When I go grocery shopping, I’m always on the lookout for good deals. If it’s not on sale, I probably won’t buy it. I feel like I’m saving money that way.
Except I’m pretty sure it ends up costing me money in the long run. For example:
My favorite ice cream is Blue Bell Coffee Ice Cream. It’s delicious! But if it’s not on sale, it costs about $7. “No Way!” says grocery store Kevin. “That’s way too expensive.”
So what do I do when I want dessert? I hop in the car and drive to a frozen yogurt place where I spend $4.75 for one serving of dessert.
So I’m giving up roughly 8 servings of ice cream at less than a buck a serving, and exchanging it for frozen yogurt at almost five bucks a serving. How stupid. It just takes two trips to the froyo store to be more expensive than a whole carton of ice cream.
The Grocery Store is Almost Always Cheaper than Eating Out
That was just one example, but it works for almost anything. Regular priced food at the grocery store is almost always cheaper than eating out, so don’t feel bad when you buy the good stuff at the grocery store.
Splurge a little bit. Personally, knowing that I can buy anything I want at the grocery store raises the excitement level of the supermarket from mind numbing to tolerable. Maybe it’ll work for you as well.
So get out there and do your own Supermarket Sweep next time your fridge is empty!
Read More:
Grocery Store Weekly Circular Advertisements
How to Unclip a Coupon on Amazon
Is A Costco Membership Worth It When Living Alone?
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
The ice cream example is a classic thing that happens in our house. My wife won’t buy a carton if it’s not on sale, but we will every once in a while get some from DQ or the local place. I kind of look at the DQ type thing as a special treat that’s ‘better’ than the stuff you get from the store. Because who doesn’t love a Blizzard? 🙂
The ice cream example really hits home for me aswell. I usually only want ice cream 4 – 5 times a year so I almost never buy it at the store, but I don’t seem to have a problem dropping like $6 at a local shop here.
Also I love the call back to the classic game show Supermarket Sweep, man I was addicted to that show!
WORD. My husband and I spend what would probably be considered a lot for two people each week at the grocery store – about $100, on average. But we don’t skimp – we get exactly the brand and the food we want, and we use a vendor who does our shopping for us – we place an order by midnight; the vendor does all their shopping at local farms, small locally-owned stores, and a couple of larger grocery stores (like Whole Foods); then we pick up our order the next day (we could also pay a fee to have it delivered to our house, but the pick-up spot is about a minute from my office, so it’s really easy to go get it on my way home). We’re foodie-like people anyway, so we can be kinda picky about our food, I love supporting local farms and businesses through this vendor, and getting exactly what we want and/or love at the grocery store keeps us from going out to eat very often.
Jen, you should feel PROUD that you are only spending $200/month each on groceries! Especially if you aren’t eating out much. In fact, my (live-in) boyfriend and I are doing a combined-$100/week-for-food self-challenge right now, this month– I think it’s a great number for keeping finances under control!
Very true! Why go out at all. Cook at home, bring your lunch and you will have more savings! We go out for variety!
Interesting observation. When I do the shopping, our bill always comes in under $100. When my husband does it, it’s always $120, yet he brings home treats whereas I don’t. So maybe the weeks I shop, our savings is lost by our trips to the Culver’s that was planted by the evil food gods around the corner from our house.
I hate paying for a $3 scoop of ice cream, but sometime I do it just to make Mrs. RB40 happy. Grocery store is always cheaper than going out! 🙂
Agreed!! I’m really sort of weird about food – I just have a lot of really strange likes and dislikes – and satisfying all of my very specific demands can get expensive. It’s much cheaper to just go to the grocery store and stock up on all the rando items I like, even if individually these items are sort of expensive.
I live this every time I go to the grocery store. I’m the family cook, thus I do the grocery shopping. It took a long time, but I finally convinced myself that it is OK to spend more on groceries. If you have kick ass food to eat at home, you’re less likely to go out to a restaurant and over pay.
Not that a person (or family) can’t go out for a special evening every now and then, but if it’s done right, it’s a conscious decision for that “special event” instead of being driven by the fact that you don’t have a choice to eat at home.
my classic example is soda cans. take 1 with me for lunch every day. i buy the 12 packs but wont buy them unless they are $2.50. If theyre $2.75 or $3.00 I wait. but then when im out i buy a 20 ounce bottle from the machine for $1.25. and its not like im even indulging in a special treat like eating ice cream out, its just soda for lunch. im missing the forest for the trees……
It’s much cheaper to just go to the grocery store and stock up on all the rando items I like, even if individually these items are sort of expensive.
Yup, going to the grocery store is always cheaper. However, you need to be with another frugal person who doesn’t mind always eating at home and not going out to treat yourself to make the grocery store only strategy work.
I know I could stick to that strategy pretty well, but my wife loves to be spontaneous and go out and get exactly what she is craving when she feels like it. Costs a lot of money for sure but it makes her happy and I’ve had to learn to live with it.