Sunday, August 21, 2011

Strategic Shopping Sunday - Produce


Strategic Shopping Sunday - Produce
Every Sunday I am going to highlight strategic shopping practices that can help stretch your money farther.

Today we are going to focus on produce. This is an area of our grocery bill that we do not see a ton
of coupons for so it is really important to do everything you can to stretch your dollar with strategic shopping.

 Weigh flat rate produce
If you are buying produce that is sold at a flat rate you can stretch your dollar by weighing a few packages.
Example - 5 pound bag of potatoes
Try weighing a few bags of potatoes to see what they weigh. You may find that 1 bag weight 5.1 pounds but the next weighs 5.5 pound or more for the same price.
This is a great way to stretch your dollar without using a coupon or sale.

Buy in season
A great way to stretch your dollar is to buy what is in season. This produce tastes better and you are not paying the price of the company holding the produce in storage for months on end.

Know how many you need
Buy what you need so you do not end up with produce that has gone bad. We love having produce in our house but I find there are times that we do not get to some of it fast enough. I have started to list out what we go through each week and buy that amount. This has helped lower our produce expenses and saves me from having to compost produce that has gone bad.

Find alternative uses
Finding alternative uses for produce can save a ton of money and stretch your dollar farther. I love having bananas in the house and tend to buy them at Costco because they are normally the cheapest. There are weeks that we do not get through all of the bananas before they go bad. Each week I go through the bananas and pull out the ones that are too brown for me. I mash the bananas into a Ziploc bag and freeze them. They work perfect to have on hand when I want to make banana bread. When I want to make bread I pull the bag out in the morning and they are ready when I want to use them.

Leftover vegetables can be used to make soup. If you do not have time to make soup you can cut the vegetables and freeze them. That way you have them on hand the next time you make soup.

Check unit prices
I look at the price of produce to determine what we are going to have in the house for the week.
This week when I went to Costco they had strawberries for $1.49 a pound or blackberries for $2.50 a pound. I quickly decided that I would buy more strawberries and wait on the blackberries. Knowing that I could stretch my money buy saving a dollar a pound.


3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Great tips, especially freezing vegetables for soup. I grew tomatoes this year,just one bush (in a container) and have been able to share with my neigbors. Had bush beans, again in a container and only had enough for a couple of dinners, but my grandson loves them and had fun picking his dinner. Cucumbers are growing, but with 6 plants, I've only gotten about 6 fruit. Mine are growing inside a tomato cage and it's working well, not taking up much space. Hope everyone takes the time to grow fresh produce. It is so worth the effort!

Sara said...

These are great tips! Thank you! I do a lot of price comparison when buying produce. I know that I can get certain things at Trader Joe's and Cash and Carry for cheaper, so I'm not afraid to visit a different grocery store for a better deal.

amanda boyett said...

Great post!!! Anyone know what you can do with radishes besides just putting them into a salad? I have a bunch of ripe radishes in my garden right now, but have no clue what to do with them all!- Amanda Boyett

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