This goes against my grain too, but I am seeing the truth of it all the time.
There are several things that will make saving money on groceries and stocking a pantry MUCH easier. I have learned about all of these within the last year...and they have changed my life!! I am so thankful for those who first shared about them!!
The first is DEHYDRATING. Dehydrating to me was something that was done to beef jerky, and that was it. Boy was I wrong!! The best information I have found on dehydrating is at http://www.dehydrate2store.com . She has all sorts of videos, recipes etc. She made something that was unknown to me before not only understandable...but gave me the courage to try it. I've written before about my dehydrating and how to get the cheaper Excalibur Dehydrator...check my other post. But that $200 is going to save you TONS of money!! And it has a ten year warranty, how can you go wrong???
The second is a Professional Meat Slicer. When you watch the videos at Dehydrat2Store you will see her using the meat slicer. It takes the tedious job and makes it SOOOO much easier. There are things that I could never slice thin enough by hand. And there is NO way I could process as much food as I do without it. I consider it an absolute necessity along with the Excalibur...to the point that when each of our Princesses become a Queen these two things are the gifts we will be getting them. The best price I found was on HSN.com. It was $99 and came with an extra blade.
The third is a Sunday Subscription to your Newspaper for Coupons. The Sunday paper here costs $1.75 a week and it doesn't cost any extra to have it delivered...this way you can't forget to pick them up ;o)
Those three are musts...this next one is not, but if your time is limited it is WELL worth the money.
The fourth is to join http://thegrocerygame.com . I only do one store, Kroger, and it is $8 every 6 weeks. The grocery game does not have stores in all areas, so be sure to check your area. They also have a 4 week free trial. Do yourself a favor and wait until you have a months worth of coupons first. I signed right up and then watched for the first month at all the good deals I could have gotten...if I had had the coupons, which I didn't...it was frustrating. After you have a start on your coupons though The Grocery Game does the all the leg work and figuring for you. It has the sales for my area that week and matches that to the coupons that were in the paper. It also tracks the price trends at the store so I know when to use my coupon for the greatest savings. Honestly there is NO WAY I could have all that info, even if I had the ability I don't have anywhere near that much time....and hence the reason it is well worth the money.
Let me give you a quick example. I didn't need deodorant...it wasn't on my list, so I never would have thought to look for the sales and coupons to match it up. But then I go to my Grocery Game list and see that not only is deodorant is on sale for .88 (a great deal as it is) but that I have a 50 cent coupon from three weeks ago. Kroger doubles coupons up to and including 50 cent. So how much did I pay for that deodorant? NOTHING!! It was completely FREE! I do love free!! :-D I have at least six things of free deodorant stored right now.
There may be a few other things that would make it easier to save money...but these are the basics that I have invested in and have found them to be incredibly helpful and well worth the money. If you don't have the $300 for Excalibur and the meat slicer right away then start with the coupons and the grocery game. Take the money you save and set it aside for those things...I bet you have it in no time!! :-D
Dia Duit, my friends!
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