Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
Learn how to maximize your savings with grocery store discounts. Find out how to save money on your grocery bill with smart shopping strategies.
Grocery Store Discounts Are Yours To Discover
If you find it amazing what you can save money on when you’re not looking, imagine the savings you’d see if you were.
We often ask, “How do you eat so well on a tight budget of $265 a month?” I reply with budgeting, flyer savings, coupon savings apps, and grocery store discounts.
Ask me that same question back in 2012, and I would have told you we were extreme couponers and deal seekers, but times have changed.
We went from using thousands of dollars in paper coupons yearly to $15.35 in 2016.
Today, our savings plan is far more balanced than it used to be.
Now, we take the grocery store discounts approach paired with eating less, using coupons, applying coupon app savings and rewards points, etc.
Back then, rewards point programs were ramping up outside of the credit card world, which gave Air Miles a run for their program.
It became clear that consumers wanted to be rewarded for being loyal customers.
The war of rewards programs began and quickly evolved into which company could rope in the most customers—no horse is required.
Related: Where can I find coupons in Canada?
The lucrative coupon deals are still out there, but far, few of them compared to what we used to get. This is why we should never depend on one source of savings.
I probably shouldn’t give all of our grocery secrets away, but I want you to save money like we do so you can pay down debt and take some of the financial stress off your mind.
Never Pass Up A Good Deal If You Need It
No matter what anyone thinks, even when you become debt-free, there is always another bill to pay or save up for.
It never ends. It only becomes more accessible to deal with.
I suppose that’s well-earned freedom even though it may take years for one person and very little time for another to reach their destination.
We all lead different lifestyles and earn different amounts of money, yet we still have to pay for shelter, food, utility bills, retirement, etc.
Believe it or not, many people spend far too much money at the grocery store every week.
Either because they don’t plan their shopping trip or don’t want to make sacrifices to lower their food budget.
We were in debt too once, suffered setbacks (some of which you don’t know about), and survived the storm.
It would be best to make sacrifices when dealing with money, whether at the grocery store, utility usage, shopping trips, etc.
Work To Make Your Money Worth It
Saving money boils down to whether someone is doing everything possible to make their money work for them.
You work hard to earn your money, and once you have it, your money expects you to work even harder to grow it.
Nobody likes to think of their income as “In one door out the other” because that’s depressing.
When someone lives pay to pay, it becomes harder to focus on the end goal: financial freedom.
It can happen, but without a grocery reduction plan, you unthinkingly spend more money than you should.
Each time we go grocery shopping with a friend, they seem shocked at how Mrs.CBB and I attack the grocery store with a toddler.
I remember Mrs. CBB and I laughing after she got home from grocery shopping with her friend.
Her friend kept repeating, “You need to teach me how to save as you do,” when she started to see the grocery store discounts.
The problem is that we are not conditioned to shop for reduced products or grocery store discounts.
A grocery store is meant to get groceries that possibly are on sale and then cash out.
We’re like the CBB food army on a mission to cut costs and eat healthy on a tight budget.
Can we afford to spend more on groceries?
Of course, we can; however, why change a good thing?
Besides, we are more than happy with our food choices and don’t need much more.
It’s also hard to return to spending money on products you know you can typically find grocery store discounts on.
This is our way to protect our family’s liquid assets so we can build wealth and leave those naysayers behind.
Money Saved Is Money Earned
I care about my blog readers, and although I don’t know any of you personally, I want you to save money. Ultimately, it’s not my grocery game.
I applaud and support you, but what happens is your decision.
We all need someone to lean on, especially without support in close circles.
One of the worst things consumers can do is mirror what others do to save money.
The idea is not to copy what they do but to learn to adopt the same mindset.
That’s like saying if person A lost 10 pounds eating cabbage soup all week, that person B will lose the same amount.
This is likely not the case, as we all have different bodies and needs.
I can’t tell you that because our weekly grocery budget is $65 where we live, you can save the same amount of money by purchasing the same products where you live.
It doesn’t always work that way.
What you can do is ask, HOW?
How can I learn to shop like you do?
Our Grocery Budget Can’t Be Your Budget
The premise is to get out there and understand how the grocery system works and apply it to your personal or family needs.
Related: How to grocery shop
If you have debt, you must wake up to the longer you wait to pay it off, the longer you stay in debt.
That reads a bit obvious, but some of you continue to make excuses, and you know it’s not helping your debt situation.
It might upset you to hear that, but there is an end or middle-ground if you believe and set guidelines for yourself.
You’ll also feel a million times better when you have a solid plan to back up your debt repayment.
How To Spot Grocery Store Discounts
What are grocery store discounts?
These are products that the grocery store reduces, marks down, or offers a promotional code for because they want to move the product out fast.
That means you may often find lucrative deals in almost every department if you hit it at the right time with patience and eagle eyes.
That $511 might not seem like lots of money, but saving almost $50 monthly to eat some of our high-end foods is fantastic.
With grocery store discounts applied, we would never pay full or a sale price for most of our products.
The CBB Family Spots Grocery Store Discounts
Below is how we approach the grocery store to shop and save.
Check Surroundings
The first thing we do when entering a grocery store is to semi-tune everyone around us.
We don’t listen to music, watch people work, and limit chatting to other people. (this slows us down or sets us off track).
Focus On Prices, Tags, and Expiry Dates
Price scanning with our eyes is critical from the moment we walk through the grocery store doors, as products are typically waiting in the grocery cart pick-up area.
Keep focused on price tags, name tags, discount stickers, reduced products, clearance tags, and expiry dates.
You might even spot products coming due in a day or two and can ask for grocery store discounts to be applied.
Communicate When Needed
The only time we come up for air (I’m alive) is when we stand in line to cash out or need to talk to each other.
Then, we regain focus when we are cashing out because this is where so many savings are lost due to scanning issues, wrong product identification, double scans, etc.
Split Up The Tasks
We don’t grocery shop for fun and prefer to get in and get out.
Our game plan consists of splitting up but staying within earshot to communicate about purchases if we find grocery store discounts.
For example, I found a bucket of ricotta for 50% off; it was already on sale.
I know we love ricotta cheese, and although it wasn’t on our weekly meal plan, we decided to remove cottage cheese and replace it with ricotta.
The cottage cheese was on sale but cost more than the ricotta cheese.
Knowing the food substitutions you enjoy will get you far with your food budget.
Follow The Permiter First
Avoiding the main aisles as much as possible helps us to focus on perimeter grocery store discounts.
One supermarket we visited out of town had a room just for grocery store discounts.
It was great but wasn’t the only available grocery store discount.
You have to look and don’t always assume they will be in the same spot every week.
Search High And Low
Look up, look down, and dig around to find the best grocery store discounts.
I once found bacon on sale for $2.99, and when I moved a few, there were loads with 50% off stickers.
Yep, we stocked up.
Top Grocery Store Discounts
Last year, we found many grocery store discounts, although some were better than others. Below are the best places to look for grocery store discounts when shopping.
- It’s easy to find discounts in the meat department as there are always packages with grocery store discounts applied. A large chunk of our savings came from the meat department.
- The produce department was a huge savings for us as many of our grocery store discounts are based on the reduced rack. Almost every store has one, so go straight to it before you even shop in the produce section.
- The dairy department had plenty of 50% off free-range eggs, yogurt, cream cheese, milk, and ice cream. Dairy only lasts so long before it has to be marked down or thrown away. Catch these huge savings.
- Other departments- The rest of our grocery store discounts came from random grocery sections. We found cereal reduced, deli cheese, deli meats, salami, expensive hard cheese, etc. There are always boxed items, but we limit what we purchase to spend more on the above.
Also, don’t forget to check the FlashFood App before you head to Zehrs, No Frills, and see if they have any deep-discounted products.
You can read my full FlashFood Review and get a $5 sign-up bonus using my code!
Every Dollar Adds Up At The End Of The Day
The moral of our $511 yearly savings on grocery store discounts is that if you want to save money, you have to be focused and look for the deals.
These same mindsets can be applied to your monthly budget.
If you aren’t paying attention to each category as you should be, you could easily miss opportunities or make mistakes.
Grocery shopping wasn’t designed to be a fun family day as it’s a mere excursion to fill a shopping cart with food to satisfy your tummy and steal all your money.
However, now that we are parents, going to the grocery store fits into our family time and has become a learning ground for our son.
Fight the urge to spend money on products you don’t need and focus on foods that will help stretch your budget and encourage healthy eating habits.
Oh, and that extra $500 we saved is growing nicely in our retirement savings funds.
Discussion Question: How do you decide whether to purchase products with grocery store discounts applied if you already have a meal plan set out?
Please leave your comments below.
Mr. CBB
February Grocery Game Challenge
Update: The Grocery Game is no longer played on CBB.
Join the 2017 Grocery Game Challenge (GGC) fun and post about your grocery shop in the comment section of each GGC blog post.
February 2017 Blog Posts:
- 25 Popular Hotel Food Ideas To Save You Money #4
- 7 Money Smart Shopping Trip Essentials You Need #1 February
- 6 Grocery Budget Sacrifices Of A Frugal Shopper #2 February
Food Basics
- 2 x 4L 2% Milk Sealtest $4.27
- Old El Paso Salsa $2.99 large jar
- Splenda sweetener $1.99
- 1lb ground chicken sale $2.99
- 2 x regular bacon Selections Sale $2.97 each
- Two seedless cucumbers $1.98 (ouch)
- 2x Yellow onions $0.88 each
- Bananas $1.37
- 2 x bags of whole almonds 227g sale $2.88 each
- 2 x cauliflower sale $1.88 each
- Fuji Apples Sale $0.88lb $3.54
- 2 x 5pk Hass avocado sale $2.44 each
- Selection sour cream sale $1.49
- 2 x dozen omega three eggs sale for $2.44 each
- Astro Yogurt coconut sale $2.49
Total Out-Of-Pocket $ 46.18
Monthly Grocery Expenses
- Total to spend this month: $260
- Stockpile budget 2016: $25.00
- Stockpile budget used this month: $23.95
- Total coupons used this week: $0
- Total coupons used to date: $0
- Total in-store discounts this week: $0
- Total in-store discounts to date: $49.66
- Total spent this week: $46.18
- Total spent so far this month: $184.55
- Total over/Under spend this shop: under
- Total over/Under spend for the month: under
- Total left to spend for the month: $75.45
- Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $231.06+Feb $
Weekly Overview
This wasn’t the best shop for us as we didn’t find many deals.
The produce section had 3 carts of vegetables and fruits but nothing we needed.
Typically, we find the best meat and cheese deals at Zehrs and occasionally produce at Food Basics and Metro.
Mr. CBB
FEBRUARY – Week #2 of 4- Feb 13-19, 2017
2016 GROCERY BUDGET / STOCKPILE BUDGET AND US RESERVE:
•Total Grocery Budgeted For Year: $190.00 x 12 = $2,280.00 for 2 adults
==============================================================================================
REMARKS FOR THE MONTH:
Ouch…I went a little crazy with the shopping last week! As a result, I will be skipping the shopping on the Canadian side of the border this week. I mean really, who has room in the fridges?
The plan for the month is now:
MASSIVE SHOPPING WEEK + 🙁
NO SHOP WEEK +
LOW SHOP WEEK +
NO SHOP WEEK AGAIN
I am sure the $33.68 remaining in our budget will be more than enough since we will have an enormous number of incredibly yummy leftovers to use up as a result of all the celebrating this week.
REMARKS FOR THE WEEK:
The dinners I have planned for this week are:
(1) Slow Cooker Zuppa Toscano, Olive Garden Green Salad & fresh baked croissants with olive oil & balsamic vinegar for our dipping pleasure, (2) Strawberry/Marmalade French Toast with a side of coleslaw for our Valentine’s dinner at home…sweets for my sweetie, (3) Homemade Chicken Rice-A-Roni + Roasted Carrots, Red Peppers, Snow Peas, Sugar Peas, & Onions, (4) Slow Cooker Swedish Meatballs with Garlic Parmesan Wedges, Corn Niblets (for hubby) and Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (for me), (5) Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup and Kathleen’s Cottage Cheese Pancakes (6) Leftover Slow Cooker Chuckwagon Chili with garlic bread & coleslaw, (7) Chicken Florentine Casserole with a side of Steamer Veggies.
I am also offering the following desserts this week if your sweet tooth is calling to you:
(A) Leftover Butterscotch Confetti Squares, (B) Date Loaf (C) Apples (Red Delicious, Granny Smith or Gala), Lemons or Limes or (D) Leftover Christmas candies, chocolates and cookies.
==============================================================================================
OUR “CANADIAN” SHOPPING:
OUR NEXT SHOP WILL BE IN WEEK #3
==============================================================================================
OUR “US RESERVE” SHOPPING:
OUR NEXT USA SHOP POSTPONED TO MARCH 12th!
==============================================================================================
2016 Y-T-D GROCERY SAVINGS:
•Total Loyalty Card Price Reductions This Year: $28.56
•Total Coupons/Rain Checks Used This Year: $0.00
•Total Price Match Savings Used This Year: $0.00
•Total More Points Earned This Year: 33 Points
•Total Air Miles Earned This Year: 21 Air Miles
•Total PC PLUS Points Earned This Year: 2,600 Points
•Total Optimum Points Earned This Year: 4,040 Points
==============================================================================================
• SUMMARY OF FUNDS Y-T-D:
$ 380.00 Grocery Budget JAN-FEB
($ 78.80) NET RESERVE TRANSFERS
($209.08) Actual CASH SPENT
$ 33.68 AVAILABLE Y-T-D GGC SPENDING NOT INCL RESERVES
• RESERVES Y-T-D:
$ 137.54 Freezer Re-Stocking Fund
$ 95.70 Holiday Season Fund + $160 RCSS POINTS + $10 Dream Air Miles.
$ 653.54 Summer Season Fund
$ 466.46 US Shopping Reserve
$ 0.00 Points Redeemed Reserve
OUR CURRENT TOTAL UNUSED RESERVES ARE $1,353.24. This means the $1,274.44 that we carried forward from 2016 PLUS AN ADDITIONAL $192.43 that we have added in 2017, LESS $113.63 that we have drawn out for use in 2017.
==============================================================================================
Hi Mary,
No pot of coffee on for you this week, but that’s a good thing I think. 🙂
Are Butterscotch Confetti Squares made with marshmallows? I vaguely remember a friend of ours who made something that was very sweet and called it Butterscotch Confetti.
I love how optimistic you are about your No Shop week and the money you have left to spend for the month. If only every month was like this, right? You know your kitchen best and it’s a good idea to mop everything up before buying more food. In some cases this is a problem for people who continue to shop week after week without eating what is already there.
What is your feedback from out your way about grocery prices so far for 2017? Any increases, decreases or staying the same as 2016? I know you have kept your grocery budget the same for years which I applaud you for but I was wondering if it’s getting tougher to hang on to that monthly number?
Great No Shop Week Mary and I only had one sip of tea. 🙂 You get ballot #14. Mr.CBB
Yes Mr CBB, those are the Butterscotch Confetti Bars you are thinking of… with assorted color mini marshmallows. They are super sweet… so the serving size is very tiny but I wrap them in cling wrap & freeze them for a sweet finish to hubby’s work lunches.
Actually Mr CBB, I’m not really feeling any pressure to change my budget at all. We don’t eat as much meat as we used to… partly for health reasons and partly just because I find that I just really enjoy our vegetarian meals more. My sister from the UK eats a plant based diet for the most part too & she has in fact inspired me to more aggressively return to my roots. She made a batch of Grandma’s borscht recently & froze hers in quart sized canning jars. I need to make a batch soon ’cause I was coveting a bowl and wondered why I didn’t get an invite to taste test her version?! LOL Probably because it’s a lot of work and none of us are willing to share. Ha ha ha. Remember, my family on my mother’s side is vegetarian because of their religious beliefs & I grew up spending 3 months every year at Grandma’s place. Mom always went home to help bring in the garden, then can, freeze and dehydrate their bounty for the coming winter. I still remember prepping the veggies into HUGE galvanized steel tubs. They do use dairy and eggs, as in had their own chickens and a cow, but they ate no meat, fish or poultry. Generally, I am a little more flexible with the use of animal products for hubby’s sake but I could quite easily do without them.
You’ll notice every so often I seems to go hog wild with an “all things beef or chicken” week. That’s because I got a Club Size package of something at a deep discount and I turn it into several different meals & then variations on those dishes. For example, we did a freezer dive last week and came up with a 5 lb tube of extra lean ground beef. I made a batch of Slow Cooker Seasoned Loose Meat with 3 Lbs. of the beef last week and hubby has had it as (1) Loose Meat Sandwiches (2) Bean and Beef Burritos with guacamole, sour cream, Habanero cheese and hot sauce and will have it in (3) a Southwest Salad, (4) another round of the Bean and Beef Burritos and (5) the last little bit added to a homemade macaroni and cheese and I will also add veggies, tomatoes and chilies to it in order to make it a version of goulash and stretch the leftover mac and cheese into 2 meals instead of one. With other 2 LBS of Extra Lean Ground Beef I made a slow cooker of Chuck Wagon Chili, which by the way is darned delicious if I do say so myself, and is good for about 8 more meals. When one pack of meat makes at least a dozen meals, it’s actually pretty darned easy to stick to the budget. 🙂
As far as fruit and veggies go…we eat what’s on sale. My mouth may be watering thinking about berries and melons even though we are deep in the heart of winter but February is apple month and the deals are really good around here. So, it’s all about apples & citrus at our house this month and there are literally a million ways for apples to jazz up whatever you are eating…think it’s about time for some slow cooker steal cut oats with apples, brown sugar and raisins or maybe some roasted root vegetables with apple. Yum! 🙂
Week 6 – Feb 10 – 16, 2017
Name Your Store: No Frills
Total Coupons Used: $0.00
Total Points = 200
Total Out Of Pocket: $27.25
Human
Quaker Instant Oatmeal = $1.97
2 boxes Quaker Cereal = 3.94
10 cans NN Tuna = $9.70
20 cans Campbells Cream of Mushroom Soup = $10.00
Bananas – 1.335 kg (200 PC Points) = $1.64
Name Your Store: Frescho
Total Coupons Used: $0.00
Total Savings = 9.80
Total Out Of Pocket: $12.98
Human
Double Pack HD = $6.00
Oatmeal Crisp Cereal = $3.99
Homeycomb Cereal = $2.99
Name Your Store: Superstore
Total Coupons Used: $0.00
Total Points =
Total Out Of Pocket: $28.67
Human
1.2 Kg Minute Rice (Brown) – 5.89 (PM Food Basics @ $4.99) = $4.99
Eggs = $2.98
4L 2% Milk = $4.27
2 WW Wonder Bread = $4.00
Cats
1.5 Kg Friskies – $6.77 (PM Zehrs @ 2/$11.00) = $5.50
1.5 Kg Chefs Blend – $6.77 (PM Zehrs @ 2/$11.00) = $5.50
Grocery Game Challenge Results
Total Grocery Budget for the 2 Adults ($1820.00, for the pay period – $70.00)
Total Human (Adults) this Week Period: $37.27
Left for the Month: $102.73
Total Human (Adults) to Date: $181.32
Total Grocery Budget for the 3 Cats ($364, for the pay period – $14.00)
Total Cats this Week Period: $12.43
Total Cats to Date: $34.23
Total Grocery Budget for Stockpile ($507.69)
Total Stockpile this Week Period: $19.70
Total Stockpile to Date: $54.38
Total Grocery Budget for the Personal Hygiene ($182)
Total Personal Hygiene this Week Period: $4.51
Total Personal Hygiene to Date: $41.82
Total Grocery Budget for Meat ($499.98)
Total Meat this Week Period: $
Total Meat to Date: $99.06
Total Coupons Used this Week Period: $
Total Coupons Used To Date: $5.99
Total Grocery Savings for this Week Period: $9.80
Total Grocery Savings to Date: $20.50
Total Price Match for this Week Period: $3.44
Total Price Match to Date: $8.95
Total PC Points Received this Week Period: 200
Total PC Rewards Points Used this Week Period:
Total PC Rewards To Date: 30178
Overview: This week was quiet for shopping as not much was needed for the meals that are on the list for the next two weeks. There were a couple of staple items that are required but the rest were mainly just wants. There’s still plenty left for next week so I’m still on track for this year.
Hi Dee,
I love the way you put the brakes on the shopping to eat up what you have. I was just saying to Mary on her GGC post the same thing about how she tackles her food supply before stocking up again. You are both very smart and have lots of willpower when it comes to sticking to your plan. Great time to stock up on that tuna. It’s nice to flip flop between tuna salad and egg salad. There was a time, I kid you not that Mrs. CBB and I made a huge cold tuna macaroni salad loaded with veggies and that was what we would eat for dinner almost every night. This was back when we rented a room and didn’t want to go up to cook any longer because the landlord was a teeny weeny bit awkward and in the end made us feel uncomfortable being there. While everyone was at work I’d make the food and keep it in our refrigerator. It was a life saver for us having stockpiles of tuna, pasta and mayo.
What is your all-time favourite cereal to buy? I see you stocked up on a few boxes. Don’t say the cheapest one either. I know you must have a favourite even if it is Fruity Pebbles? Hehe… I tried Sugar Crisp once and nearly died from all the sugar in that cereal, way too much.
Great little shop this week Dee!! You get ballot #15. Keep at it grocery warrior!!
Well my all-time favorite cereal is Cheerios but many others are a close second. The cereal that I bought was both for my daughter and I. The boxes at No Frills were impulse because I was planning on buying anything cereal there except my oatmeal. But my daughter asked and I knew I had room in the budget so in the cart they went. I used to Sugar Crisp as a young child along with Puff Wheat, and many other kinds over the years.
Della,
No Frills has assorted Campbell’s soup this week at 50 cents a can…in case you want to stock up on other varieties. 🙂
We did stocked up on that sale but we don’t really cool with much else. The other soups would last too long but thanks for the suggestion.
Ok, I’m giving this another try…is this better? Seems like a horribly long post 🙁
Family of 4 – Monthly Budget $700
Total Coupons Used: $ 0.00
Total Out Of Pocket: $244.19 this week, correct?
Atlantic Superstore
Apple Juice 2 @ .77
Bread – Hamburger Buns – 2.99
Beans – canned – 2 @ 5.00
Coconut Milk – 2 @ 3.50 each
Condiments – Tamaris Sauce – $4.99
Dog Food – Raw Meat – $7.35 total
Fries (6 bags) – yikes! – this is new for us
Cat Treats -2 @ 2.99
Chips, Ripple – 2@ 3.00
Pasta Packages – 2@3.52
Pasta Sauce – 2@ 1.94
Rice – 3.99
Salsa – 2.79
Tissues * – 6pk 4.99
Chips, Tostitos – 3.49
Veg – Squash – 3.82
Veg – Peppers – 6 for 7.15
Veg – Tomatoe – 3.88
Veg – onion – bag – 1.49
Household – lightbulbs
Fresh Cut Meats
Meat – Chicken / Ground Beef / Pork – 35.11 total
Giant Tiger
Fruit – Lemons (3lb bag for 2.47)
Pudding – 8 for 1.96
Wraps – 2.89
Veg – Mushroom – 4.40
Veg – Parsnip – 1.97
Veg – Peppers – 2.97
Independent
Chocolate Milk Mix – 4.99
Bread – 2.99 (impuse buy)
Condiments – Ketchup – 2.99
Condiments – Chili sauce – 3.59 (for chili)
Ice Cream – 4.99
Mayo – 4.79
Milk – 6.99 (impulse buy)
Oysters – 4.00
Cheese – Monteray Jack – 5.79 (impulse buy)
Veg – Potatoe – 2.49
Snack Food – Potatoe Wedges – 2.49
Tea – 4.99
Misc – Throat Lozengers – 6.98 (ran out of homemade)
Cheese – Mozza NN – 5.79
No Frills
Can Goods – Ravioli / Lasagnas – 4 for $5
Can Goods – Soup – 7 for $4.91 (good buy)
Macaroni – 1.27 (good buy)
Fruit – Kiwi – 4.49
Veg – Brocolli – 2.29
Veg – Cauliflower – 2.97
Veg – Lettuce – 1.97
Household – baggies – 5.98
Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings)
Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $ $ 700.00
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $
Total Gift Cards used to date: $ $ –
Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $ $ –
Total Rewards Points used to date: $ $ –
PC Points Plus Earned to date: 950
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP)to date $ $ –
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
Snap Groupon to date: $ $ –
Zweet to date: $ $ –
Cart Smart to date:$ $ –
Checkout51 to date: $ $ 15.75
Save.ca to date: $ $ –
Reebee to date: $ $ –
Caddle to date: $ $ 2.60
Ebates to date: $ $ 5.00
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK (add any other sections you need to show expenses and savings)
Stockpile budget 2017 ($.00):$
Stockpile budget used to date: $ $ –
Total coupons used this week: $ $ –
Total coupons used to date: $ $ –
Total in-store discounts this week:$ $ 18.42
Total in-store discounts to date: $ $ 26.10
Total spent this week: $ $ 244.19
Total over/Under spend this shop: $ $ 17.33
Total over/Under spend for the month: $ $ 17.33
Total left to spend for the month: $ $ 367.33
Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $ $ 332.67
Weekly overview: I spent a lot of time planning my grocery shops to get the best deals at the best stores. I get paid 2x per month and my goal is to get what I need for the two weeks to avoid having to go back to the store several times for things missed, which usually means spending on non-necessities. Case in point, this week we “popped in for an item or two” 5 extra times. A new store opened with great prices on meats and I found some wonderful prices there. I will likely go there once a week as they have weekly specials. The “impulse buys” are things I needed that I ended up paying full price for versus finding them on sale. In my tracking, I am looking to determine how much of each thing we use (ie. milk, lbs of ground beef, etc.) to do better planning. Wow! This is ALOT of work. Open to ANY feedback! ~ Happy Shopping
Hi Mary Ann,
This is perfect!! I know it seems long but the point of the GGC is that we lay it all out so we can see exactly where our money is going. At the end of the month and end of the year the data will be super valuable to you when you decide on any financial moves you will make with your grocery budget. It also helps to improve your pricing knowledge of products.
I understand where you are coming from going back in the grocery store after a shop. This was a problem of mine when I would pop in after work to buy milk for example and then start seeing deals and wanting to buy them. The problem was we had already used up a chunk of our grocery budget which only made our budget suffer even more. We’ve got somewhat of a grip on that but even now we are changing around our meal plan and products we have on our list based on in-store specials and reduced products.
I love how you have a goal for your GGC posts. You will certainly be able to track your milk and beef usage throughout the year. If you have specific products you want to track you can easily add a line above and track them individually or go back at the end of the year and add the products up week by week. Your choice. It’s best to be on your toes like you are because you are challenging your shopping habits and not many people do this.
It seems like lots of work but it gets easier and easier as you go. I’m sure the gals will have some feedback for you as most have been posting their shops for 5 years now. WOW! It’s been that long and we’ve all changed so much from when we first started and learned so much from each other. What you may also want to do in your write-up and it’s up to you is name the product so for example, Dole Pudding Cups, Sealtest Milk 2% because this will be critical to exploring price points on specific products.
Good for you giving it another Go and yes it looks great! I hope to continue reading about your grocery budget journey. You get ballot #16. Mr.CBB
Hi Mary Ann,
The post seems long this week but there will be weeks where it’s very short. The bottom section is an area to track the items that are important to you. If you find a line that you done use, either delete it or swap for something that you want to track. If you look at how Mary and I track our savings, it’s different but we track what’s important to us based on how budget is setup. Good luck and welcome.
Thank you all for your kind feedback. It’s kept me motivated to keep at this. I’m a pretty avid budgeted but appreciate this opportunity to take it to the next level1
Yes!!! That’s the spirit to have Mary Ann!!
Mary Ann,
I agree that it takes time and attention to get the information we need from our posts and consequently spot ways to trim our budget. BUT, I have had the same grocery budget for 5 years now and I feel no need to raise the amount because I see the patterns of sales, shop the season, use my pantry and deep freeze to keep variety on the weeks where nothing good seems to be on sale and I stockpile the things we use all the time. I noticed Della got her Cream of Mushroom soup at $0.50 a tin. Actually, No Frills has Campbell’s soups on at that price this week and I plan to re-stock too.
Because it’s just hubby and I, if I cook 2-3 meals a week – that’s all we need. Discovering that has made a HUGE dent in our food waste. I can’t stand to throw good money in the bin for no good reason. Your truths will reveal themselves to you as you go along. One truth at my house is that it’s far cheaper to send hubby into the grocery store with my list while I handle our banking needs next door. He shops the list but if he doesn’t like the price…he skips items on the list! 🙁 Last week he told me the blueberries were still to bleeding expensive and chopped them off the list. So much for the blueberry biscuits…they ended up being dried cranberry biscuits instead. 🙂 Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Week #3 – Feb 13-19
Yearly Grocery Budget for 2 Adults – $3300 or $275/mth (Includes Stockpile Budget)
• Store: Zehrs
• Total Coupons Used: $ 0
• Total Out Of Pocket: $ 11.99
• NN Hot Chocolate – 11.99
• Store: Food Basics
• Total Coupons Used: $ 0
• Total Out of Pocket: $31.03
• Quaker Oatmeal – $2.99
• Aurora Olive Oil – $4.44
• Unico Tomato Paste – 2 x 2 for $1.00 = $2.00
• Russet Potatoes – 4 x 5lb for 0.88 = $3.52
• Carrots – 2 x 2lb for .88 = $1.74
• Rutabaga – $2.91
• Pillers Kolbassa – $3.99
• Selection Cottage Cheese – $2.49
• Parkay Margarine – $2.49
• Store: Walmart
• Total Coupons Used: $ 0
• Total Out of Pocket: $99.54
• Frozen Veg – 3 x 2kg for $4.44 – $13.32
• Pkg Rainbow Sweet Peppers – $3.97
• Mild Italian Sausage – $10.00
• Bananas – $0.56/lb – $4.26
• Soda Crackers x 2 – $3.34
• Apple Juice $0.97
• Chocolate Chips – 1kg – $7.88
• 2L 2% Milk – $3.87 (Don’t usually buy fresh milk. Should have bought 4L @ $4.27 will check if milk can be frozen)
• Armstrong Cheddar Cheese – 2 x 450g for $3.87 – $7.74
• Margarine – $3.77
• Evaporated Milk – 12 x $1.00 – $12.00
• Plum Sauce – $2.48
• Sugar – $1.97
• Corn Flakes – $2.97
• Diana Sauce – $2.97
• Eggs – 5 x $1.97 – 9.85
• Potato Chips – 2 x $0.97 – $1.94
• Tortilla Chips – 2 for $5.00
• Store: Local Butcher
• Total Coupons Used: $ 0
• Total Out of Pocket: $40.60
• Crock Pot Roast – $14.22
• Ground Beef – 2lb – $9.16
• Stewing Beef – 2lb – $11.03
• Breakfast Sausage – 2lb – $6.19
Points Overview
• Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $ 275.00
• Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $ 275.00
• Total Gift Cards used to date: $ 0
• Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $ 0
• Total Rewards Points used to date: $ 0
• Total PC Points year to date: 94,805
• PC Points Plus Earned to date: 960,415
• Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP)to date $ 0
Coupon Apps
• Checkout51 to date: $12.25
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK
• Total coupons used this week: $0
• Total coupons used to date: $0
• Total in-store discounts this week:$0
• Total in-store discounts to date: $10.98
• Total spent this week: $183.16
• Total spent month to date: $221.01
• Total over/Under spend this shop: $
• Total over/Under spend for the month: under
• Total left to spend for the month: $53.99
• Total reserve: Jan $103.53 + Feb $
• Total Spent To Date 2017: (Includes stockpile budget) Jan $171.47 + Feb $
Weekly Overview:
Hello Everyone,
I’ve been following the Grocery Game Challenge for about 6 months and decided it was time I joined in on the fun so this is my first post. My 2017 budget goal is to cut our grocery shops in half to one or two per month, as it’s a 100 km round trip to the store, and to cut our grocery budget to half of what we spent in 2016. Thank you to everyone who posts their shops, menus, etc. You’ve been a great inspiration and I’ve taken quite a few ideas for budgeting and meals from your posts. Our grocery budget and shopping is a work in progress. I aspire to be as skilled as all of you.
Lesson learned this week (Very timely given the subject of this week’s GGC post): Just because there’s a 50% off sticker doesn’t mean it’s a deal. I picked up a bag of tomatoes from the clearance rack thinking I would use them for soup night instead of delving into my dwindling freezer stock. I got to the checkout and only then realized 50% off the regular $3.49/lb!! was more than non-clearance tomatoes in the same store. I asked the cashier to take them off the bill and left them there.
I am planning my menus a month in advance and am working to shop to my plan rather than plan to my shop, but I will often find that I juggle meals throughout the month. Time constraints seem to be the usual reason, but if I find a deal, I will juggle a meal to take advantage of it or, if possible, freeze it and add it to next month’s menu plan.
Welcome Libby,
I absolutely love when CBB fans in hiding come out to say hello and tell me they are out there reading and learning from the blog. Thank-you.
Your words will likely touch so many of us as we have become a close-knit group of shoppers who work to help each other out with ideas and possibly offer tips about how to chop our budgets even further.
You raise a VERY good point about reduced products which I’ve never blogged about before and that is checking the regular price on reduced items first. We have on countless occasions run into the same scenario you just shared although before we made it to the cash. We always check the prices first. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve put stuff back on the rack to get fresh product without any reduced stickers.
Excellent to shop your plan! You will start to really see savings by going this route because you won’t be buying more than you need unless you find a great deal and just have to stock up. We do the same thing when finding deals that weren’t advertised or lucrative with 50% off stickers. Juggling the meal plan may be a boring task to do while grocery shopping but it becomes easier and easier to do. I find as the summer comes to an end there are tonnes of vegetables on sale which is a great time to buy tomatoes and peppers in bulk, clean and freeze them for the rest of the year. Some people will even can them which is a great idea as well. I like how you name the products you are buying. Like I pointed out to Mary Ann this is your opportunity to really get to the bottom of the pricing wars and find out where your money is going. If you name your products you’ll see what months were best for sales on the products and then you’ll know what to look for in the future. There’s always more you can do when you have more data to review.
Well done and I’m glad you’ve come forward to post in the GGC with us. Welcome to the gang of grocery warriors!
You get ballot #17. Mr.CBB
Welcome Libby,
To answer your question about freezing milk, it is possible to freeze milk. Not everyone likes the taste after it has been thawed though. As far as being skilled at saving $ on our groceries, that takes time and practice. Even then, we still can get it wrong. Mr. CBB has a FB page where many of us GGC posters go nightly to post our “What’s for Dinner” (WFD) meals. There we share recipes, get ideas about ways to be frugal in our meal planning and many other topics.
Hi Libby!
Yes milk can be frozen so next time you spot a deal, stock up if you go thru a lot of milk in your family. On the CBB What’s for Dinner thread on Facebook every evening we have a gal, Colleen Knudsen, that regularly finds milk and cream for 99 cents a jug. She’ll mix a skim or 1% with a 3% to get a couple of 2% milk jugs before she freezes them. She also adds just a pinch of salt to the milk when it’s close to the due date so that it extends the life of the milk. You can’t taste the salt but it acts as a preservative. My Grandmother used to do the same thing because she was using milk straight from the cow without the benefit of being pasteurized. Colleen will make puddings, rice pudding, her own butter and ice cream whenever the deals fall her way. It’s really quite inspiring!
Hi Dee & Mary;
Thank you for the information on freezing milk. Since our sons are grown and out on their own we’ve gone from buying two or three bags of milk a week to none. We use it occasionally, usually when my husband has a hankering for Corn Flakes, so being able to freeze it will let us take advantage of the savings. With the amount of sugar my husband puts on his cereal I doubt he’d notice if the milk didn’t taste quite as fresh. I never would have thought of mixing the milk and cream to take advantage of what’s on sale. What a great idea.
I’m not currently on Facebook. (Hey, this is my first post ever to anything so I was thrilled I actually got it right. I hope the reply works out as well.) I may have to sign up to check out the what’s for dinner thread. And, Mary, I had never heard of Zuppa Tuscano but found a recipe online and immediately added it to my March menu, as I do with quite a few of your meal ideas.
Grocery budget
Name Your Store: Independent
Total Coupons Used:
Total Out Of Pocket: $118.30
2x Cook Top cleaner 6.98 sale 3.44: 6.98
2 x Teriyaki Noodles 2.29: 4.58
Liquid Plumber clear-out: 2.14
Checkout 51: 1.00
Clorox wipes clear-out: 1.34
3 x cherry nibs clear-out 1.54: 4.62
Hunts tomato paste clear-out .44: 4.40
2x Orville Redenbacher maple bacon clear-out 1.64: 3.28
48 pack of brillo pads clear-out: 1.65
2x PC basil tomato sauce clear-out: 2.28
PC dry roasted peanuts: 5.98
PC blue cheese dressing: 2.79
4x Mediterranean chicken sausage clear-out: 1.24: 4.96
11x Unico Pizza Sauce clear-out .44: 4.84
Kraft Greek feta; 3.19
Bulls eye blazing chipotle: 1.94
2x Barilla extra protein pasta clear-out: 1.34: 2.68
Foremost peach yogurt: 2.49
1% Milk 4 Litre; 5.16
18 pack eggs: 4.89
McCain fries:1.99
No Name hasbrowns: 1.99
Spinach Salad Kit: 5.99 yikes!!
Carrots; 1.99
Bean sprouts; 1.89
Bananas: 2.21
Zucchini 1.89 pink sticker; .95
2x green onion:.47
Roma tomato:1.97
Cilantro: .99
2x Small veggie tray 5.94 pink sticker: 2.97
2000 pc points for 5.00 spent on fruit or veggie trays.
Fresh turkey filet 6.72 Pink sticker: 4.70
Fresh turkey filet 5.42 Pink sticker: 3.79
1600 pc points for fresh turkey
Salt pork: 2.31
Pc Goat cheese clear-out: 1.07
Fresh Asiago cheese wedge 5.51 clear out: 2.75
600 PC points for Deli cheese.
Name Your Store: IGA
Total Coupons Used: 18.97
Total Out Of Pocket: $18.97
4 Liter Milk: 5.05
3X half and HALF CREAM: 7.90
Coleslaw mix: 1.97
Bean sprouts: 1.49
• Total Grocery Budget for the Month: $750.00
• Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $750.00
• Total Gift Cards used to date: $
• Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $
• Total Rewards Points used to date: $
• PC Points Plus Earned to date:269525
• Air miles Points:542
Zweet to date: $5.50
• Cart Smart to date:$
• Checkout51 to date: $4.00 cashed out at 32.00
• Save.ca to date: $
• Caddle to date: 10.00
• Optimum Points:162,000
• Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP)to date:
•
GROCERY SHOP THIS WEEK (add any other sections you need to show expenses and savings)
• Stockpile budget 2017 ($75.00):$900.00
• Stockpile budget used to date: $139.18
• Stockpile budget Used this Week:10.56
• Total coupons used this week: $ 1.65
• Total coupons used to date: $66.42
• Total in-store discounts this week:$46.20
• Total in-store discounts to date: $382.75
• Total spent this week: $154.71
• Total over/Under spend this shop: $32.79 under
• Total over/Under spend for the month: $121.32 under
• Total left to spend for the month: $308.82
• Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) 1218.72
Weekly Overview (your final thoughts):
A bit of an odd shopping week, the boys went to our cabin for a few days of ice fishing so they needed convenience food, no water hooked up in the winter so it makes dishes a bit tough! I ran in to an excellent clearance on some cleaning products and they were needed so it was a good week. Will add the cleaning items to my stock pile budget. The clearance veggie trays were fantastic they only cost .97 cents after PC points. I seem to have lost a receipt for Superstore but I know it was 28.00, so I have added this in to my totals!
I cleaned up my stockpile of groceries and did some baking, I had some peanut butter close to expiry so one went in the freezer and I made a double batch of peanut butter cookies with the other jar, I also had quite a bit of cocoa and some macadamia nuts, they came in a gift basket at Christmas so made chocolate cookies with the nuts and some white chocolate chips. College kids are happy! I roasted 3 chickens today which we had for supper tonight and we will have lunches for a few days, supper tomorrow night and will make a couple of batches of soup tomorrow, one Italian wedding soup and one chicken with rice. I have fajitas on the menu for Wednesday and I am going to make donair meat and homemade pitas on Friday. That will be our eat some carbs day!!
Good luck on your shopping this week everyone and welcome Libby!!
Hi Julia,
Great score on the fruit tray after points, $0.97. That was a great deal. So how do they wash dishes in the winter with no water? We’ve lost a receipt in the past and because we’ve been doing it for so many years it really bothered us. We’ve done the same having only remembered a total. Now as soon as we come home the first thing Mrs. CBB does is empty her purse of receipts and puts them in our CBB Monthly Budget Folder.
I love the eat some carbs day Idea. Making homemade soup is a smart money saving move. It is far cheaper to make a huge pot of chicken noodle soup then it is to buy those cans of soup or even packets. Well done. Sounds to me like you’re on a rolling shopping!! Keep up the great work. You get ballot #18 Mr.CBB
Our cabin isn’t insulated for winter so the water tank is drained in the fall, we rough it with an outhouse and we haul water to boil for dishes. It is only 500 square feet so the wood stove heats it really quickly, it is our happy place and right on a lake so we enjoy the solitude and being unplugged from all the teckie stuff.
I don’t blame you, I would too.
Yearly grocery budget for 4 adults and 2 cats -$7800
(The above total does not include the stockpile budget of $300/year or $25/month.
Points Overview (add any other sections you need to show us your savings)
Total Grocery Budget for this Month: $650
Total Grocery Budget with any carry-overs $650
Total Gift Cards used to date: $0
Total Rewards Points redeemed this week: $0
Total Rewards Points used to date: $0
PC Points Plus Earned to date: 57260
Scanning Code of Practice (SCOP) to date $0
Coupon Apps (add any other apps you use to save money)
Zweet to cash out : $13.25
Checkout51 to cash out : $34.25
Our Grocery Shop This Week
Foodland #1
1jug water- 5.49
2 Cashmere TP 12DR @4.44
1 can pineapple tidbits -1.99, 30% AM discount-.60
2 4l milk @4.27
1 yogurt -2.99
bananas -1.39
3 packs apple onion sausage -5.70, 5.41, 5.41, 50% discount- 2.85, 2.71, 2.71
1 grated parmesan cheese -5.48
2 bagels @2/5.00
Tax -1.15
Total out of pocket -$48.56
Foodland #2
1 jug water -5.49
1 10pack tetras -4.29, 15% AM discount-.64
1 Cheerios -3.99
3 cases pop @3.69
2 Temptations cat treats @1.99
4 cans tomato sauce @4/5.00
4 cans pasta sauce @4/5.00
2 4l milk @4.27
1 frozen fries -1.99
8 Swanson meat pies @.99
10 lb bag potatoes -3.99, 30% AM discount -1.20
Bananas -1.29
2 W/W bread @2.49, 1 20% AM discount- .50
Tax -1.96
Total out of pocket -$67.15
Total to spend this month : $650
Stockpile budget 2016 : $25.00
Stockpile budget used this month: $0
Total coupons used this week: $0
Total coupons used to date: $14.00
Total in-store discounts this week: $11.70
Total in-store discounts to date: $36.50
Total spent this week: $115.71
Total spent so far this month: $416.88
Total over/Under spend this shop: under
Total over/Under spend for the month: under
Total left to spend for the month: $233.12
Total Spent To Date 2017: (does not include stockpile budget) Jan $464.09+Feb $
Weekly Overview (your final thoughts)
Finally got here to post and get caught up….I hope to be done by the end of March. There were some nice sales at Foodland for this week, the pop was a good price, my boys drink it but not much so these cases will last a while, the meat pies are always enjoyed but I only buy them on sale. The Air Miles discounts were very nice to get too. Scored some extra cash miles there too.
Well hello Christine,
Nice to have you back up and running as I know you’ve been busy.
Once I’m done work for a bit I’m going to look into the Air Miles program more.
Who would have thought you’d get a coupon for pineapple savings… haha. They know about your pineapple rice don’t they?
You always seem to score those discounted sausages. Do you just get lucky or do you run over once a day to check? That’s what I would do, maybe twice. When do the boys swap over to Gatorade? Hopefully there will be some good sales this summer. Do you plan on gardening at all? I’m looking forward to the rest of your posts Christine. You get ballot #17 Mr.CBB