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, too! 🙂
and I tweeted about it 🙂
Liked king soopers on facebook, Steph G Colo.
To save money on REAL Food I always look for the Kroger Manager Specials on meats and veggies!!–FB Friend!!
We shop multiple stores. We use coupons, and I go by our local KS weekly to get the bread they have marked down – often for 69 cents but last week they had marked some down to 49 cents. Can’t beat that!
We don’t have Krogers stores around here…but, my best way to eat well and spend less is by shopping the farmer’s markets in the last half hour before closing. They are more likely to knock some $$$ off the price per lb and give some special deals (not always, but it doesn’t hurt to try).
To eat well & spend less I find the most affordable & best selction of locally grown foods to be at sprouts. I then try to shope at one or two other stores for sale & coupon match ups.
One of my favorite ways to prepare foods is Mexican flavorings… the flavors are so versatile. A basic rice and beans with lots of onion, pepper, tomato, seasonings, and of course lots of cheese.
I shop for produce at Aldi and Sprouts and stock up when it’s on sale. I freeze as much as I can for when it’s not on sale.
I’m trying to shop at the market more often. We don’t coupon but we check the grocery fliers and see which store has the most things we need on sale. Also, we are planning a pretty big vegetable garden this summer and are hoping to preserve a lot from it too.
Love your site!!! I coupon and shop multiple stores to eat well and spend less!!
I do shop multiple stores, but am finding more and more than I’m spending at least half our budget with farmers (meat, dairy) and half and Costco! I wish Costco had more organic produce. My ideal is to buy all our food directly from the farmer but that seems a ways off for us.
I stock up on items that are on sale and use coupons.
I buy everything I can with coupons and we just started with a farm co-op, so fresh foods for much less.
I buy in bulk whenever possible – and make homemade everything I possibly can!
I follow you both and I tweeted!
and I like Kroger on FB (and in real life, too!!!).
The best I do now is that I meal plan. I would like to either join a CSA or shop at farmers’ markets more in the future.
I have been bringing my lunch to work. It saves a ton of money I find myself eating much healthier.
Wow, I could certainly use that! I save money by buying mainly in bulk, and buying whole foods (dried beans, lentils, flour, etc.) and making as much as possible from scratch. I also buy eggs, milk, and honey from local farms.
I “liked” Kroger on facebook! Thank you!
Tweeted, as well!
I use coupons, shop on sale and try to use up the things I have stocked up in the freezer/pantry.
Every once in awhile I clean out the back corners of the pantry and put those items on the counter. I try to cook something with them within the week, so the “lost” items get used up!
I always making a weekly menu plan , price check before shopping and use coupon all the time.
http://twitter.com/#!/HappyTina0115/status/63080413177982976
I have found since I started planning my menu and making a shopping list, my visits to the store are way more efficient when it come to both time and money. I also plant a garden that ends up saving me tons in the spring and summer… and I know exactly where my family’s food is coming from.
We try and find good boxed meals so they aren’t as expensive. we do shop at multiple stores sometimes though.
I go to Sunflower for produce, Vitamin Cottage for bulk, Safeway and Costco for everything else (however I wish that i could spilt and share more from Costco!)Walgreens (since we don’t have CVS or RiteAid nearby) covers a lot of non-food items. If there’s a special somewhere else that’s worth the drive — I’m on it! Fav cheap meal: pita pizzas.
I plan our meals in advance, so as I’m prepared.
I live overseas, and usually head to the market for the freshest homegrown produce.
It’s customary in this part of the world to haggle with the market sellers – they expect it, and it usually pays off pretty well!
I coupon and shop multiple stores.
I “liked” the Kroger facebook page;).
I save money by combining sale items with coupons. I subscribe to 3 Sunday newspapers and have saved a lot of money by cutting out the coupons. I print coupons. I shop the discounted meat section and stock up. I plan my menus around store sales. I do a cost breakdown of each of our meals. I make everything that I can from scratch. I know where the best deals are and keep a notebook of unit prices for comparison shopping.
I eat well and spend less by buying produce that’s in season!
We have King’s Sooper here! I use coupons and buy gift cards to other stores to get the gas points (I have 4 x $1.00 off per gallon now!). Most people do not think to buy airline gift cards, just got back from taking 7 out of state for a funeral. Bought Southwest using my rewards credit card (save %5), you get double gas points on the gift cards…you can get 35 gallons so multiple people in my family go when we gass up! $35 x 4 is another $140 saved. I love King Sooper’s!
We’ve started to coupon again. I spend 30-60 minutes a week looking for online coupons for the specific items on our list that may have them. So far I’m saving $8+ for my time, which is a decent return on the investment.
I buy in bulk and avoid processed foods as much as possible. I try to can or freeze perishables so that I can buy them in bulk too.
We focus on buying produce locally and in season. We use coupons on non-grocery items so we have more money to spend on whole foods.
I generally shop at different stores and buy bulk (from the bins) as much as possible.
Where I live in NW PA our shopping choices are very limited. I try to shop at places like Sam’s Club or BJ’s to stock up on pantry staples. I perfer BJ’s because they take manufactures coupons plus thier store coupons so the savings really add up! I get 3 Sunday papers so I get an assortment of coupons that I use every time I shop. I try to use coupons with sales to save the most, thinking ahead & stocking up (not hoarding) is another good way to save money. I will not buy anything unless it either on sale or I have a coupon! I love summertime when I shop the local Farmers Market weekly. I also love to stop at roadside farms stands where you can get the best fresh produce & fruit to can, freeze and make into the best meals all year!
I tweeted on Twitter! I want to win!
I liked Krogers on FB! Please enter me to win!
I use coupons combined with sales and stock up when things are rock bottom so I rarely ever pay full price or run out of a staple. We also try to grow some of our veges and herbs from seed. One of our favorite frugal meals is black bean soup. All the kids love it and we dress it up with what ever is in the fridge, tomatoes, yoghurt, tortilla chips (or broken taco shells), cheese, avaocado, cilanto.
I meal plan – it’s the best way to keep track of spending and cut back when needed, while still eating healthy!
I buy my staples in bulk and always on sale, and I use inexpensive fresh ingredients like cabbage, sweet potatoes, and such but mix up my recipes so I don’t get sick of any one ingredient!
We eat well and spend less by couponing and shopping at multiple stores 🙂 *Thanks* for the giveaway!
Following @KrogerCo and @simplebites on Twitter and Tweeted the giveaway
I Like Kroger on Facebook
Depending what I need that week for food I shop the farmers market for my fruits and vegetables. I get a lot of local and organic foods. I like the 10 for 10 deals at Kroger, very helpful!
I live in a small town in CO. Prices are high, quality is….well, not always there. We travel once a month to a city to stock up on necessities at several stores and do look for specials. We love mexican meals and tortillas! I haven’t seen a Kroger where we shop.