Every year I intend to file away one grocery receipt a month from the same store. Then I could gauge the rise in prices of such staples as milk, flour, butter and eggs. I could even check out package sizes, and observe how sneakily manufacturers have either whittled away containers or reduced packages’ contents’ weight entirely.
My former pound of coffee now weighs 12 ounces. My former half-gallon of ice cream now weighs 1.5 quarts.
What really ticks me off is those smaller items now cost even more than before.
Such a deal for manufacturers. Such a total rip-off for us.
Milk costs more per gallon than gasoline. Butter routinely costs around $4 a pound, a price I never pay because I stock up on it when it’s on sale. (Unopened, butter will keep for a few months in the fridge.)
I no longer wish I’d saved those receipts. I know what I’ll find and just the thought of it depresses me. Prices continue to climb, and there’s no end in sight.
I’m a cheapskate by nature, so I’ve developed a few ways to cut costs on groceries.
Even so, as hard as I try to be a bargain-hunting frugalista, each month Bruce gnashes his teeth, shakes his fistful of grocery receipts skyward and yells, “How could two people spend so much on groceries?!”
I remind him that many of the most expensive grocery items aren’t edible. In fact, I’m all ears for suggestions on how to cut costs on things like dish soap, dishwasher soap, paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenex and toothpaste.
While I await your suggestions, I’ll share some of my favorite bargain-shopping tips.
* Zip-top plastic bags are the biggest rip-off in the world. Check out the price per bag the next time you’re shopping. I buy the thin plastic bags that include twist-ties and come 50 – 75 to a box. Ditto with sandwich bags. And parchment paper? Forget buying it at the grocery store in those wimpy, super-expensive rolls. Join forces with a friend or two and invest in a box of 1,000 full-size parchment sheets from Cash & Carry on Hartnell Ave.
* Watch for sale prices on chicken – especially thighs. Thighs are more tender, more meaty and more flavorful than breast meat (IMHO),and they hold up well in things like soups and sauces. When you find them, stock up and freeze them. I’ve found chicken quarters, legs, thighs and sometimes even breasts for 89 to 99 cents a pound. Grab ’em when you see ’em.
* Buy in bulk. Sure, you can buy those pretty packaged dried apricots, dried cranberries and things like coconut or couscous … and spend an arm and a leg more for the packaging. Do your budget a favor and buy in bulk. Winco (God forgive me for I have trespassed to a place I vowed I’d never shop) has bulk chocolate that’s quite good ( … enough for Andrea Charroin, A News Cafe Food Goddess).
* Skip places like Safeway for olive oil – even when it’s on sale, which isn’t that great – and head instead for places like the Grocery Outlet where I routinely find great olive oil from California, Italy and Spain. Cheap! (Like $7 for 32 ounces.) Watch out for words like “oil blends” – which is a sneaky way to slip in cheaper oils, like canola.
* Speaking of the Grocery Outlet, it’s my go-to place for cheeses (goat, mozzarella, and the usual stuff), and sometimes even lox, not exactly a Redding staple.
* Try stores like Variety City (Highway 273 and Lake Boulevard) where this week I found Scharffen Berger chocolate (3 ounces) for 75 cents a bar, and very rustic Francis Coppola brand farfallone pasta made in Napa for I think about $1.29 (sorry, I removed the price tag already).
* When buy-one-get-one-free is a good deal (uh, unlike when the “sale” price is so jacked up that the free one really isn’t free), make a deal with a friend that you’ll give your free ones if your friend will pass on his/her free ones. It works out.
* Finally, never buy what you can make for a fraction of the cost. It breaks my heart to see people buy bread crumbs. Make your own bread crumbs by putting aging (no, not moldy) bread in a blender or food processor. Add some olive oil, some salt and pepper (and pepper flakes, if you want) and it’s great tossed over broiled vegetables (like asparagus and cauliflower) and/or over hot pasta. (I keep containers of seasoned, olive-oil bread crumbs in the freezer.)
* Never throw away a turkey or chicken carcass (OK, if it’s old, yes, for goodness sake, throw it away), or a ham bone. We’re talking stock material. If you don’t have time to make stock immediately, toss the whole thing in a bag, suck all the air out (so little ice crystals don’t form and burn it) and freeze it until you’re in the mood to make soup.
* If you tend to use more yolks than whites (see heart doctors shake heads in disappointment) save those egg whites. You can freeze them. In fact, once thawed, they’ll whip nicely into meringue. Amazing, huh? I’ve done it. It works.
OK. Your turn. What are your tips?
