:

Check out ethnic stores. My wife buys some spices at a Korean grocery store; their prices are sometimes 1/10 the price at Safeway. She also buys lots of vegetables and fish at the nearby Chinese supermarket - the prices there are both lower and the quality is better than the chains.

Read grocery stores and junk mail: if you happen to see a loss leader that is something you'd otherwise use, buy it.

[Melinda]

Point to be Noted...By everyone in the world!