price per ounce

Inflation Sucks: Stretching your Grocery Budget

Abby H.

Inflation is taking its toll across the board. Wherever you look, prices are going up, up, up.

It’s horrible because Cost of Living increases are not keeping up, so we are working as hard as ever, and our money is buying less.

Depressing to say the least. Here are some ways to stretch your money further and keep your family fed. And this is all practical stuff, I’m not going to tell you to grow a garden or dumpster dive. If you want to do those things, by all means, go ahead.

  • Take advantage of local food distributions. I post information about them each month for locations in San Diego County. Here is the list for February 2022.
  • Inventory your Pantry, Fridge, and Freezer. Knowing what you already have is a good first step. Here is a link to my Inventory Sheets on Canva.
  • Go Meatless 1-3 times a week. Meat is getting crazy expensive, and there are so many tasty, meatless meals out there. I’ll be doing a meatless recipe round-up later this week.
  • When cooking meat, add additional protein to your meals by incorporating lentils or beans into your recipes. I love adding in a can of drained/rinsed kidney or black beans when I make ground beef tacos. I use 1 15-ish ounce can per 1/2 lb of ground meat.
  • If beans and lentils aren’t your jam, bulk up meals with rice, noodles (I love the protein noodles), or a grain like quinoa (which is also high in protein).
  • Bulk up meals with fruits and veggies. Canned, frozen, or fresh- whichever is in your budget. Stores like 99 cents only and Grocery Outlet have great deals on fresh and frozen produce.
  • If you have kids in school, take advantage of free breakfasts and lunches. In California, there will be free lunches for school-aged children permanently. Other states have similar programs.

 

Buying in Bulk: Real Savings (without food waste)

Abby H.1 Comment

I’m sure by now that you know one of my major pet peeves is food waste. That’s why buying in bulk can be such a dangerous proposition. If you can’t use up all of something before it goes bad and you have to throw it away, that’s the same as throwing away money.

One of the ways we save money is by purchasing cheese in bulk. I buy the pre-shredded cheese. There are a few reasons.

  1. I love cheese. I will eat an entire pound block of cheese in a few days. However, I have never sat down and ate pre-shredded cheese straight from the bag.
  2. I don’t own a cheese grater. I don’t want to own a cheese grater. I don’t own a food processor. I don’t want one. I’m not a huge kitchen gadget fan.
  3. For me, it’s a trade off. I would rather pay a few more cents per ounce for the convenience of shredded cheese. My time is worth a few cents per ounce.

IMG_3214Once I’m home from the store, I set up my cheese packaging station. All you need is a stack of ziploc bags, a glass, a salad plate, and a measuring cup. (stack of bags not shown in this photo)

I measure my cheese out into 2 cup packages. That’s the size of most grocery store sized bags of shredded cheese.  I keep 1-2 bags of each kind of cheese in the fridge, and the rest of the bags go into the freezer. Yes, you can freeze cheese.

IMG_3215Put the bag into the cup and wrap the top of the bag (the part with the zip top) over the mouth of the cup. Using the measuring cup, measure however much cheese you plan to store per bag.

After my last trip to Smart & Final, I came home with a 4 lb bag of Mozzarella, and a 5 lb bag of cheddar.

I ended up up with 6 2 cup bags of Mozzarella, and a little left over, and 9 2 cup bags of Cheddar with a little leftover. I used the leftover cheeses to top a pizza. It was a little under 2 cups with both leftover cheeses combined.

IMG_3213Trying to figure out if this is a good deal? Let’s do some math…

The same brand of cheddar cheese in a 2 cup bag at Smart & Final is $2.59.

The 5 lb bag of cheddar cheese was $12.49, and it contained roughly 19 cups of cheese. That makes each cup of cheese .66, making each zip loc bag of cheese containing 2 cups of cheese $1.32. That’s a savings of $1.27 per bag over the pre-measured zip-top bag. When I’m not sure which is a better deal while I’m in the store, I check the price per ounce on the shelf label. Here are two examples of a shelf tag that shows the price per ounce for two separate products (Uncle Ben’s Rice and Carnation Instant Breakfast).

priceperounce

 

Different stores have different shelf tags, so it may take you a few minutes to decipher each stores tags.

Now you have to factor in the cost of the ziploc bags. We re-use our cheese bags, so after they are empty, I wipe them out, put them inside another bag (marked “for cheese”) and stash them in a drawer. I buy ziploc bags en masse when they are on sale. I don’t always re-use bags, but I try to as often as I can.

There you have it. Shopping smartly, taking advantage of a good deal, and how to store your food with little to no waste. That’s what being a savvy shopper is all about. 

 

The Pricebook: A Frugal Shoppers Best Friend!

Abby H.6 Comments

One thing that I get asked a lot when I’m shopping (besides, “Where’d you get all those coupons!”) is, “What’s that’s little book?” The Answer: It’s my price book! It’s a little spiral bound notebook, like this one.

Screen Shot 2015-03-27 at 11.42.40 AM A price book is a list of the items you use and the prices they sell for in the stores in your area.

It is a perfect tool for tracking price per ounce, which will help you determine the best price. Prices in a price book should be listed by cost per unit so you can easily compare different size packages from different stores. Your price book is a great tool to help you determine if a sale is really a deal.

Your price book can be as complex or as easy as you want it to be. You can calculate price per unit, or just list the regular price of each item at each of the stores you visit in your area.

If you have an iPhone or other smartphone, there are several apps available for purchase that take the guess work out if it.  If you are computer savvy, you can do a price book in Excel and print a copy when you go to shop. There are several available for download free on the Internet.  Google search “Excel Price Book download”.

Your price book can be as simple or as complex and you want it to be.  If you are new to the concept of prices books, you may wish to add as much detail as possible, to track your savings to the penny.

Basic information for every price book should include:

  • Date (you can date the top of each page or note it somewhere within the columns)
  • The brand– i.e. Hunt’s
  • The item– i.e. stewed tomatoes
  • Size -in ounces or pounds, however the item is listed on the container (i.e. 14.5oz, 2 lbs.)
  • Price- for the entire package. i.e. $1.89

Name of store– This is helpful if you are trying to find the cheapest price for an item within a range of stores.  Is deodorant really cheaper at the grocery store, Target or CVS in your area?  Start price book and find out!

Because of my price book, I know the cheapest place to get bananas is 99 Cents Only: .49/lb all the time! We eat about 2-3 lbs of bananas per week. Most grocery stores charge .69-.79/lb for bananas. By buying the least expensive bananas each week I am saving approximately $30.00/year. That’s just on one item we shop for each week!

Additional info:

  • Sale price (if any)
  • Date of sale (if any)

Listing sale information may assist you in tracking when sales occur, and plan your shopping trips throughout the year.  Knowing when to stock up on specific items may save you a couple hundred dollars a year.

Your price book will help you determine if that 50-gallon drum of yogurt at Costco is a better deal than the 32-ounce tub from the supermarket. Not all bulk purchases are a better deal.

I have a sheet in my price book for each store that I shop at. One page is for food items, and the second is for HBA/toiletries. I tend not to buy toiletries at Costco, as they are generally NOT a good deal.

My grocery stores include: Albertsons, Costco (so I can determine what is a good deal), 99 Cents Only, Wal-Mart, and Target.

I update my price books once a quarter.  When it’s time to update, I take a little extra time when I visit each store and just double check prices and sizes. Sometimes the size of the product changes too.

Here are some websites that talk about price books and give examples: