Groceries are one of our biggest monthly expenses, so it makes sense that we want to cut costs and save money where possible; while still eating well of course! Beyond clipping coupons and shopping discount grocers, we learned that tracking sales cycles can be a big money saver! Listen in as we chat about shopping in season and staying on top of discounts.
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Episode seventy grocery store sales cycles to know about. Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity rights, and live rich your life. Here your host Jen and Jill. Welcome. Welcome to another episode of the Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, Welcome, I'm Jill. This is a podcast where a couple frugal friends sit around and chat about how to save money and how to not save money, and we help others in our Frugal Friends community on Facebook. And we just have a real good time and that's what we're all about. We mostly just have a good time, yes, and then we also talk about things that matter for sure. And before we get into any of the really good stuff, we are having an actual live in person hang out in Washington, d C. September seven, where we can we can touch each other just hands, mostly we can touch each other's hands, but tangible quick like high fives. Yeah, like high fives or or short shakes. Yes. Yes, So if you are in the Washington, d C area, um, we are going to have a meet up at Calorama Park September seven at five thirty and we're going to be let that is PM not am right, because this is a Frugal Friends podcast, not the early Friends. And the park has a playground for the kids, and bring some snacks, some dinner. We can eat there and have some frugal fun at the park. It'll be super super fun. Washington, d C. Calorama Park, September seven at five thirty. Super excited to meet some of you and you can r s v P to the event. Will have um in the Frugal Friends community group on Facebook. No need to r s v P, but we do have an event in there if you want to see who else is coming? Perfect, Both Jen and I will be there so you can put faces to our voices and no, for sure who's who's laughing weird? And who's who's got the baby? Who's making dry jokes? Yes, the baby will be there. So if you are interested to see the project I've have been working on all year in my body, he will be there. Perfect. Yes, all right, sponsors for today, so excited. Also brought to you by car pooling. This sounded really fun as a kid, mostly because I expected an actual pool to be part of the equation at some point, but really what I got where my friend's parents scolding me for the way I climbed over their seats are the types of just scriptor words I chose when telling stories. Well, here you have it. We're all adults now, and car pooling is still a good idea. I'm sorry to report there is still no pool and your drivers still may have specific requests about what you do in their car, but it is the frugal way car pooling. If you're both going there, travel together, beautiful. What kind of just scriptor words? Oh, you know, like stupid or other you know, maybe slightly offensive words, not cursing. I wasn't quite cursing in my friends cars, but it was a word edgy as a second greater, and my friend's parents were afraid of the influence I'd be on them, and clearly not a good one because look at how I turned out. So you should have kept your second greater away from me. Yeah, I'm sure your friends turned out even worse. It's sad to think about I did. Actually, I've gotten some emails from people later on in life where you know people that I knew in elementary school or middle school, and they're like, chill, like it's so good to see, like how you turned out? Like it sounds like you're doing well. What were you? Yeah, like like they're pleasantly surprised. So I don't know, probably because I use the word stupid in their parents car. Well, you know what's not stupid is saving money on groceries. And we get so many requests for more grocery saving episodes and we have a few. So what else can we do except go through season seasonal sales cycles and seasonal produce. So this is an episode on what to buy when at the grocery store or when to I what it is even interesting that we need to have this conversation. I think it's just an indicator of where we are in culture and society that we've got to be reminded of what's in season and that is what is going to be most cost effective, and then planning our meals around that. But I do often forget because you often can get a variety of fruits and veggies all year round. But I did just run into this recently. It was back around the springtime when I was looking for Rue Barb and I guess they had just the season had just ended. I checked like five different grocery stores. No Rue Barb and I felt like that was the weirdest thing, Like I'm an American, I should be able to get rue Barb whenever I want it. Nope, not the case. And I kind of liked it. I kind of like that I couldn't I couldn't get it. After the frustration subsided, I was like, oh, okay, like farming is still a thing. Yeah. If you're in the car and you can't write all this down, don't worry because most of the weekly ads at your grocery store will tell you what produce is in season by what's on sale. So this is really just a reminder too if you are not in a sales cycle, but you can possibly wait out for one to plan your seasonal shopping, whether that's a produce or other things. So let's get into it. We're going to start with winter, and that's because January is and winter, but we're actually gonna start with December because that's the first month of winter, so winter produce. Let me tell you where we're getting all this information. Reader's Digest dot com r D dot com has got our seasonal fruits and vegetables for every month of the year, and then inspiring savings dot Com is what we're going off of for their shopping sales cycles guide, and we'll have those links in the show notes. So starting out with winter, we've got all citrus, fruits, root vegetables, and then other things that are you know, grown low to the ground, so like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, So those are kind of the produce you should be looking out for. Again, you'll see it in your sales circular and then for monthly sales for either stalking up or thinking about what you're going to plan for meals throughout the year. December I always stuck up on baking supplies. Obviously, Christmas a lot of baking sales. So if I need to get my baking soda, baking powder, all those things that I buy once a year, um, that don't go bad as quickly, that's good in December. January, Uh, this is where I started getting surprised on some things. So January cold and flu products go on sale. I didn't even think about that as cold and flu season, like it makes sense, but I'm you know, I could be buying cold and flu medicine before I get sick and save some money on it versus doing it when I already have a cold. But then does that become like a self fulfilling prophecy that now you've got the items that now you're going to get it. I you know what, I'll get it anyway. So I'd rather just also be prepared with the product instead of having to run out while I'm sick. Oh that is always the worst because then you've got to go the only place that's opened to CBS, and they've got awful prices. I know. Yeah, So looking for the sales for really any like health food, like health and medication stuff like that. Um, so like protein powders and all those things that stay good longer and are on sale. Obviously January, there's so many sales in January. Go figure so game day type snacks. So if you're kids love chicken fingers, this is the month to stock up on them and put them in your freezeer nice. I know. January is National oatmeal month. So so it's not just brand so brand names. Obviously Quaker we'll be running sales um and probably have cubans. This is another if you're going to use coupons on something, look for it these things in these months. This also correlates to all D sales, so usually if there's a sale, even if it's brand name going on a big box store, ALDI will also have a corresponding salem, even if it's not brand name, So probably get some oatmeal al D that month, and then diapers. I haven't verified the validity of this. If kids poop more in January, that's why there's diaper sales. I don't know why, but the article said diapers, and I don't know if I trust it. I'll have to maybe consider it diapers until January. No, I don't want to admit that I don't use cloth diapers, but you've got you started here first. And then for our final winter month, February, it's National Canned Food month, so you'll see UH sales on canned foods. And then also my favorite part of the year, post Valentine's Day, chocolate sales. Yes, get a whole separate freezer just for that chocolate. Yes. I don't know how chocolate tastes after it's been frozen, but I'm sure and some people even like it straight out of the freezer like a nice cold chocolate delight. All Right, you've heard it here first, Probably not first probably not first, but you heard it here. You did hear it right here? So springtime, right, that comes after winter, winter, spring, summer, And thought, ah, that's yeah, okay, you're quality control and for legal reasons, you're thinking is great. So the article also talks about how sales cycles usually are about six to eight weeks. That's not a hardened fast role, but in general this is when you can expect some some changeover within these sales. And I like it too because I think it helps us to plan. It can narrow down in our meal planning of well, what's in season, what's on sale? What should I be making? So when spring comes you can think for produce, artichokes, asparagus, lettuce, spring peas, berries, pineapple. Those are some fantastic things to be picking up in the produce aisle. And as far as specific months go, for just grocery items, in March it's all things Irish. So you've got the Irish foods, the soda, bread, even apparently Lucky Charms cereal. Yeah I questioned that one, but it's in the article, and I love me some Lucky Charms. So by this March and let us know, yes, they also say I don't know who decides these national months. I don't either or what happens, but they say that March is national frozen food month. So beyond the lookout for some deals on frozen foods and March Madness snacks and all things St. Patrick's Day usually on sale. As we move into April, I feel like a weather forecaster. We've got strong winds from Easter sales on egg Easter clearance items, Hams usually you could you could stock up on Hams. If you want to have an extra freezer for that. You've got your chocolate freezer. You can have a ham freezer. Yes. And then May, of course we're getting into the grilling season, so Memorial Day grilling type foods, ham boogers, hot dogs, Mexican foods. They say, well Mayo sinco to Mayo, that's true. Um and gardening supplies come May. Usually you can get at some decent prices for you, Yes, grow your own, consider that. Yes. And then summer we get into a lot of pretty much any produce. So if you're not cooking with a variety of produce over the summer, you really really missing out. You're really paying too much for packaged food because there's so much produce that they are on sale all the time. And you've got your berries, your watermelon, cherries, mangoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, let us say so many things. Pretty much everything from spring is still carrying over into summer until we get until it gets way too hot. But yeah, there's so many, so many good things to be cooking in in the summer. Seriously, and I don't I am no expert on this. I have just heard it from friends who are health fanatics, so don't quote me on this. This is more a discussion piece. But I've heard that our bodies also go in cycles kind of coinciding with winter, spring, summer, and fall, and even allowing ourselves to eat what's in season can help us health wise, like not fucking that, not being like wintertime trying to get your raspberries, but following along with that can have some good health benefits as well. So yeah, stocking up on all of the produce and roots in this summer and then you scale back a bit and do your more root veggies in the winter. So I think there's even some really good health benefits to going along with what's in season. I believe it, so for other grocery items over the summer. In June, pretty much all summer, you're gonna be finding off and on sales on like barbecue and grilling items. June is National Dairy months, so you'll find a lot of sales on name brand dairy products to like ice creams, popsicles, anything a popsicles, dairy, very dairy popsicles, cream bars. Oh yeah, you keep going. I keep going, ice cream trucks, ice cream people. I don't know everything ice cream. It's it's really sad actually because I had Kai in May and then pretty much on the first of June found out he was allergic to dairy, so couldn't take advantage of any of those sales for myself. It's was really sad. July we move into National ice cream Month, so again a sad month for me. And then you've got your fourth July sale and clearance items, so depending on what you need, your sparklers and stuff, but mostly again those grilling and barbecue items. And then we get to August we see our office and school supplies sales. Most not most, but a lot of states will have tax free weekends um on all kinds of school supplies, even electronics, so definitely wait listen to our back to School Savings episode and wait until late July August to do any of that shopping. And then also school lunch items in August, so there will be uh sales on you know, cold cuts and bread and probably mustard and mayonnaise, so be on the lookout for school lunch item sales nice and finally fall, so some really nice foods and fall. As far as produce goes, this is a lot of the root veggies that we were talking about, sweet potatoes, beets, also apples, pumpkin, cranberries, squashes, pomegranates, eggplant. I'm getting a little hungry. Just all those things roasted together is so good. I've been actually adding apples into like on my pan where I do root veggies, you know, onions and potatoes and beets and some apples in with that along with a nice roasted chicken. It's so good. Okay, September, so as far as just grocery items go, we're back to some grilling clearance now with Labor Day happening in September, so you'll have some grilling things on clearance and also more school supply clearances, so continuing to think about maybe even waiting to get your school supplies rather than June July, thinking more August, September for those things. October is apparently national seafood month, so think about getting your seafood seafood game on in October and then November you've got your Halloween clearance candy. You know you can stop up stock up on for next October because that's not gross. Now you have to keep it until February. You do your October your November shopping for Halloween clearance candy, and that has to last you until February when you can buy your Valentine State clearance candy. But if you've got that freezer in the basement, then you're just partying all year long. You know, your pantry staples are a good thing to get here in November, like your olive oils, and you know, you know your pantry staples salt and pepper. I have a friend, I don't know, Maybe she wouldn't want to be called out on the podcast, so I won't do that to her. But I have a friend who does not have salt and pepper in her house. Yikes. Yeah, I thought that. I thought that every home had one of those or both of those. But she doesn't good for her though, No, I don't think so. She has all she has old Bay, but no salt and pepper. That's such a that seems like she lives in Maryland at that point, or she just puts old Bay on everything. They vacation in Maryland. So there you go. That's what happens. Also, obviously you've got Thanksgiving Thanksgiving happening, so you've got baking items and dinner items on sale. And absolutely after Thanksgiving you can stock up on your turkeys. You could do a whole ham and turkey freezer, right. I don't think you should have separate ham and turkey freezers. No, but I wonder when freezers will go on sale. That's a great question. I didn't look at appliance sales for this one. I only looked at things you can get in a grocery store. Well, Google search could tell you when you could get your ham and turkey freezer. Yeah, this is a great list to go through for me because I often wonder when's the next time these special things will show up at aldi because all the while a lot of big grocery stores will do sales on these things at different times. ALDI won't even carry them until it's sale time, So I will often wonder when something's going on sale and whether I need to buy it at a regular grocery store or bed bath and beyond, or if I have enough time to wait until it's coming back to Aldi to get it. Yeah, just a good reference to keep in mind as you're shopping of Okay, what would be a good thing for me to purchase now, even if it's not a hard and fast necessity, just to kind of save you a little bit in the future, and again to help with your meal prepping planning ideas. Yeah, and I've and sometimes that will backfire on me because I have bought things for you know, possibly needing them and then not needing them. But there has been a lot of times where I bought something and I have used it later, and that convenience of not having rush out and buy something, just having it having bought it on sale does help. And it's not often that I buy something. It's maybe like once or twice a year I buy something and I never use it. It's worth it, it's the cost of doing business. Well, you know what else is worth it? I know what you're talking about. You're talking about the bill of the week. That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That built buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hey, for good friends, this is Haven and my bill of the week is a bill that I am no longer paying. I have paid down one of my credit card debts and it's nice to see that zero balance on that one. And that's my bill of the week. Thanks for everything y'all are doing. Have a good day, yeah, Haven, Oh yeah, we're doing a success dance for you. Back chair dance. I'm not quite standing, but I'm not quite sitting, and um, yes dancing. We love that because credit cards are so high interest, so every time you pay one off, you're giving yourself a raise, a significant like raise, like it's so great. So congratulations Haven on your credit card payoff. That is awesome. And if you want to share with us your credit card payoff story, please submit it to Frugal Friends podcast dot com. Slash Bill you can leave it on our speak pipe or Google voicemail. We're super stoked whenever we hear one. And now it's time for Lightning Round. The Lightning Round. I was waiting for you because every time it seems like you're getting more and more on board with it. So I was waiting to say it with you, and then you just whisper it into your microphone. I'm unpredictable. We'll see which one Eric chooses to use. I hope he's all of these announcements. Will he use you never know. He's like an honorary member. It's it's interesting because he's a part of the show and we talk about him and he has his input in sounds, but you never actually hear his voice, which is which is an interesting element. But he can communicate and insert jokes just by inserting lightning sounds or or another sounds or not. Who knows. Who knows what he's doing over our voices right now? I love it. I love it how everybody else loves it? Post recording production? Yeah, yes, So for our Lightning Round today, we are going to share some of our favorite seasonal recipes that you can do with these pieces pieces of produce. Items of produce, and uh yeah, I've I've thrown up some ideas on the show outline, but we're really just gonna spew them off, just getting out there. Full disclosure, this is Gen's list. I really don't cook that much, so I don't I don't have much for you. So you're talking about roasting your fall vegetables, that is true, So so I'll throw that one in there, but all right, give it to us Jen. Yeah, so we're starting with fall, and I love to do a baked acorn squash stuffed with a variety of things. So sometimes I'll stuff it with keen wa and um like calumon olives and feda do like a Greek thing, or I found one that stuffed with apples and leaks. So just cutting that acorn squash in half, scooping out the seeds, and bacon it with some tasty fillings. You bake it with the fillings in it, or you fill it with the fillings afterwards. It depends on the filling. Uh. Sometimes I will do it the whole way through, and sometimes I'll bake the squash and then put the filling in and then just slide it back in and broil it for a bit. Okay, Okay, usually it's that one because squashes will take a long time to make. My favorite thing and this is kind of cheating, um is to get a road to scary chicken. I've probably talked about this in a previous episode. Is my go to. And Eric makes fun of me all the time because it's like, if I'm just at a complete loss, I just go to the store and pick up a root to stree chicken. But I will put that on a pan and then some roasted or or before that, roast you know, root vegetables with the apple that I had talked about, roast that, and then in the last like ten or fifteen minutes, put the chicken in there, and then you get like the good kind of chicken and the root vegetable and so it's kind of like you're kind of cooking but you're kind of cheating. But then you will definitely have leftovers and it all tastes really good. I love it. And in winter you can do a butternut squash soup. I'm gonna be honest, soup is not my favorite, but if you've got some good crusty bread and you know me, some butter some real butter, not the fake stuff, the real stuff. Then that makes soup bearable. Yeah, but winter is just like the time you want to just put your hands on a warm bowl. Like that's why soups are good in winter. And I do love me a good like blended butternut squash soup. Take the immersion blender in there. It is good. But then I always want something else. I want something to chew. Yeah, well you gotta have a side with a bread or something side of bread and butter. Yeah, so soups in winter, um spring, I just put carrot cake, like because there's some there's a variety like where it's that weird in between of like in some places it's warm enough to grow things and in some places it's not yet warm enough for things to grow. Just when you eat carrot cake for dinner, why not? Yeah, I believe you. And in summer, you could do a mango burrito bowl with crispy Well, this article will we will give you the recipe for this one says crispy Tofu. I'm not gonna lie. I'm doubt I would do the tofu chicken. Chicken would be really good. Mango burrito balls. I love bowls. That is something that is one of my favorite go toos in spring and summer. I can probably post a link to this one. I make like a Greek euro bowl with keene wa and set zeeki sauce and cucumber and feta. It's so good. Yes, So bowls bowls are good. Yes. And I like anything in summer that incorporates fruit into the main dish, so like mango goes really well. There's a lot of citrus in winter, so incorporating like a citrus into your meat dish and just doing a lot of vegetarian stuff in the summer. And will admit though, summer is my time to get a rotisserie chicken and Travis will tear it apart and make a chicken salad with grapes and walnuts. And there's always My thing is you can get a rotisserie chicken, you eat that for dinner, and then the leftovers you make chicken salad with. It's like and it's what Eric laughs at me about because it's my only idea. I think it's a good idea, but it is like my only idea. Yeah. And there's a place called Lucky's Market. I know they're around the country. They do five dollar rotisserie chickens on Wednesday and and double weekly adds, so their previous weekly ad and next week's weekly ad are both applicable on Wednesdays. And so we go a lot and we'll get a rotisserie chicken and do just that. It's so affordable. You know what I also love is we in our Frugal Friends Facebook community group, people will often share their frugal dinner ideas, which has been so helpful and inspiring and helpful with staying on track with not eating out a lot. So yes, that's another good place to get some ideas. And I will do a plug for cook Smarts for anybody that doesn't have the capacity to figure out when seasonal sale cycles are and recipe search but still wants to cook at home more. We love cook Smarts. We've had the creator on the show, we have done a lot with them in the past and they've just been a great partner to us. And what Jess and her team do is they plan meals four meals a week around the seasons, so you don't even have to think about what's on sale because they're looking at what's seasonal and what goes on sale and they're incorporating it into their meals every week. And because they plan meals annually, so they're not like us doing it on a weekly or monthly basis. They get together in October and plan their meals for all of so they are using these sales cycles to plan their meals. What is that link, Jen, That is Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash cs So you can try out three weeks of meal planning for free, and then if you use the code frugal, you're gonna get percent off whatever plan you choose. And they've got monthly, quarterly, and annual and you will not be disappointed. I just renewed my cook Smarts subscription. I saw you post that on Facebook made mohoe pork this week. I never would have never searched for that. I would have never had that idea. But it tasted son enough. Yeah, it made enough for two meals this week, so they had a mohoe pork bowl on one day and then planned for the leftovers to be used for mohoe like Cuban sandwiches. For a second. I liked that I saw that in your meal plan that it was good that it utilized things that you had already made, which is what I need. I'm not trying to be cooking new things every single night and needed to work multiple meals. But I also want variety. I don't want to just keep eating leftover. So yeah, they have ideas for leftovers, but you can kind of. You can design the meal plan to be two, four, six, or eight servings. You can pick paleo, vegetarian, or regular, so it's very customizable. You can add meals from previous weeks to your meal plan if you need more than four meals, or do less. There's so much variety and very much. We love cook Smarts and I feel like they're the most affordable meal planning service out there right now because I always am checking to see what else is out there, and cook Smarts is more affordable than any other And uh and you get off by going through Friends podcast dot com slash cs and using code frugal. I love that that code still works. That's awesome. Yes, I gotta plug it. Yeah, and we also have free books coming out every month. We do a book club, which isn't so much like we get together and talk about books, but it's really just a way for us to gift books to our listeners and thank them for listening and reviewing the show. So this month we're reading The Simple Path to Wealth by Jail Collin. And if you want an opportunity to get a free copy of a book, leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher and then screenshot the review and send it to Frugal Friends Podcasts at gmail dot com and we'll select the winners at the end of the month. We do one free book for every five reviews that gets sent to us, So the key is sending it to us and letting us know that you did it, and then you're in the running for a free book. Yes, and if you need a example of a really great review that helps people figure out if the Frugal Friends podcast is for them, here's one from Bonita two and it's funny and frugal. Five stars. Ladies. I love your podcast. I mean i'd binge listen to them just so that I could be all caught up in like a couple of weeks, you know, I had to work, sleep and other frugal fund in between. Get a girl. You spark great conversations for me to have. I love how you talk about your husband's and how they perceive frugality. Your podcast totally helped me start twenty nineteen off with my own no spend year. Yes, thank you, Kate Flanders. I love the balance you show to frugality. The tips and tricks you give are awesome. Keep up the amazing work. Thanks. I love that. Yeah, I love it when I hear that people are inspired by things that we talk about to implement in their own lives. That to me is the most rewarding thing to hear that it's actually impacting and influencing financial lives and creating just wiser decisions with money, and using the word balance is so so good to my heart, because really we are not promoting a frugality that's pinching pennies, but one that is emphasizing values based spending, So spending on your values no matter what that costs. And and that's the kind of frugality that we think is sustainable and is going to benefit the world. But I do pick up pennies whenever I see them on the ground. True, you've got to. I value money, no matter how small, and and it's litter and I'm cleaning up while I'm doing it. I do often wonder how much money is out there on the ground, just laying around on the ground. Something we can talk about later. Okay, see you next week by Frugal Friends. Is produced, edited and mixed by Eric Sirian. I want to know how much money is lost. I don't know what I'm going to get from Google. Do you think they're going to say? I doubt I'm going to How much money do people accidentally throw away every year? As the first WHOA, yeah, how would they know that? I don't know how much money should be in circular lation but isn't. But then can you really get a good estimate on that because people hide it in their mattresses and freezers. I saw a post on Facebook of a donated dryer that had about a hundred dollars with the money. Yeah, I lost in it. I didn't even think about that. I just saw a dryer for free on the side of the road. I should have just like like tore it apart just to see what was in the lind compartment. Yes, there's a reason just to get free dryers off a greg'slift. Okay, so this this article starts out A Bradenton, Florida man named Rick Snyder developed what might seem like an odd habit. While on his daily four hour walk around town, two feed stray cats within his life. Now Rick, he stopped at car washes along the way and poked his fingers into the change slots of the self service vacuum machines people used to clean the insides of their vehicles. Oh my gosh, what if he's not a hundred years old? I don't I don't know what to do. Um. He lives in Brightonon, so he probably is. He found an average of five dollars and sixty cents per trip, and over a decade amassed twenty one dollars and loss change, eventually donating it to a local animal rescue organization. Of course he did. Rick. Oh, it gets sweeter and sweeter, freaking Rick. And uh, there's another family that found over a thousand dollars in a year from just um looking stuff on sidewalk. See, you start little, and then and then your mind is just trained to be looking for money on the ground. And then I do wonder how much I've collected. I mean, it can't be that much, But sometimes I do find bills, Like there was a time my bill of the week. There was a time when I felt found a ten dollar bill, like outside of a gym. Man. Yeah, I love when that happens. I gotta go on walks more. Let's go on walking. Coins Store estimates that people have an average of twenty dollars of coins in their pockets, on their nightstands or between their couch cushions. Believe that. So there's your twenty eight dollars that you need to around your house. Yeah, to pay your electricity or utility bill this month. All right, keep picking up pennies. I think Pennies was a sponsor at one point.