[ready4change]

Hi!
We are trying to reduce our debt and figuring out ways to cut expenses. We have a grocery expense of about 150 /week. We are a family of 4 and I want to know on average does this sound about right or is this high? Is there ways to cut down grocery bills such as going wholesale? Thoughts?

[NavGabeShiJude]

We tend to go wholesale for the things we use a lot of such as milk, cereal, toilet paper, diapers, wipes etc....
This has cut down a huge amount on our grocery bills, but it does kind of suck on the months when they all need to be bought again.

[DealDebbie]

Check out the Deals blog for tips on how to save on groceries. Really, coupon use that is systemized can cut your bill.

Buying whole sale is good, also growing veges where possible. Cooking your own food instead of fast food or frozen meals is also a must.

Your budget sounds normal, depending on the ages of your kids. Teens eat a lot, and if you have expenses for baby formula or baby needs, that brings it up too.

Have you heard about the All You Grocery Challenge? You have until tomorrow to enter. They want to see if you can feed your family for four weeks on a budget of $25 per person per week. The prize is a $1000 grocery card and a year's supply of Knorr side dishes. And lots of publicity!

[Zamara]

I agree with planting your own veggies if you have the room. Also cooking at home instead of eating out and getting frozen meals are cheaper and at times...healthier for everyone. Sometimes buying items in bulk can save money as long as you'll need those items and they won't go bad.
When it comes to coupons, they come in handy. I don't know if you live near a Safeway, but Safeway has the option of loading electronic coupons onto the store savings card from home. Just have the card scanned at checkout to get the coupon savings. Has anyone tried this yet?

[mcmama]

I wish we had a safeway near, because they have such great promos. I love this kind of stuff.

[poliscmjr]

That's a great idea that Safeway is doing. Wish we had one around here for that. I'm sure a lot can be saved that way.

[mollymae]

We spend about £130 a week. I've tried to cut it down but we just end up running out of stuff midweek.

[Zamara]

I wish there was a Safeway near you guys!
We also have coupons you can use when ordering groceries online. The coupons can be used for the home delivery service.

[SpencerB]

Originally Posted by Zamara

I agree with planting your own veggies if you have the room. Also cooking at home instead of eating out and getting frozen meals are cheaper and at times...healthier for everyone. Sometimes buying items in bulk can save money as long as you'll need those items and they won't go bad.
When it comes to coupons, they come in handy. I don't know if you live near a Safeway, but Safeway has the option of loading electronic coupons onto the store savings card from home. Just have the card scanned at checkout to get the coupon savings. Has anyone tried this yet?

Planting your own veggies is fairly easy if you have the room for it. I love being able to get "Free" food from the garden. Cooking is a great tip as are coupons. I've never heard of loading electronic coupons. I just clip from the paper or use printable grocery coupons. You still have to clip them but you don't have to sort through the paper to find them.

[DealDebbie]

It really is no problem to sort through the newspaper, especially since there are weekly previews of what is included in most papers, and you can use these lists to plan and sort.

You can load coupons from Upromise on loyalty cards from some stores. One question - has anyone loaded the coupons on a card, then gone to the store and used paper coupons for the same items? Do they accept both, or do they reject if you are using two coupons for one item?