Disclosure: In any review for a product or service, products or compensation may have been provided to me to help facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and honest. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Guidelines. Please see “Disclose” and "Terms of Use" tabs for more information.
It’s quite the conundrum. Food prices continue to go up, but your growing family is hungry! And if you’ve
got a big family, keeping everyone happy and fed can be a real struggle. Salaries are not keeping pace with
inflation, and the sluggish economy isn’t helping anyone. So what can you do to feed your big family well,
without breaking the bank?
Get a bigger shopping cart. The big box stores aren’t simply a fad, they’re a lifesaver for big families.
Buying in bulk will save you a ton over buying the same products in a regular supermarket. And most of
the big box stores have membership programs designed to save you money, and branded credit cards that
help you earn points towards purchases. So when it comes to any of the staples in your house, buy in bulk.
Not only will it save you money, it will save you shopping time.
Have an eye for circulars. Every week, there are countless items on sale in every grocery store in the
country. But you’ll have to become an expert coupon clipper if you want to take advantage. Seek out the
circulars for every supermarket in your area. Make sure you have each of their club cards, so you can
take advantage of their daily savings. But beyond newspapers and circulars, there are now tons of online
sites packed with coupons to national and regional supermarket chains. Do some research and bookmark
the best ones. Make it a weekly habit to scour the web for all possible coupons before you shop, and the
money you save in your budget will be more than worth the extra time.
If it grows, it’s free. It may be time for you to try out your green thumb. Growing your own fruit and
vegetable garden will save you boatloads on your grocery bill. Not only will you have fresh, pesticide-
free produce for your family’s healthy enjoyment, but you’ll spend less time in the supermarket. Grow a
smaller herb garden as well, and save the cash you’d spend on overpriced fresh herbs in the market. If
you’re lucky, you may even end up with more food than your family can eat, giving you the ability to sell it
off curbside, or just help another family get through some tough times.
Forswear the name brands. It’s time we said it. Name brands don’t taste better, they don’t have better
ingredients, they simply spend more on branding and advertising. Start switching out the name brand
groceries you’re used to for the generic brands. Every supermarket has their own brand, and they’re often
just as good as the name brand. Some supermarkets even have generic organic brands, which means you
could purchase organic food for roughly the same price as non-organic name brands. Your kids may miss
their Cheerios for a little while, but once they realize that switching to Honey O’s means they get to go to
the movies this weekend, they should come around.
Point pointers. Many credit cards have points programs that can help you save on daily purchases. In
Europe’s credit cards UK program, the dollars you spend turn into discounts at major stores. Many
American cards give you cash back for regular purchases at supermarkets, putting it back in your pocket
for next time. Research all the credit card points programs and find the one that fits your needs the
closest.
Love the idea of growing your own fruits and veggies! Great family activity!
You couldn’t have said it better! we are a family of six and I have a hard time spending under 800+ a month for food and toiletries. The only thing I would add is be sure to check the prices of the name brand vs store brand. I have found COUNTLESS times in my store that the name brand will be a few cents cheaper on regular price and WAY cheaper if on sale. I have no idea why that is, because it makes no marketing sense whatsoever, but I have found I often am buying a better brand for next to nothing when I pair a coupon. That’s just an fyi though. I certainly buy all staples from flour, sugar, mayo, etc at the box store. I only have to buy every few months and it is so much cheaper!
I came from a large family, seven kids & Mom & Dad, I remember when it was dinner time, you better be there, because if not you might or might not get to eat, so you didn’t miss dinner
Great tips! I come from a family of 10 kids so you can imagine my parents were always trying to figure out ways to cut the grocery bill. We shopped at Costco a lot (only it was called Price Club back then).
Now, in shopping for my own family I make sure that we shop frugally. There are actually certain store brands where I live that are much healthier than their name brand counterparts so that is a nice plus.
Great tips. Never can have too many.
We are a family of 7, and grocery shopping is actually quite reasonable for us.
One reason is that we live close to 20 different supermarkets that are always fighting for our business by offering low prices.
The second reason is that we buy in bulk, as you mentioned. Do we really need 40 packages of chicken? No, not right now…but we freeze them and use them when we do!
SnyMed
http://www.snymed.blogspot.com
Very good ideas. It is harder to make that food stretch and taking a deep breath and buying in bulk is probably more cost effective even though at first you think your spending more you really aren’t because your getting more so the cost is cut by not going back and re-buying.
THese are great tips. I am always looking for ways to save money.
Great tips!! I am always looking for ways to cut costs, I can’t wait to try some of your idea’s out!!
~Nikki
Since my boys have gotten older shopping has become quite a task. I used to spend ( way to much) $300 a week but now those same 2 steaks or 2 packages of cutlets don’t come close to feeding us all. I need to save in all the ways I can. I can’t imagine what it will be like when they are teenage boys!