KATHY’S HOME & GARDEN TIPS – Grocery store savings

With the price of groceries going up every day it is really a good idea to maximize savings by taking a few minutes to plan our meals for the week to take advantage of all the specials and sales that we can.

Keep a master list on your computer. This makes for easy shopping and planning. It also prevents forgetting an item. It will take a while to form the list but when complete will cut in half the time it takes to write your list. I write the list in the order of the store I shop at the most. Produce, Deli, pop, snacks, etc.

Plan your weekly meals around the specials for that week. Meats on sale are often in a large package. Freeze the rest in meal size portions. To reduce freezer burn, wrap tightly in Saran Wrap™ then place in a plastic freezer bag squeezing as much air out as possible.

Buy produce in season. Take advantage of all the fabulous Farmer’s Markets. Get fresh local produce at great prices. Buy extra. There are many easy ways to preserve fresh herbs and vegetables to enjoy all year round. I will be talking about that in the weeks to come.

Many grocery stores have apps or websites that have unadvertised savings. Check them out before your shopping trip. There are also countless sites online where you can print out your own coupons. Use coupons judiciously. Don’t buy an item you don’t need just to get a great deal.

Like meat other items are often in large packages or the store requires a minimum purchase. Again, before you buy ask yourself am I going to use this before it expires? In any event always check expiration dates. Learn to decipher the shelf tags. They will tell you the price per ounce of what you are buying. Many times the large package is really not cheaper.

Make sure you check out similar items in different parts of the store. For example, many grocery store deli departments have specialty cheeses, sausages and lunch meat. These can often be found in other departments cheaper.

If you have time in your busy week it makes sense to check out the sales at different stores. This is especially a good idea if you are planning on a special weekend meal and your usual store doesn’t have that item on sale. Or they might have one of your favorite items on sale, time to stock up. The other week one store had my favorite BBQ sauce for a dollar! Of course I bought three. Their expiration dates were good and it’s grilling season so they’ll be gone before the snow flies.

With a little planning we can save some money. Planning out the week of meals will also cut down on stress through the week. Plan two meals with each protein you buy. A whole rotisserie chicken can be full out Sunday dinner then chicken tacos on Tuesday. Leftover steak goes well on a fresh salad. Pork tenderloin can go from full dinner to sliced with BBQ sauce and coleslaw sandwiches.

KATHLEEN WEAVER-ZECH & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO