{"id":22317,"date":"2018-11-05T11:27:41","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T16:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/?p=22317"},"modified":"2020-03-20T10:31:28","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T14:31:28","slug":"save-on-groceries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Save on Groceries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I discovered a new way to save on groceries. Over the past few years, my kids have become involved in so many activities and I&#8217;ve found myself pressed for time&#8230; ALL.DAY.LONG. Often I&#8217;m grocery shopping every day, because I never had time for a full trip between driving kids to and from their activities.<\/p>\n<p>My grocery budget was creeping up due to frequent trips to the store so I needed to figure out a way to <strong><em>keep the budget consistent and save time.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22335\" src=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"733\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-.jpg 733w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries--300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries--600x409.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 733px) 100vw, 733px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Years ago I had one grocery goal&#8230; spend as little as possible. If that&#8217;s the situation you are in, this method probably isn&#8217;t for you. Here&#8217;s a <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/5-ways-to-save-on-groceries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">great article on trimming the grocery budget<\/a> Dave Ramsey style!<\/p>\n<p>Today, my goal is to save time and save on groceries (while feeding a houseful of kids, their families, and friends).<\/p>\n<h1>How I Save on Groceries<\/h1>\n<p><a target = \"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2D4zeSv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22320\" src=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries.jpg\" alt=\"save on groceries \" width=\"841\" height=\"147\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries.jpg 841w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-300x52.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-768x134.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 841px) 100vw, 841px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Step 1: Amazon Subscribe &amp; Save<\/h2>\n<p>I was slow to get on the <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2D4zeSv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe and Save<\/a> bandwagon. Many of the items on Amazon are more expensive compared to using a coupon matched with a sale. The problem was, I didn&#8217;t always have a coupon and these items weren&#8217;t always on sale.<\/p>\n<p>This led to more than a few late night trips to Walgreens because we were out of toilet paper or dish soap. We ended up paying full price for these items because we needed them immediately.<\/p>\n<p>One day I sat down with the kids and made a list of everything we purchased at least once a month. Grocery items like paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, hand soap, batteries, toothbrushes, dental floss, etc. Then I looked for the best deals on Subscribe and Save for these items and added them to my cart.<\/p>\n<p>Some items we have shipped once a month and other items are shipped every two to three months. Since signing up for <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2D4zeSv\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Subscribe &amp; Save<\/a> we haven&#8217;t made a single late night trip to Walgreens for emergency supplies, because I always have a small stockpile in my pantry.<\/p>\n<p>With Subscribe and Save you can get up to a 20% discount on items depending on how frequently and how many items you have delivered.<\/p>\n<h3>Pro&#8217;s of Subscribe &amp; Save:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Everything is delivered to your door automatically.<\/li>\n<li>Prices decrease with the amount of items you order.<\/li>\n<li>You don&#8217;t run out of items you use frequently.<\/li>\n<li>Prices stay consistent, so you don&#8217;t pay a premium during a midnight Walgreens run.<\/li>\n<li>You can skip deliveries if you are overstocked.<\/li>\n<li>No more late night trips to the store!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Con&#8217;s of\u00a0 Subscribe &amp; Save:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s mostly name brand items, which cost more than generic.<\/li>\n<li>You can&#8217;t shop sales and use coupons.<\/li>\n<li>Subscribe and Save has a large selection, but you&#8217;ll still end up shopping at the grocery store.<\/li>\n<li>If you don&#8217;t watch your subscription you could end up with an overstock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-22319\" src=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-1024x367.png\" alt=\"save on groceries\" width=\"723\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-1024x367.png 1024w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-300x107.png 300w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-768x275.png 768w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries.png 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 2: Once a Month Shopping at Costco<\/h2>\n<p>Anyone else have a love hate relationship with shopping at Costco? I love the savings, but I hate the crowds. It never fails that I show up at 4:30pm on a payday and spend as much time looking for parking as I do shopping.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m familiar with prices and know what is cheaper than the grocery store. (If you haven&#8217;t already <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/create-a-price-book\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">create a grocery price book<\/a> for maximum savings)<\/p>\n<p>For years, I&#8217;ve had a list of staples I purchase at Costco and I&#8217;m pretty good at sticking to the list. Only rarely do I succumb to those mouth-watering muffins or fresh salmon. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>Once a month I brave the crowds and go to Costco to stock up on these staples. I purchase all my meat and stock up on as much produce as I can. I also purchase cheese, eggs, butter, frozen fruit and a few other items.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the fresh produce, if I carefully plan my trip, I only need to go to Costco once a month. Sometimes I can stretch it to every six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>It sounds silly, but it&#8217;s amazing how much money you can save on groceries if you commit to shopping at Costco once a month and sticking to your list. I love all the extra items Costco sells, but it&#8217;s easy to bust the grocery budget buying them.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22321\" src=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"save on groceries \" width=\"700\" height=\"185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-1-1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-1-1-300x79.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 3: Once a Month Trip to the Grocery Store<\/h2>\n<p>After Costco,\u00a0 I make a once a month trip to Publix. This trip is coordinated with sales and I stock up on dry goods like pasta, sauces, soups, beans, and rice. I also stagger this trip with my Costco trip to replenish fresh produce and dairy. (my kids drink a ton of milk)<\/p>\n<p>Between my trip to Publix and Costco my kitchen is fairly well stocked, but with a big family we do run out of perishables and and other items before the next grocery trip.<\/p>\n<p><a target = \"_blank\" href=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/c\/1180653\/423567\/7412\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/a.impactradius-go.com\/display-ad\/7412-423567\" alt=\"\" width=\"1727\" height=\"347\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" src=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/i\/1180653\/423567\/7412\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Step 4: Instacart<\/h2>\n<p>When I first learned about\u00a0<a target = \"_blank\" href=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/c\/1180653\/415003\/7412\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Instacart\u00a0<\/a>I was skeptical. It didn&#8217;t make sense to me to pay money to have groceries delivered when I live ten minutes from the grocery store. I honestly wondered how anyone could be too busy to go to the grocery store.<\/p>\n<p>However, with all my kids in a variety of extra curricular activities (and none of them drive) I was going to the grocery store almost every day and our grocery budget was out of control.<\/p>\n<p>My neighbor told me she used it and thought it was worth the money, so I found a promo code and signed up for a <a target = \"_blank\" href=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/c\/1180653\/427002\/7412\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">free trial of their express service.<\/a><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" src=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/i\/1180653\/427002\/7412\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Now, each week I have groceries delivered via Instacart. The app displays the items I purchase regularly. I\u00a0 add those plus a few additional items. I&#8217;m done grocery shopping in less than 10 minutes. I schedule a delivery time and my groceries are delivered to my front door.<\/p>\n<p>Years ago I would have told you that Instacart was a luxury and a total waste of money. I still think it&#8217;s a luxury, however it&#8217;s not a waste of money. Because my list is already in Instacart, I only buy what we need. I rarely throw away food that&#8217;s gone bad because there&#8217;s no impulse shopping.<\/p>\n<p>Even though I&#8217;m paying more for my groceries, I&#8217;m saving over all because there&#8217;s no opportunity to buy what we don&#8217;t need at the store.<\/p>\n<p>Also, I don&#8217;t have to shop with my kids. There are many benefits to grocery shopping with your kids, but after twenty-four years of hauling kids to the grocery store and negotiating for cereals and granola bars, I&#8217;m over it.<\/p>\n<p>One of my kids usually accompanies me to Costco or Publix on my big shopping trips, but I&#8217;m not longer taking a kid into the store to &#8220;pick up a few things&#8221; and walking out with a cart full of items we don&#8217;t really need.<\/p>\n<h3>Pro&#8217;s of Instacart:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>You decide when you want your items delivered.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s simple to shop in the app, frequently purchased items are accessible and an entire &#8220;shopping trip&#8221; takes about 10-15 minutes.<\/li>\n<li>No impulse purchases, it&#8217;s easy to stick to the list and only buy what you need since you aren&#8217;t tempted by the beautiful displays and smells at the store.<\/li>\n<li>Save 1-2 hours a week, not shopping.<\/li>\n<li>If an item is on sale at the store, it&#8217;s on sale in the app too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Con&#8217;s of Instacart:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s not free. Instacart charges a small delivery fee, plus a tip for the driver. Grocery prices are more expensive, since they mark up the prices slightly.<\/li>\n<li>You can&#8217;t use your store loyalty card or paper coupons for additional savings.<\/li>\n<li>Loss of shopping autonomy. If an item on your list is out of stock the Instacart shopper will notify you and purchase a replacement. However you aren&#8217;t at the store to find the best replacement in person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><a target = \"_blank\" href=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/c\/1180653\/427002\/7412\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TRY Instacart TODAY <\/a><\/h2>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been using this method to save on groceries for the past six weeks. I&#8217;ve cut my grocery bill by about 20% and I only spend a few hours a month shopping and planning. I haven&#8217;t started planning my meals around the sales, but I know if I did that I would increase my grocery savings even more.<\/p>\n<p>While this method isn&#8217;t for everyone, it works great for our family and it allows me to spend my evenings and weekends with the kids instead of at the grocery store.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" src=\"\/\/instacart.pxf.io\/i\/1180653\/427002\/7412\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I discovered a new way to save on groceries. Over the past few years, my kids have become involved in so many activities and I&#8217;ve found myself pressed for time&#8230; ALL.DAY.LONG. Often I&#8217;m grocery shopping every day, because I never had time for a full trip between driving kids to and from their activities. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22317","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v15.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Save on Groceries - The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Frugal Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recently discovered a new shopping method that helps me save on groceries. So far I&#039;ve cut my grocery budget by 20% and I rarely go to the store!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How I Save Time &amp; Money on Groceries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently discovered a new shopping method that helps me save on groceries. So far I&#039;ve cut my grocery budget by 20% and I rarely go to the store!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Happy Housewife\u2122 :: Frugal Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheHappyHousewife\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-05T16:27:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-20T14:31:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-4.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@tonihanderson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Toni Herrbach\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/\",\"name\":\"The Happy Housewife\\u2122 :: Frugal Living\",\"description\":\"Where Martha Meets Real Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/files\/2018\/11\/save-on-groceries-.jpg\",\"width\":733,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/\",\"name\":\"How to Save on Groceries - The Happy Housewife\\u2122 :: Frugal Living\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-05T16:27:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-03-20T14:31:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/#\/schema\/person\/4e0cc17af167f72194b9d40ffb066454\"},\"description\":\"I recently discovered a new shopping method that helps me save on groceries. So far I've cut my grocery budget by 20% and I rarely go to the store!\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/save-on-groceries\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/#\/schema\/person\/4e0cc17af167f72194b9d40ffb066454\",\"name\":\"Toni Herrbach\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22317"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23157,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22317\/revisions\/23157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehappyhousewife.com\/frugal-living\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}