How to Save Money on Groceries Without Cutting Back

What would it mean to you if you could save $40 a week on your grocery bill WITHOUT cutting back on the items you buy?

Thats $160 a month off your credit card - and your credit card INTEREST!!

Or $160 more you have towards your mortgage.

Its not always about buying less, its about buying smarter.

The secret is knowing the grocery store sales cycles.

Most product ads operate in 6 or 12 week cycles - so if you know how much of a product you consume in 6 weeks or 12 weeks for less consumable items, then you can work in to virtually never paying full price. Products also get put on sale around annual events or seasons.

Some items come on sale even more regularly - just start taking notice and make it a game that you design your grocery list around what is on sale each week. Take note of the date, then see when it next appears. You now have the sales cycle nailed.

Naturally, you probably can't afford to go out and stock up with everything on sale this week - but you can teach your family to be a littel flexible in what they determine they absolutely must have. They will appreciate that item so much more when they have been without it for a couple of weeks whilst you wait for the next sale cycle.

You also have to be prudent about how long an item will stay fresh. Stockpiling over date food is not smart budgeting. But you will be surprised how you adapt and get into the flow.

Avoid shopping every few days - you are more likely to impulse buy.You may think it won't matter too much if you just get those few items at full price, but when you consider that a pound of ground beef can be around $3.99 a pound at full price, and only $1.99 a pound on sale, you can certainly freeze down a few extra meals and lock in the savings. If you consume around three pounds of beef a week - thats a saving of $6 right there - just on one product.

Now multiply savings for the number of items you normally buy each week - it becomes very easy to save $40.

Don't forget about cleaning products - soap powders, detergents, shower gel, shampoos all come on sale eventually.

If you save on average $40 a week by stockpiling your most frequently used items you put approximately $173 a month or over $2000 a year back into your budget.

So watch those circulars! Alternatively, check out:

The Penny Pincher Gazette - Simply input your zip code and to get all the items on sale in your area. It has a great category system to make search easier and provides a rating system to highlight the best deals.

GroceryCouponGuide.com also provides a list of what items are typically on sale each month

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