Today's unofficial tip is don't take three kids on a two hour car ride to Grandma's. It's exhausting. And frustrating. And headache inducing. And. . .
Enough of that. Today's tip is about saving money on groceries. Here's how I do it, and I consider myself to be a pretty frugal shopper. I don't have the patience or the attention span to deal with coupons, so I don't. I do read the grocery store sale ads, but at $4.00 a gallon, who can afford to drive all over town picking up an item here and an item there? So what I do is shop at discount stores like Aldi, Ollie's, and Big Lots.
I know many of you may say you don't like the bargain brands, and I can relate. But I'd recommend giving it a try just to see the money you'll save. I left Aldi a few weeks ago with my cart overflowing, and I only spent $140. Not bad, I'd say. My monthly food budget for a family of four (not counting the baby, of course) is approximately $300.
Stores like Ollie's and Big Lots do carry name brand items, and you can pick up a bunch of other stuff on the cheap like toiletries, cleaning supplies, and even home decor while you're there. A box of name brand cereal, for instance, will cost between $1.25 and $2.00 at Big Lots. These are just examples of stores in my area. What stores do you have in your region of the country? Are you lucky enough to have one of those places that sell "bent and dent" items, as my mom calls them? I recommend checking it out. Let me know what you think.
By the way, I just read on article in the August edition of Woman's Day called, "Secrets of Extreme Grocery Shoppers: How to Save Thousands", and it recommended many of these same things. Check it out.
We don't have an Aldi here but we do have a Big Lots and I've stocked up on lots of stuff there before. It's important to stick to what you need at places like Big Lots though... I can get carried away with stuff I really don't need because it's such a great deal.