The Rachel Cruze Show - In-Store, Delivery and At-Home Grocery Budget Hacks

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

Nothing says “holiday spirit” like trampling a total stranger at the grocery store to get the last can of cranberry sauce on sale. Guys, we can do better! Tune in for new ideas, tips and a 30-day challenge to help you keep your grocery budget in check.   What you get in this episode: ·     Are You Making These 7 Grocery Shopping Mistakes? ·     We Put Kroger and Instacart to the Test ·      Does This Hack Actually Save You Money on Groceries?   Helpful Resources:  ·     Start saving with my Meal Planner & Grocery Savings Guide. ·      Start making memories. Go NOW and get Tapple at Walmart. ·     Start budgeting for free with EveryDollar. ·     Learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries today. ·      Try BetterHelp today. Sponsors pay the producer of this show, The Lampo Group, LLC, advertising fees for mentioning their services or products during programming. Advertising fees are not based upon or otherwise tied to any product sale or business transacted between any consumer or sponsor. The following sponsors have paid for the programming you are viewing: Christian Healthcare Ministries, Op Games and BetterHelp.   Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A grocery savings hack recently caught my attention. It's all about eliminating non-essential grocery items. This means buying the ingredients that you need to make actual meals. And this is a way that you can be creative and resourceful. Hey guys, welcome to this episode of the Rachel Crew Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. In this episode, we're going to talk about all things grocery shopping and how to be the most strategic. You'll hear about a new hack that I recently tried to save more.

money and my thoughts on if it worked. Then I put two grocery delivery services to the test. Which one is the best deal? Who was faster and whose was more expensive? But first, let's talk about seven grocery mistakes I don't want you to make. Take a listen. So today I'm going to be reacting to seven shopping mistakes you don't want to make when grocery shopping. If you've ever had to make adjustments to your monthly spending, whether you're paying off debt or you're getting on a budget, you know how much money food costs every single week. So it's really important to have a plan and to think strategically about your grocery shopping. So stick around to hear my thoughts and drop your own tips in the comments as we go because I love to hear what you guys do to save money

on groceries. So make sure to share those. All right, so let's dive right in. The first one is not taking inventory of existing items. So before you head to the store, take time to look inside your pantry and your refrigerator to see what you already have. And this is the number one contributor to food waste in the kitchen, which is a hundred percent avoidable. Most people can't easily recall whether they have kale in their fridge that's fresh or not when they're out shop in the aisles. So listen, it is tough because we don't have great memories always of what we have. So make sure to take note, take note of condiments that you already have, of backstock in your freezer so that you're not doubling up every time you go to the store. And this is mine. For some

reason when I make my grocery list, you guys, and I think like, okay, do I have fed of cheese already? Do I have, you know, I'm thinking through some of this stuff. Is it expired? Is it not? The sour cream, especially. Getting up and going to the refrigerator and looking for some reason just feels like a mountain to climb at times because I'm like, I just want to get my list, do it all and be done. But getting up and actually looking at your inventory, you guys, it will save you money, I promise. And it's like a terrible feeling. I've done this again, sour cream. I don't know why that's one coming to my head, but buying multiple sour creams. And then you go, put it in, you're like, oh, yeah, I have three containers of sour cream.

Why can I not remember that? I have sour cream. So it saves you money and lowers that anxiety. Okay, up next is not making a list. So yep, I just mentioned that I make a grocery list. I love this idea of making a list. Because, listen, we cannot remember everything from memory. So when we go down the house, especially if you're shopping in person,

if you don't know what you have and what you need, you're going to end up buying more. So even if you're not type A, keeping a list going on the notes up on your phone or on the refrigerator is crucial for staying organized. Again, so when you go to the store, you know what to buy. And if it's been top of mind throughout the week, you're less likely to forget something when you're shopping. So don't cram for the test the night before

and make a mental list in your head when you go shopping, record it in advance, and it is so helpful. We do this at our house. We have a little dry and erase board that's on the side of our refrigerator, and I just kind of keep notes throughout where I'm like, orange juice or whatever that we have that we're getting low on or that we need. And I go to that list, I'm able to, like, shop through that and when I know what meals we're going to make.

So the list is so helpful for me. So if you're not doing that, implement that. Next is shopping out of order. So this is an interesting one. So to maximize your time at the store itself, just do it in one easy sweep. It is way more frustrating when you're spending extra time searching for individual items constantly. So if you're more likely to get distracted, pick up items that you don't need and spend more

money when you don't have a natural order that you're following. So start with produce so that you feel healthy, all the things, and then start going out of the aisle, especially if you shop at the same store. You kind of know how it's laid out. So make your list that way. So again, it's easy when you get in. You know exactly where you're going. All right, the next mistake that happens when you grocery shop is shopping for one meal at a time. When you're meal prepping for the week, buy food that can be converted into multiple meals throughout the week. So instead of buying four types of meat for all separate meals, especially if it's expensive, buy just one affordable meat and pair it with all different things throughout the night. This personally is one of my favorites.

Now, I sometimes have to kind of spread out and get creative with this, but I love the idea of like cooking ground beef and knowing like, okay, we can split this, put some in red sauce for Italian, take this, we can use for tacos, like being able to use for multiple meals, it helps with food prep, it helps with time, and saves you money. So all the way around, I agree with this one. Next is being close-minded. So browse the international aisles and try something new. And actually can be very cost-effective. And I find this, you guys, when it comes to spices.

Spices in the international aisle are usually cheaper than when you go down the aisle with all the spices. Someone told me that years ago. And that's what I do now. It's amazing. And usually, like, especially if it's a brand that you're not familiar with, it's usually delicious and wonderful. So think outside the box when it comes to that stuff because it actually can save you money. Our next is shopping for snacks. So people hate on snacking.

But the food we eat in between meals is a legit part of our diet. And is great for keeping our metabolism running throughout the day. So it's important to do your research and be intentional when it comes to snacking and what's good for you, what's not. Check the ingredient lists. And if it's super long with words you don't understand, it's probably not the best for you. And I'm very guilty of this. I don't do this well. But when you start to see words that you're like, that doesn't feel real.

maybe try something else. Or if you're really trying to save money in general, try shopping for meal ingredients only for a month and see how much you save on those cheeses. Man, this is a hard one because my kids are snackers. They love to snack and they are into like the Pirates Booty and all this. But we found some like good snacks at Costco that actually are, I think, healthier, which has been great.

So I've introduced a lot of like peanuts and nuts and nuts and trail. mixes and there's like these crisp apple things that it's like I don't even know how they're made but my kids level and I'm like perfect beef jerky my kids love that too so I think that has good protein and things obviously is better than like the process stuff but let's be honest I'm not perfect in this area so I'm not gonna try to be try to claim that I am because I'm not next is investing in pantry items so think about getting one large can of olive oil or a spice restock that could cost you actually a little bit more every few shopping trips, but it's a good investment if you're going to use them and almost I'll leave your meals going forward. So again, if you have to go in and say, hey, I'm going to buy

this thing, it's probably going to be more expensive, but I'm actually going to use it all the time, then that's great. So there's a couple of things that you can just have as staples. And even, again, a Costco or a Sam's, if you can buy in bulk those things, it can even save you some money that way. So that's one thing that I have found, which is great. All right, if I could share my number one grocery shopping tip, I think it would be, for me, honestly, it's meal planning. It is knowing what nights of the week we're going to be cooking what we're doing for every dinner. Because if we don't have a plan, naturally, I'm like, just order pizza or like, let's go pick up food. But if we know what we're cooking, we shop around that. I see what's in the

refrigerator. We plan our meals around what the kids like, what we like. And all of it comes together and it is just smooth. It takes the guesswork out of things, which is huge. So for me, it has saved us money and I can tell it has because when I use every dollar, which is our budgeting app, if you've not downloaded it, make sure to download it because it's fantastic. We have a grocery line item, and we've stayed within it. We've actually done really well, I'd say, for the past few months, because we've been so intentional, especially since the kids have been back in school, to be intentional with our grocery shopping and knowing what meals we're going to cook at home and what food that we need. And if we don't need it, we're not buying it.

So again, if you need a tool to help you stay organized when it comes to your budget, every dollar is the best budgeting app. It's my favorite when it comes to food spending and grocery planning and knowing what we have money-wise in that category to go and make shopping more efficient. So make sure to drop a comment with your favorite grocery hacks that will save you time and money because we want to know what you're doing to help us all out. All right, you guys, today we're having a little competition. I don't know about you, but for a lot of people, grocery shopping can be a pain point. Even if you have a plan and you're budgeting and you're being intentional with your money,

it still takes time and effort to put food on the table week after week after week. So one of those options that's made it a little bit easier in recent years is grocery delivery services. And I feel like these got really popular during the pandemic. And now this is a trend and it's stuck around. And we have Walmart Plus, Instacart, shipped, Kroger Boost, Thrive Market, and so many more. Now, we love Instacart in our house. We got that when COVID hits and we've still stayed on the train. Now, my producer Lindsay, we were talking about this because she uses Kroger Boost to save money on gas,

because it can go to the gas credits and stuff. So it got us thinking, I wonder which one's better? Kroger Boost or Instacart. So we decided to put it to the test a few days ago, and we each ordered the same 10 items from each delivery service with the same delivery time and sent them to my house. And so we wanted to see, okay, which one was cheaper, which one was a better deal, and which one was faster. So we set a delivery time to be between 9 and 11 a.m.

Ideally, like 10.30 is kind of what we were shooting for. So Instacart actually beat Kroger Boost. It was faster. And it also got all the correct items with no substitutions, where Kroger Boost did have one substitution with the milk. So here was the list that I ordered. 2% gallon milk, nature's own honeywheat bread, a dozen eggs, eight ounces of shredded cheddar cheese,

strawberries, half a pound of boar's head at deli turkey, baby carrots, one avocado, and classic hummus. So the total for each of those orders for Kroger was $36.7.7. Instacart came out to $40. So Instacart was faster, but more of the expensive option. And Kroger Boots was slower, but it was cheaper. And their annual membership is cheaper than Instacart. So Instacart is $100 a year, while Kroger Boost is $60 a year, unless you want to upgrade to delivery in less than two hours, and that membership will cost $99. Let's dig into more of the pros and cons when it comes to these delivery services to really see which one is most cost effective.

So you got Instacart Plus, these are the pros for these. Very convenient. Saves time by not going to the grocery store yourself, same day delivery, and sometimes as fast as 30 minutes. It's available throughout the U.S. and Canada and partners with several grocery chains, including Costco and Sam's, even without a membership, which is great. Now, some of the cons are the prices are more expensive than in-store. It's more expensive of a membership fee, and you have to spend $35 or more to get the free delivery. Any extra expense is to tip the shopper where you wouldn't have this extra cost when you're in-store shopping.

So those are some cons. Now, Kroger Boost, here are some pros. very convenient, saves time by not going to the store yourself. You get four times the fuel points when you get your groceries delivered on Fridays. You get two times the fuel points for every dollar you spend otherwise. So for every hundred fuel points earned, you get 10 cents off a gallon of gas at the Kroger fuel stations, which is actually pretty amazing. And there's personalized deals and digital coupons every week to save money on groceries at Kroger. And no need to tip the Kroger shoppers. They included that in the price.

of their salary, which is amazing. So here's some cons, limited to shopping only at Kroger just to get the gas benefits. You must spend $35 or more to get the free delivery. You have to put your order in the day before you want it unless you upgraded your Kroger Boost membership. And you can't get much from the meat counters. You need to mostly go into the store for those. So again, smaller deli options like meats and cheeses and bacon and fish and all that. So personally, I love Instacart. I've just been using it for a while. Lindsay, she loves Kroger because she's been doing that, and they save a lot of money on gas, which I totally get that. Like, I hear that. I'm like, oh, it's pretty nice. So if you're considering a grocery delivery service, there are a few things

to keep in mind when it comes to budgeting for groceries. So remember, these are convenient and greats, but make sure that you are staying on track with your budget. Make sure you're doing your research. Make sure you know what's going on. Now, one great thing when you're shopping online is you can see the total at the bottom. So if it's over the budget, it's like, okay, we got to back it off. And listen, if you're getting out of debt or saving up your emergency fund, this may not be something you want to pay for. Maybe you're like, yeah, we're going to cut that $100 a year for the membership

and the up when it comes to spending more on groceries and we're going to shop in person to save money. So remember that. These subscriptions and memberships, they have to make sure they fit within your budget. So again, if you are kind of in that tighter financial season right now, we have some great resources. I have a grocery savings guide that can really help you meal plan on a budget, so I'll leave a link in the description for you to check that out.

And I'm curious to hear from you guys what you think about grocery delivery services. Is it unnecessary? Is it helpful? What do you think? And be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments and share which delivery service has been helpful for you. So today I want to talk about a grocery savings hack that recently caught my attention. So it's all about eliminating non-essential grocery items.

and apparently it can save you thousands of dollars. This means buying the ingredients that you need to make actual meals instead of adding up all the unnecessary food snacks that are on your list. So this idea makes a lot of sense to me, and it's also better for us health-wise because we're not just snacking. So I'm going to talk through this method and then put it to the test based on my last grocery bill. Let's see if this hack would save the cruise household lots of money

because I have a feeling it would. So I'm going to go to my last order. I'm going to read out. what I bought and figure out if this was essential or not. All right, first up is shredded cheddar cheese. I'm going to say this was essential because it was in my white bean chicken chili in the crop pot. It had to be cooked with two cups of that, so essential. Greek yogurt. I eat that for breakfast. That's my breakfast meal. Tyson fully cooked fun nuggets with whole grain breadings. Probably terrible for you. Don't judge me for my children. But yes, that's what my kids eat if we go on a date night

have a babysitter. So that's their dinner. An avocado. I put it on my sandwich. So I'm going to say essential. Chips. No. Okay.

How much were these? $4.41. Cream cheese. That goes on top of a bagel. That feels very essential to the bagel game. So we're going to keep that. Salsa Verde. I mean, it was like with the chips to go

for Mexican night, but I guess you could technically not have that. So $6.9. Yellow corn? Like, I feel like corn is a side that's part of a meal when we cooked out. I'm going to keep that. A pablano pepper. Okay, we'll say non-essential. A dollar each, and I got two. I wish I can remember where I bought those. Bacon, part of breakfast. Oh, man, more chips. $6.41. They're the late July jalapeno lime. They're very organic and healthy, but they're very expensive. Limes, I guess not, 60 cents each. And I got five of them. So we're going to say like $2.50. Milk goes with my kid's cereal. So we're going to say, okay. Sprite, shoot, $8.29. Okay, then we got veggie-made grape muffins, blueberry, oat, and chocolate chip. These are made with zucchini, so we're very, so the health is there.

I'm trying to, like, justify my grocery list. My kids eat those for breakfast, so I'm going to say, okay. And then eggs. I think that's essential. That's for breakfast. Okay, feel good about that. That was one of my lists back in September. I just randomly grab.

All right, you guys, the grand total for all those extra snacky items that didn't actually go into making a meal. came out to $30.20. Okay. So that was like for a week. So here, let's do a little, let's do a little some here. Okay, so just for fun, let's say,

$30.20 times four weeks in a month, 12 months in a year, that would save. Wow, $1,449.60. And that wasn't even like, I feel like we buy more stuff, do you know what I mean, depending on the week? So, yeah.

That's a little convicting. All right. Okay. So maybe this reset challenge could be great. I don't know. For you, for me, save some money on non-essential food items that we really don't need. So I know some of you all are thinking, okay, Rachel, but I have kids. I can't live without their snacks.

And listen, I hear you. My kids love snacks too. But also, if you're trying to save money, if there's things that you're like, I need to cut this out, we always talk about grocery shopping being one of those places. This is a huge challenge, you guys. This could save you money. But what if you challenge yourself to use the leftover ingredients from your main meal, as snack options for an entire month. So for example, let's say you don't use the entire stock of celery

that you put in your chicken soup recipe. Maybe you chop that up into pieces, put it with peanut butter, and that could be a great after-school snack where you have oats and you're using it for oatmeal, and then you're using it to make those energy balls for your family. I mean, just think about the way you can use your food that can save you money. And this also can help, again, when you're doing multiple meals. So if you have a leftover baguette slices from an Italian dinner, maybe you chop them up and use them for croutons on a salad later that week. It's all about putting the excess to good use so that you have less waste and more margin in your budget.

And when you stop and think about it, that's a really important challenge for part of your budget because you're always thinking through ways to save money and this is a way that you can be creative and resourceful. So, I don't know, it was pretty convicting for me just doing that. I thought, man, there's a, yeah, there's a lot of money to be saved. So, all are you guys? I'm curious to hear from you all. you try this budget hack. Like, if you do, drop your cost comparisons in the comments, we can all

see and be encouraged to save some money. And also, if you're looking for a helpful tool to structure your grocery budget, make sure to check out every dollar. It is the best budgeting app out there. It's one that my family uses. I open up that app every single day, you guys, track our transactions, keep up with what we're spending, and it makes me feel in control of my money. I love it. So you guys, like almost $1,500 that I would save on that non-essential stuff. I just can't believe it. Cannot believe it. I'm going to start trying it because, man, it feels good to get that grocery budget down, especially when I have food waste, which always happens every week. I don't know if you feel that way, but it is real. All right, you guys, if you love this episode and love

this podcast, if you don't mind leaving a review, it is so, so helpful to hear what you guys are liking, and it helps get in the algorithm to get this show in front of more people so that we can help more people when it comes to their money. And from this episode to a friend who loves grocery shopping, maybe hates grocery shopping, wants to save money on groceries. Anything groceries, send this episode out. All right, you guys, thanks again for listening and remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.