I recently wrote about Mint.com and how I started using the site to track our personal finances. After a few weeks I am still very impressed with Mint and the ability to track daily transactions for our bank accounts and our credit cards. In fact, I think it has already saved us about $500 a month in our living expenses. I actually enjoy games and challenges and have started to establish some tight restrictions on spending categories. My goal is to be more aggressive and start saving more money with our grocery budget. I feel that with a little work I can make some smarter decisions with our grocery item and still buy quality food for our family. I’m not willing to sacrifice quality, but I will drive a little further for a bargain.

How did we save $200 on groceries in January? Since I abandoned my old excel spreadsheet I was able to watch our transactions hit Mint the very next day. This allowed me to track spending more closely and defer or hold off on several purchases. For instance, our grocery budget was set to $500 which might seem a bit high for a family of 4, but still well below our average of $600-$700. As we approached the $500 in our food budget I would buy only the necessities to make it through the end of the month. Milk, eggs, cereal and some basics helped stretch our budget to $500 for groceries in January. I didn’t buy large containers of fresh fruit from Costco and stayed away from store bought cookies or soda. In fact my wife bought an ice cream maker and we have been enjoying some wonderful treats. Could I save even more each month? Sure. You might be feeding your family of 4 for far less and I would love to hear your feedback on your personal budget. Could I be using the cash envelope system to help lower my grocery bills? Probably, but I’m happy to see the progress so far with over $100-$200 in grocery savings.

We didn’t use coupons and I’m actually very bad at clipping coupons from the newspaper and trying to find coupons for products we actually use each month. I remember when we were first married that I would fall for buying items just because we had a coupon. I think I bought a huge bottle of Tums when we were 25 years old. I think I ate two of them and finally threw the bottle away. Some of you coupon clippers could probably help me shed another $40 or more of my monthly grocery budget. I would appreciate any tips you might have. Any fun and easy website you would recommend would be appreciated.

We bought 90% of our groceries from Raley’s supermarket. This is not a discount grocery store like Walmart or FoodMaxx, but a regular grocery store chain. Could we save more by shopping at a deep discount store like FoodMaxx? Probably, and in February I plan to do most of our shopping at Foodmaxx. Why haven’t I done this before? Foodmaxx is about 10 miles from my house and it’s not convenient. I know I should probably buy more bulk items and go twice a month to save more money. Believe me, my frugal friends who have a $350 grocery budget remind me all the time. In case you are wondering, the other 10% of groceries are purchased from Costco. I mostly buy coffee and paper items from them. What is my food budget going to be for February? I’m hoping to spend $450 on groceries from Foodmaxx.

How about you? Are you making any changes to your grocery budget next month? How have you saved money on groceries? I would love to hear some of your stories.

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photo credit: jslander

You might not have over a dozen children at home like the Jeub family, but you are looking to stretch your dollar at the grocery store and buy quality food for the month. Were you successful making your supermarket money last longer or did you struggle each month? Do you have a plan for 2009 that will make your grocery money stretch even further? Will you eat out less or maybe eat leftovers more often?

Here are some supermarket money saving tips that I’ve tried in the past and my thoughts for new food saving money advice for 2009.

1. Set a grocery budget. What did you spend each month is 2008 on groceries? Do you include eating out and entertainment in your grocery budget? Are you wondering what a food budget for a family of four should be each month? I would as well. We have friends that are very frugal food shoppers and have a family of 5 eat for under $400 a month. I don’t know how this is done, but they make it happen. They say that they buy a lot of pasta and chicken and stay away from name brand items.

2. Make a list. Sounds easy, but I never do it. My wife is great at creating lists and will offer to create one for me when I do the grocery shopping. I tend to be an impulse food shopper and buy food at the worst possible time when I’m hungry. Usually I’m tempted to buy a deli sandwich if I shop at lunch time or a pizza or cooked chicken at dinner time. A list helps me organize my food items needed for the week and keeps me focused. I also tend to waste a lot more time when I’m just wandering from isle to isle trying to put items together for a meal. Also, I tend to buy more cookies and chips if I don’t have a list.

3. Whole Food or Food Maxx? We have friends that shop exclusively at both and you can imagine how the food budget would be vastly different. Yes, the argument can be made that vegetables and some organic food cannot be found at Food Maxx, but some of the staples like cereal and pasta are basically the same. I know someone will disagree, but you can always try Trader Joe’s that seems to beat Whole Foods in many categories. Maybe if you shopped Whole Foods in 2008 and are looking to trim your food budget in 2009, Trader Joe’s might be a good option. If you shopped Safeway, Kroger’s, or another national supermarket in 2008, you might consider trying a discounter like Walmart or Food Maxx. Do you buy groceries at Costco in bulk? Do you wonder if you are saving money? Me too.

4. Use a calculator. If you are not sure if the 12 pack of Doll peaches is a good price at Costco, pull out your calculator. They usually have the price per ounce listed on the price tag. You might need to look closely as they make it very fine print. You might be surprised that you are paying over $1.00 a can when you might be able to buy the same item at your local supermarket cheaper. Same idea goes for toothpaste, napkins, juice, soda, or any bulk food item at Costco. I’ve noticed the big savings occur when we purchase contact solution and Costco coffee. I can’t find the items cheaper anywhere else, including Walmart or Target.

5. Costco Food Coop? I had an interesting idea go through my head the last time I was shopping at Costco. I was in line waiting over 20 minutes to pick up our family Christmas picture and was looking in other carts and thought many of the items looked amazing. I’ve never tried many of the meats, pastries, pies, cookies, fruit and vegetables at Costco because we are only a family of four. I still am amazed how Costco seems to cater to restaurants or people with multiple children. Take the 12 pack of muffins as an example. I love the chocolate Costco muffins and have had them probably 5 times in my life. We always buy them, eat the chocolate and then put the rest in the freezer. We either forget to eat them or need the space for meat or another frozen food item. How do people eat 12 huge Costco muffins in a week? What about the fresh Cosco fruit? I love mango, but a flat of 10 to 12 mango’s? I guess you could cut them up and freeze them. My thought was a Costco food coop that would arrange to share items with multiple families. Several families could split the cost and also enjoy trying new foods for the first time. Buying Costco meat can be substantially cheaper if purchase in bulk bags. One summer I found Costco Tri tip bbq for $3.00 a pound if purchased in a bag of 10. My freezer doesn’t hold 10 of anything. Well, actually is can hold 10 Otter Pops, but not 10 tri tip roasts. Creating a coop with a friend and splitting the 10 pack would save everyone money.

What are your food saving tips for 2009?

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