Grocery Saving Tips

Now that a gallon of milk costs as much as a gallon of gas, it pays to save everywhere you can when it comes to groceries. To say that grocery shopping has become an obession of mine is an understatement. I refuse to buy anything that isn't on sale or that I don't have a coupon for. It is just crazy how expensive feeding a family of five can be! It could also be that I don't work right now, and this coupon thing flexes my brain a little bit. I enjoy the challenge of working within a budget and seeing just how far I can stretch a dollar.
So this next little section will be devoted to all of my devious plans to pay as little as possible at the food store checkout (mwah!ha! ha!) There is a lot of info here, so I'm going to break it out for you into sections, the first being...

1. Shop at your local Aldi store.
Aldi is a no frills grocery store that definitely gets you the most for your money. Unlike other chain stores, Aldi runs things a little differently. First, you will need a quarter to rent a cart for your shopping trip. This may sound wacky but it is genius - no carts left rolling around the parking lot or getting stolen. You also need to bring your own bags or boxes for getting your groceries home. Aldi sells bags ( both paper and insulated plastic totes) but it is cheaper and environmentaly friendly to stash some from previous shopping trips in your car. Aldi also sells predominantly their own brands of food (Friendly Farms and Happy Harvest to name just two), but you can occasionally find different "name-brand" foods there at special prices. These items are generally not regularly stocked, so what they offer one week may not be available the next.
Aldi cannot be beat as far as grocery prices go. Canned food is anywhere from .39 cents to .69 cents, you can find great produce for half the price of other chain grocery stores, and they have a great meat selection too. They are a German based store so you will also find delicious European chocolate, German beer, and schnitzel and bratwurst for a great price.
There are a few drawbacks to Aldi shopping. First, they close early (7pm) and have no shopping carts that accomodate more than one child. I usually choose to shop there by myself on the weekends while the hubby stays with all my little cherubs. Second, they do not accept or distribute coupons for their store brands. This is a bummer, but given how cheap the normal prices are, it still averages out to be more savings than shopping with coupons at another grocery chain.
More on this money savingness later...