Marta Laser of Reading, Pa., wanted to know more about the recent $100 shopping competition I participated in and wrote about. Due to space limitations, I wasn’t able to report details in that first column.

DEAR STEPHANIE: I thought the article about the competition was interesting but lacked in-depth detail for those of us who truly try to budget at the grocery store. As a mom of seven (five children at home now), I was left with more questions than answers after reading the article. First, you were given $100 to buy groceries that would feed a family of five for a week. What did the “family of five” consist of? There is a great difference in a family of five with three toddler children compared to three teenage children and the amount of food they consume. Second, what type of meals were you able to feed the family of five? It says “balanced” in the article. It would have been more helpful if you had mentioned the menus. With the cost of groceries rising quickly at the market, more articles like this could be very helpful if they give more detail.

DEAR MARTA: I agree that more details would help shoppers learn how to save at the store with the strategies I used in that shopping competition, so here they are.

I assumed that the three young children ate as much as my two children (boys ages 12 and 14). I also assumed that the family members ate breakfast, most lunches (brown-bagged for school or work) and dinner at home.

My typical strategic shopping approach presumes that shoppers stock up on common items when they are on sale, so they do not have to buy every item they use each week. However, the shopping competition required me to buy the full week’s worth of groceries without assuming any key items were stockpiled (other than basic staples like flour and sugar). My purchases ranged from fresh produce to coffee.

I purchased the items my family usually eats, which included what I consider to be healthy groceries. Breakfast foods included eggs, cheese, yogurt, fruit, milk and cereals. I purchased dry cereal (Total and Cheerios) because they were free with a coupon. Had the cereal cost more than $1.50 per box, I would have opted for oatmeal instead, as it is healthy and less expensive than regularly priced dry cereal.

I planned dinners around the featured sale items (chicken thighs, ham, pasta and frozen fish fillets) that week. When I plan meals, I also plan additional meals that I can make with leftover main ingredients. For example, my plan was to use the ham for sandwiches in lunches as well as making a soup that would serve for more than one meal. I also left one night open, assuming there would be leftovers to make up another dinner. Because up to 40 percent of the typical family’s food budget is spent on wasted food, I learned years ago that I could create a complete dinner for my family one night a week using one to two servings of previous meals. Family members may eat different entrees or we may each have a little of all the entrees. The key is to use every bit of the groceries you purchase. When my children were younger, I would call it “crazy dinner” and they thought that was fun.

I also purchased fresh produce including asparagus (on sale at $1.29 per pound), romaine lettuce, apples, bananas, celery and potatoes. I stocked up on frozen green vegetables that were on sale for 90 percent off with coupons. When fresh produce is not in season, I find that frozen vegetables are an easy, healthy alternative.

I still managed to purchase a number of snacks including fruit roll-ups, snack mix and popcorn. The snack mix was free with coupons and the popcorn and fruit roll-ups were less than 50 cents per box. An advantage of using coupons is that you can end up getting $3 items for free during special promotions. However, I wouldn’t spend $3 on these kinds of items when I’m adhering to a tight grocery budget.

 

Stephanie Nelson shares her savings tips as a regular contributor on ABC News’ “Good Morning America.” You can find more of her savings tips in her book  “The Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom” and on her Web site at www.couponmom.com. She can be reached at shoppingmom@unitedmedia.com.