A Series to Saving $$$
It has recently come to my attention that I spend way too much money. I think about how I used to live in college and that I may actually have had more money when I made 13k a year than I do now that I make significantly more than that. So I am cutting corner and changing habits. My ode to saving money begins now.
My first tip
Shop the clearance / day old section of the grocery store. Now this is not the clearance aisle with the signs over it that says bargains with an obnoxiously large exclamation point. This is the tucked away section in the corner usually by a storage area that has items that are about to expire or have been returned for some reason. It isn’t the prettiest area but it is the most economical. Just about everything is at least 50% off if not 75% and all for products that are either on the brink of expiration which is not a problem if you know you plan to use it soon or products that have been returned.
For the about the expire products there are two kinds in the grocery world it seems; perishables and non perishables.
The perishables are going to expire within a day or two so your meal planning better revolve around that. Or and here is a novel tip … freeze it. You can freeze so many things, cheese, lunchmeat, bread, meat the list goes on and on. Or if you have some time to yourself after the kids go to bed. Instead of drinking that glass of wine on the couch, drink it while making some easily freezable meals. That way you can cook the about to expire produce but still freeze it and use it up to 6 months later.
The second is non-perishables, now obviously everything has a shelf life, so everything “goes bad” at some point. Typically they will move items to the clearance rack in bulk because they receive it that way and its all dated to expire on the same day so you have an opportunity to stock up on some things if you find a good deal. They will move it when there is between 6 months and 1 month left before it would expire. For example, when my son was very young a grocery store had formula on sale becuase it was going to “go bad” in 6 months. The sale was 2 for $10 which was 50% off and then I had the manufacturers coupons which were $5 a piece which made the formula free. I ended up nursing for quite a while and actually didn’t need the formula so I just gave it away. This story is just one of dozens it just happens to be my highest dollar savings one. My point is non perishables will sit in this clearance section at 50% to 75% off for weeks and if its something that you can use, then just bump it up on the priority list and make it happen. You’ll save a ton I promise. Finally there are the returned items. The returned items are usually toilette paper, paper towels, pet food or cat litter that for whatever reason was purchsed opened and returned. I will frequently buy paper towells that have one roll missing at half the cost. I’m only losing one roll and they are priced as if half of them are gone. Couple that with a dollar off coupon and I’m feeling pretty good about myself. Same thing with cat liter, do I care if my cat litter box is open? NO … my cat shits in it, what could someone have possibly done to it.
Finally, the day old bread is great, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. It’s great to use for dinner that night or the night after or you can freeze it and use it whenever you want it will taste just as good after its thawed. Again its 50% off, and there is nothing wrong with it other than it was baked 24 hours ago. If I baked a loaf of bread at my house it would sit on my counter until it was moldy so I certainly have no problem stocking up on good day old bread.
Hopefully my husband who is one of my two and a half readers isn’t too appalled by my thriftiness. Don’t worry hunny I’m not buying returned and expired cream for your coffee ….
