How I save up to 80% on the grocery store by breaking this rule

“I think the garlic bread was moldy,” said my husband.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“I grilled and I shared it.”

Until now, all my friends are still alive and have not complained of a upset stomach that night, so I guess the only side effect was the breathing of the garlic.

Hey, however, bread was a quarter of the usual price, so any potential discomfort is a small sacrifice for significant savings, in my opinion.

How I get my shopping up to 80% reduction

I am a self-admitted series thrifter. I use a strategy that systematically cuts my grocery bill in two, which flies in the face of what some budgetary experts preach:

“Get the list.”

I say: “Stick to the list. “”

Since I started making my own money and buying my own grocery stores, I have entered the supermarket with an open mind and zero meal plans.

I do not buy what is on sale or marked – I bring back the bacon at home, and it usually must be eaten on the same day.

Here are three strategies for the way I operate it:

1. Cheming

According to my experience, the best deals appear at the end of the day, especially quieter weekly days when there is a bigger chance of producing products that lingered on the shelves.

On my local market, the Markdowns start at 2 p.m., but I generally find the best offers after 5 p.m., the supermarket sticks a second sticker reduced to the first ‘, and this time, we are talking.

I start in the alley of fresh products, where my favorite supermarket is kind enough to group all the fruits and vegetables that become questionable in a single section.

I will pick up a broccoli bag (the one fancy with the stems) for $ 0.50 instead of $ 3, or a box of blueberries of $ 4 for $ 1.

My next foray is the aisle for bakery products, where I will find $ 3 of garlic bread for $ 1 (with variable consequences), a bag of dinner rollers or a cake that I certainly don’t need but I cannot withstand 80% reduction.

What will it be today? It is a rush, and I am addicted to this culinary roulette game.

2. Creativity

Once at home, I have a smorgasbord of disparate and quickly deteriorated ingredients with which to work.

I sometimes use applications and websites that match the ingredients, but I generally prefer the challenge of finding something myself, which forces me to show creativity and to exploit my inner food scientist.

If in doubt, I throw everything into a stew, a soup, a stir, a frittata or donuts of various descriptions.

For example, for dinner last night, I did what I call “Stired all noodles”: broccoli rods (80% reduction), trenched carrots (50% discount), chopped capsicum (50% discount) and red onion (60% discount), launched in soy sauce and in sesame oil (both a full price), launched on the instant noodles (1 1 1 1.1st price), with a fried egg), instant noodles (1 1 1.10th the price), with a fried egg).

3. Congusion

If I don’t whip everything from noodles or similar that night, I immediately freeze my hiding place.

My freezer is essentially a time capsule of dubious decisions and future meals.

One of the tips I picked up along the way is that it is better to cook the ingredients first, then freeze them.

For example, mushrooms tend to become viscous if you freeze them raw, but if you sauté them first, they freeze beautifully and can be thrown directly into pasta or stews later.

Another advice that saves me every week is to label everything in my freezer. It’s easier than you expect to mix the apricot jam and the chicken curry.

Not everyone accepts the expiration dates that I am

I am known to scratch the expiration date of milk so that my husband is not suspect.

I also remove the “reduced to Claire” stickers when they are entertaining. I do it to maintain a form of pro-social behavior and domestic diplomacy.

Of course, this method is not perfect (see mold with moldy garlic above).

Sometimes things are still buried in the frozen depths and emerge as relics burned by freezing that I end up throwing.

Other times, there is not enough good cheese after having finished cutting the mold.

I am also the victim of my dependence on the hunt for good deals, as the moment when I bought a chocolate cake on three floors unnecessary because it was marked by 80%.

At the end of the month, however, whether you call it to beat the system or simply be disgusting, saving an average of 50% on my average transport that I can sometimes go out and enjoy the food that I did not have to hunt, to haggle or to lush in the submission.