Groceries

I plan my meals & buy only whats on sale (except for stuff we need ie milk, bread, eggs). Aldi has great prices on just about everything but I don't buy their red meat. For name brand stuff not on sale I shop at Shop n Save. For me the big saver is making my list buy the grocery ads. Hope this helps and good luck saving money.

I LOVE Aldi's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the money I save on milk, bread and eggs more than pays for the gas I use to get there! Bread is .59 - milk is usually about .75 LESS than dierbrgs or Shop and Save! For a Family of 4 I spend about 60$ a week there!

It really depends on what you buy and what quality of food you are looking for. We tend to avoid products with MSG, high fructose corn syrup, and other artificial additives. We also favor many organic items. A lot of people have the impression that Trader Joe's is a pricy specialty store, but they beat out Schnucks and Dierbergs on a regular basis, and, the quality is often far superior. They do not have a great variety of produce, but they do have good produce.

What I appreciate most is that the frozen, easy-to-prepare foods are top quality. Their fish sticks and breaded fillets aren't greasy like other brands, for example. I can come home from work and toss together a meal that really feels healthy and homemade without all the chopping and time. But, if you have favorite brands, like Foldgers coffee, you won't find them there. They do have bakery items, but no Ding-Dongs or Little Debbies. The more I try their brands, however, the more I find I prefer them. And, most importantly to me, when I do buy something like soda, it has real sugar in it. Every day products like ketchup and BBQ sauce don't have high fructose corn syrup in it. I do still stop and get a few other items at other stores, but I spend far less when I shop at Trader Joe's and am far more satisfied with what I buy. The whole family agrees!

Another great benefit is that the store is small. I can do my grocery shopping in half the time! And, you won't find friendlier employees anywhere. They seem so relaxed and talk to you like they really are your neighbors. They go out of their way to be helpful and hospitable. I'm afraid Schnucks is not the friendliest store in town, no matter how much they may claim to be! I always feel like the clerks at Schnucks are not happy to even be there. It's depressing!

I spend about 230 every two weeks. I buy very little junk food because it is not necessary (only the junk my husband wants for his lunch). So that is basically the necessities. I do pick up a few things in between the 2 weeks too. I dont use coupons though, I need to. Never been a coupon person but I used to be able to spend about 160-180 every two weeks but everything has gone up!

The best thing I would recommend is going over the sale ads and making a list. Then, when you go to the store, try hard to stick to your list. That will save you a lot of money on things you don't need. If you are a name brand shopper, coupons can also save you money. It's hard to plan meals, but I try to buy meat when it goes on sale and then freeze it. I buy ground beef in bulk and then separate it into 1/2 pound packs in the freezer so i can just grab it and defrost when i need it. I tend to shop at Dierbergs myself since it is close, but will go to Schnucks or Shop N Save when they have good sales. I'm not really sure what a good average budget would be, but I know my mom was able to feed 4 on $200 every 2 weeks. She was a sale shopper and also shopped at Aldi and Sam's club. She would stock up when things were on sale and try to plan meals around it. Good luck!

It is a love/hate relationship. I love the food, I hate I have to spend money on it. When Dierberg's has a 15 hour sale or something similiar, I don't miss it. You cannot afford to. Otherwise, I shop at shop and save. It is so much cheaper. I was actually able to save money by making the weekly menu. I spend over 250 every time I go to the store and if I make a menu, it is under 100. I actually eat what I buy. I can look in my pantry on any given day see so many side dish packets and wonder when did I buy those!?! I went to the store about 1 1/2 weeks ago. I planned in days for leftovers so things wouldn't go to waste. It is really nice to only have to think about what you are going to make for dinner one night a week instead of seven. I don't mind cooking, but i HATE deciding what to make. My sister took it one step further and bought a cute chalkboard for her kitchen... I also do the same thing with my kids lunches. I make a menu so that I am not giving them PBJ's every day. You'd be surprised what a thermos can do. The possibilities. I am also an avid coupon cutter, however, if you don't mind off brands, sometimes they are cheaper than the name brand with the coupon. Also, homemade cookies and treats can help save major moolah. I'm making gooey butter cookies today...so much cheaper than buying them and you get more!

Right now my husband is deployed so we are only feeding 4 (three kids and myself) and I spend about $200 every three weeks or so at the regular grocery, $200 a month at SAMS and this usually leaves us leftovers when it comes time to plan for the next three weeks. I usually look through all the ads and make trips to all the stores. While the gas is an issue, I think I get good deals. You can get a better idea on planning through the grocery game online. It has helped me with planning and dropped my money out considerably.
I have learned that making a meal plan and a list and actually sticking to it is what makes it work. Of course I build in "easy meals" and even eat out meals into our plan because of schedules.

I have all teens at home ages 13 - 16, and of courrse not everyone is home every night for dinner, but nowadays a normal dinner is four of us instead of the usual six. I spend between $130 and $180 a week for groceries at Shop 'n Save. I try to shop on Thursdays because every so often they have "coupon Thursday" which means you automatically get $10 off if your bill is it's over $50.

I think you could save more at Sams (if you can control yourself!!! I always over-spent when I went there because of all the great deals!) or Wal Mart. If you're shopping every two weeks, it's probably worth the gas money. (Then again, you're putting money in Wal Mart's pockets and if you oppose their labor practices, you may not want to do that.)

If you have a Target near you, they also have some incredibly low prices on certain foods, like bread and other dry foods. But not milk - they have the highest price on milk.

Speaking of milk - QuikTrip has the best price on milk - better than Shop 'N Save. The way my teens glug down milk, I just buy it when I buy gas.

When all my kids are home my bill is around $250 a week, so $1,000. My two oldest have been away to college since the ugly has hit so I wont know till Christmas break what it has adjusted to. There is some shopping I will only do at dierbergs, the remainder is Costco with a quick buy at Wal Mart if Costco is closed or I just can't get there. You always have to factor in the value of your time when considering going to a store that is not close to home.

Oh, oops, I read that as a family of four kids. With the two oldest gone I am spending around $100 a week. Teenagers eat their weight in food every day. The money I spend on room and board is far less than if they were here.

I too live right next to Dierbergs and Schnucks. You can EASILY spend 35 - 40% more at Dierbergs than at Shop and Save, and about 30 % more than at WalMart (I always spend MORE at WalMart cause I end up buying other things). I live in Creve Coeur and drive the 10 miles to Shop and Save off of Harvester in St. Peters. It's well worth it (and gas is going down :-) I make a weekly menu of what we are going to make for dinner (you'll also have to consider breakfast and lunches as a SAHM). I then make my grocery list from that menu listing all ingredients needed for each meal. I usually add in a few "quick" meals as back ups like spaghetti or hot dogs / tater tots in case we are running late one day (it's cheaper than ordering out). I shop WEEKLY (which is a pain) because I've found that we throw out less food that way. I try NOT to take my 6 year old son 'cause we will ALWAYS end up with extra stuff if he goes. I also leave a little wiggle room so that if steak is too expensive, I can replace it with pork or fish in a meal. My cabinet gets pretty bare by the end of the week as does my fridge but it means we actually needed everything we purchased which is a good feeling (much better than throwing out old food from the fridge). I have been told to make the meal plan from the weekly sale fliers cause that way you maximize on specials on meat and stuff but I just don't have that much time in my day......I'm also an avid coupon clipper...it's kinda lame but if you pay attention you can really save money on the stuff you actually buy (pop tarts at my house are a big deal!). All told we spend about $125 / week for a family of 4. Hope this helps!
Good Luck

well I just heard about this food "service" called Angel Food Ministries. You can purchase a box of food for like $30 and you can also get grill boxes which are all meat and from what I've been told it is really good. If you got to angelfoodministries.com I'm sure you can get more information. I have not tried it myself yet but plan to. It is open to the public no matter income or where you live. No questions are asked and it isn't for the poor or homeless by any means. Hope it helps for you. Also I must mention...My husband and I are taking a finincial class. I know it sounds so boring and I was not easy to talk into going but...it is called Finincial Peace University by Dave Ramsey (the radio talk show host) I must say it has changed my life and I will never be in debt again. He has a way of explaining things that sort of make you go I get it now, ya know. Anyway this program has changed everything for me and it isn't just for people in serious debt. We only had about 5,000 not including our house but in 8 weeks we have paid off more than half and don't feel ANY crunch in budget. Just a thought. Please let me know if you have any questions.

-M. A.

I love Aldi's! I have 3 boys and a 220 pound hubby, so we go through a lot of food. I spend about $100 a week at Aldis, and an additional $20 or so at Schnucks or Dierbergs to get meat (I don't like the red meats at Aldis). I've shopped around a lot, and with combining coupons and sales at Schnucks or Dierbergs, I can do almost as well at Aldis, but it takes a lot of time, and I really have to plan my meals around the sales. Most weeks, I don't have the time or energy, so off to Aldis it is.

Angel Food Ministries is a wonderful program that anyone can participate in. Everyone qualifies!! All you have to do is call the location near where you live and place an order and pay for it. You do have to pay in advance. The food in great and it has cut down on my grocery bill. I have been ordering for 2 years and never had a problem with the food.

In Nov. they have a Thanksgiving Meal package!! The whole meal!! Check it out and depending on where you are located, you might be talking to me, as I'm a contact person for my church.

J.

Hello,

I used to shop only at Dierbergs...until I decided to try Shop N Save. If you don't mind bagging your own groceries, you will save money shopping there. Plus, normally one Thursday a month they offer $10 off if you spend at least $50. The $10 off and taking the time to cut coupons can help quite a bit. Sam's is another good place to save. You'll probably spend a lot there, but since they sell mostly bulk size items, it should last a bit longer and you will save in the long run. Hope this info helps!

F.,

I live very close to Dierbergs too. I have always shopped there and refused to go elsewhere myself. That has all changed with the pressure of the economy. I believe we as familys really need to start saving money where and when we can. I drove myself to ALDI the other day, and guess what.....a whole cart of food filled cost me $84.88. Not only that, I was very pleased to find out everything was great quality. Milk, veggies, eggs, butter, cheese, fun yogurts for my kids, pasta, bread, it was all good. That cart at Dierbergs would have cost me over $150.00. Quite a savings. Give it a try, I am sure you pleased!

The best tip I have is to plan your meals ahead. I know it's hard sometimes to find the time to sit down and do it, but when we do, I know it saves us a lot because we're not buying things we don't need. Also, I try to plan meals that share some of the same ingredients, especially produce items that will go bad quickly. We usually spend around $75-$100 per week at Sams (some weeks more if we run out of several big items at once), then another $30-$50 at other grocery stores. As other people said, Aldis does have the best prices on some good basics, but of course there are things they don't carry, so I usually buy the rest at Shop n Save. I think Schnucks and Dierbergs are way overpriced (though I understand the point about gas). I guess it just depends where you live. Best of luck to you!