Eat Well, Spend Less Round-up and Giveaway!
This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Lynda, our winner of the Kroger card! A big thank you to all who entered.
Last week in our Eat Well, Spend Less series, nine of us bloggers shared a close look at where shopped for groceries and how we made things work for our particular area of the continent. Many things such as budget, proximity to markets, time and location all factored into our decisions and it was very interesting to read about the various approaches to this everyday task.
I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how many of you enjoyed our virtual shopping trip and had lots of fun showing you my local haunts in my post, Simple Bites Goes Shopping. I do feel fortunate to have such fantastic grocery shopping resources so close to where I live.
In this post, I’ll give a quick recap of Eat Well, Spend Less Part 3: Making the Most of Where You Live. I encourage you to visit the post of the blogger closest to your area, as they give shopping tips specifically for their region.
Also, we’ve got a great giveaway for you, so don’t go anywhere before you comment for your chance to win.
Eat Well, Spend Less: Making the Most of Where You Live
1. Our Texas contingency, Amy, showed us how to save money on groceries in Texas, including a couple of great resources for buying locally or buying in bulk.
“I realized we were spending more money on groceries than ever before. How does one go from a modest Southern California grocery budget to a Texas-sized disaster? It all came down to a lifestyle shift.”
Amy shared how she learned to shop intentionally and use coupons. It’s an inspiring read!
Read the rest: How I Eat Well & Spend Less in Texas.
2. Colorado Carrie gave readers a fantastic overview of how she shops at up to 10 different stores to get the best deals.
“Colorado is probably not the place that would initially come to mind when you think of places to get great grocery deals. Yes, we do have a lot of great local producers of beef, dairy, produce, and more, but we’re not exactly famous for a fabulous growing season…For whatever reason, though, we do seem to have a lot of grocery stores that are fairly competitive with each other.”
Carrie shops a lot like I do, hitting up everything from the ethnic markets to Costco to get what she needs. This really works for us.
3. Jessica lives in the state with the highest cost of living, California.
“We can’t determine what the store charges, but we can decide how to cook and how to eat. If our family, living in an expensive state, can spend less than the national average, you can, too. Really.”
An impressive numbers geek, Jessica shows us how she frugally feeds her family of eight and shares strategies for saving money in her expensive state.
Read the rest: Saving Money on Food in Southern California.
4. Ever the practical one, Katie G shares her two-store strategy and dishes up whip-smart shopping tips that apply to everyone.
“Now that I am essentially a “working mom,” I’ve realized how precious my time is. I don’t even want to spend an extra minute at the grocery store if I don’t have to.”
Read the rest: Eat Well, Spend Less: How I Shop to Save.
5. Over in Michigan, Katie K shares a super awesome strategy for taking advantage of all four seasons.
“I live in Michigan, where we have all four seasons, sometimes three in one day…My reliance on the Farmer’s Market in our city has vastly increased as I’ve committed more and more to eating real food and buying locally.”
Katie details how she preserves the harvest and finds ‘real food’ super deals.
Read the rest: Food Sources in Michigan and the Midwest.
6. Mandi is on the East Coast like me, but lives much more rurally.
“Because we live 25-30 minutes from the closest grocery store, we probably spend more time preparing for our grocery shopping than we do actually grocery shopping. Forgetting a key ingredient throws the whole meal plan out of whack, so I try really hard not to let that happen!”
She’s got some terrific strategies for keeping the grocery budget low even as food prices rise that are applicable no matter where you live.
Read the Rest: Grocery Shopping When You Live in the Boonies.
7. Shaina shops in the Midwest to feed her family of six and offers solid, practical advice to other families in this area.
“Living in the Midwest poses a few challenges as you start thinking about grocery shopping. The first and probably most prominent challenge is that of local food availability during the winter months. These definite seasonal shifts also lead to seasonal shopping differences for our family.”
Don’t miss Shaina’s farmers’ market shopping tips and precious vlog of the family’s outing to the market.
Read the rest: Eat Well, Spend Less: Shopping in the Midwest.
8. Tammy detailed three important things about the way she shops in the Pacific Northwest and openly declares her loyalty to Costco!
“I love shopping at Costco. With a growing family, we just don’t have trouble using those 5-pound bags of organic veggies or big bags of dried beans. Is Costco frugal? I certainly think it can be, and I’ve been getting the majority of our groceries at Costco for a couple years now.”
Read the rest: My money-saving, time-saving, healthy-eating method.
$50 Kroger Gift Card Giveaway
Kroger, our sponsor for this series, is giving away nine $50 gift cards, one on each of the Eat Well, Spend Less blogs, so head to each of their sites below for multiple chances to win!
- Supermarkets: Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith’s, King Soopers, Fry’s, QFC, City Market, Hilander, Owen’s, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker’s, Gerbes, Scott’s Food & Pharmacy
- Multi-department stores: Fred Meyer
- Dillons Marketplace, Fry’s Marketplace, Kroger Marketplace, Smith’s Marketplace
- Price-impact warehouse stores: Food 4 Less, Foods Co
Note: Don’t have one of these stores in your area? I’ll provide you with a $50 Visa card instead.
Enter to Win
*This giveaway has now ended*
Every reader has four methods available to enter this giveaway:
1. Leave a comment sharing how you eat well & spend less. Do you coupon? Shop multiple stores? Do you break your budget down by category (i.e. produce, meat, staples)? How does where you live affect your grocery budget? What is your favorite frugal meal?
2. Follow @KrogerCo and @simplebites on Twitter and tweet the following:
Enter to win a $50 @KrogerCo gift card from @simplebites http://bit.ly/g9N51L #eatwellspendless
Be sure to come back and leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.
3. “Like” Kroger on Facebook. Be sure to come back and leave a separate comment letting me know you’ve done so.
4. Enter 8 more times on the other participating blogs:
- Life as Mom
- Food…Your Way
- Food for My Family
- goodLife {eats}
- Kingdom First Mom
- Springs Bargains
- Kitchen Stewardship
- Tammy’s Recipes
Prize:
(1) $50 Kroger gift card
This giveaway ends at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 28. The winner will be selected randomly and notified by email, and this post will be updated with their name as well.
Wait! You can still enter our Queen for a Day giveaway! One lucky winner, eight special prizes – don’t miss it!
I liked Kroger on Facebook.
My grocery budget is around $400/month for a family of seven. I love couponing and making my money work for me to include being debt free!
I use coupons when I can, but those are hard for find for meats and veggies. I often go the grocery store on my way home from work and see what meats they have on clearance. At 2:00 every day, they mark down all the meats that expire that day or the next day.
I price-match mostly, with the occasional coupon. But I only use coupons on things I would buy anyway. I’m not the type to try to make money on them, and stock up on stuff I don’t really need.
We eat lots of beans and rice to stay healthy and frugal.
I’ve learned to do more from scratch- eliminate the nasty food additives. Thanks!
I use coupons religiously and shop sales together! We get all the good food for a fraction of the costs without coupons/sales!
I follow both on twitter @pittsy82 and tweeted http://twitter.com/#!/pittsy82/status/62954828938219520
I “LIKE” Kroger on FB (Nicole Pitts)
I shop multiple stores, use coupons only for things I need, buy from the bulk food items in the stores that offer them and also try to shop early morning to take advantage of clearance items.
Ouch, our grocery bill in Alaska is high, so hard to get it low, prices are just higher here. I shop for staples at Walmart, do find cheaper prices there. I joined an organic food buying club that I love and so buy all produce there. I try to source local eggs, milk and meats. If successful hunting, we have moose or caribou meat. I used to coupon, but found it took too much time. I’m trying to eat out of pantry and freezer more, to use what I have rather than plan out new menus with complicated ingredients every week. I grow a huge garden and try to freeze/preserve that. We pick berries, we grow rhubarb, I make bread. Our favorite frugal meal is grilled ham n cheese, with potato chips, and maybe some veggies!
I just liked Kroger on FB!
I buy bulk foods, use coupons on what I can (while avoiding processed foods), and make most everything from scratch to eat well on less.
I use coupons, shop at 2-3 stores each week, and stock up as much as possible when things are on sale for a great price. I also want to start growing my own food, but I haven’t done that yet.
I use coupons as often as possible and match them with the local stores to maximize my dollar! I often shop 2-3 stores a week. I also have a garden in my community garden!
We shop with coupons, make categories and most importantly cook from scratch. Its getting harder to make one income do it all and I couldn’t do it with out these great bloggers!!
I’m an avid couponer, participate in a couple coupon-swap groups and make lunches for my husband (to take to work) and son (to take to school), rather than them eating out or using the cafeteria.
i coupon shop and try to cook from scratch as much as possible!
I eat well and spend less by buying what’s on sale. My family eats mostly fruits and vegetables anymore, so we really need to watch those prices. We get creative with what is available at a good price each week.
I spend less by shopping multiple stores (Trader Joe’s, Sunflower Farmer’s Market, Costco and Fry’s) and mostly sale shopping. Plus I’m getting into couponing a tiny bit…I’m not one of those crazy couponers, but I’d say I’ve been average $5-7 a week in savings, which adds up!
I shop at muliple stores and use lots of coupons!
Oh, and I’m already a fan of Kroger/Fry’s on FB!
I have really enjoyed this series! My favorite way to “eat well, spend less” is to cost-analyze all my meals. The ones that are cheaper per serving get used more often! 🙂 I also keep a running list of how much I typically pay for all of our staple grocery items. If I find what looks like a good deal, I can quickly double check to make sure it really is. Then I stock up!
I shop at several stores and shop the loss leaders.
We grow our own vegetables in the summer to save $ and eat well. I also shop the circulars, and know which store has the best prices for items. We love to eat bean dishes and tofu that we buy at our neighborhood Vietnamese store for 50 cents for one cake of tofu!
We use coupons and grow food. I am aware of what we need and stock up when things are on sale. If our budget is tight for the week, my husband goes shopping. He really sticks to the list 🙂
I make a menu and shopping list of all ingredients I might need. Then I shop my pantry first and cross off anything I don’t need to buy this week. When I go to the store I try to shop for just the things on my list. I also keep an ongoing list of things that are close to being empty or that I need to get on my fridge and double check that with my list, adding the most important for the week.
I am already a fan of Kroger. I have just recently started couponing and I can see why it is important to get a price list going, so when the advertisements come out I can see of the sale is really a “sale”.
I love couponing and I buy extra when there is a good sale going and I shop around to get the best deal. We also have a Costco membership but we only buy certain items and are constantly checking prices to make sure we are getting our money’s worth. We also garden and can or freeze as much as possible. We get fresh eggs every day from our chickens and fresh milk from our goats. We also buy a whole or half portion of a grass fed, organic cow to put in the freezer. It is cheaper to buy a whole or a half than it is to buy a quarter but sometimes our budget only allows for a quarter portion, so we find someone to go in with us so that we can split it up ourselves and take advantage of the savings. I have budgeted by categories in the past and have been thinking a lot about going back to that, especially in the meat category.
And, I already “like” King Soopers on Facebook 😉
What don’t I do!! Heavy Duty Couponer, hit all the stores to cherry pick. Process my own foods, very little pre packaged. Major freezer cooker. My kids look at me like I have 2 heads when I buy prepackaged, love fruits and veggies and to help me in the kitchen!
I shop sales, use coupons, grow some of my own, have joined a CSA for this year, cook most of our meals from scratch, buy in bulk from Sam’s, eat mainly healthy foods and shop the local farmer’s markets. In short I drive myself nearly insane trying to be healthy, value-oriented, and support locally grown! It’s a full-time job!
I use coupons and stick to a list based on my weekly meal plan
I liked you on facebook
I have started making more meals from scratch and using a weekly meal plan. I recently got in touch with a local farmer for buying chickens and eggs – lovely organic food that is well worth the cost!
I coupon and shop at Fry’s and Safeway. I tend to cherry pick the best deals!
I coupon!
like Kroger on facebook
tweet
http://twitter.com/#!/huffychic/status/62982620253913088
I do some couponing, shopping sales and stocking up.
Make grocery lists and follow them, shop at Wal-Mart, don’t let my husband go shopping (as we end up spending more if we both shop), keep “necessary” items stocked (so that we don’t run out and pick them up at a more expensive store), and of course, follow blogs like this to be inspired! Thanks!
We use coupons and reuse all leftovers (bring on creativity). We also aim to eat 3 meatless meals a week.
I plan a menu every week and we don’t eat very much meat–maybe 1 or 2 nights a week.
I save by buying ahead when things are on sale–aka stockpiling, but not to the extreme! I do use some coupons.
This would be great to win! I’m still trying to figure out how to lower my grocery bill…living in Alaska, with high food prices, makes it difficult. My starting point is to meal plan right now.
I liked Kroger on FB!
Our favorite frugal meal must be a Lentil Sausage Soup or Sloopy Joes in a bowl. They are both so tasty and almost all of us like it.
Here is the recipe the Sloppy Joes: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2009/12/the-healthy-1-menu-sloppy-joes-in-a-bowl.html
The lady at thenourishinggourmet.com has a great list of wonderful recipes!
Where we live now I have not been able to consistently save enough to even pay for the newspaper! So I mostly shop Costco and belong to a CSA. One month I go to Trader Joes, the next to Central Market.
I cook from scratch, and we eat in a most of the time.
It works to save money that way for us.
Thank you so much for doing this series of articles, and for the giveaway – it would mean so much right now!
I’ve been trying to eat better and spend less by: couponing, shopping the best deals at all the stores, and eliminating eating out. My next step is going to be to start cutting back on meat, as soon as I’m able to go shop for some alternative proteins.
I coupon and sale shop and shop several different stores. More and more lately Fred Meyer is my main store though so this gift card would be great! Our go to frugal meal is spaghetti with clam sauce! Its my kids favorite meal and pretty much costs the price of spaghetti and a can of minced clams. Add salad and bread and there you have it!