I have to say, author Tiffany Doerr Guerzon had me at the title: “Save Money on Groceries Without Losing Your Mind: 15 Strategies Anyone Can Use.”
It’s a long title, but it spoke to me. I like numbers. More to the point, when I look at my grocery bill, I do feel like I’m losing my mind—and about two-thirds of my paycheck. Where does the money go? How could a gallon of organic milk cost nearly $9 during a recent shop? And how can a loaf of bread—OK, it was an artisan loaf bought at a bakery—ring up at, I kid you not, $12?
My kids are grown at this point, but back when I had a tween and then teenage son in the house, I felt like all I did was go to the grocery store to refill the refrigerator. Tall, skinny, and voracious, I’m not sure where he put all that food, but clearly, he needed it. I worried about how to make food ends meet back then. But I worry about today’s families even more as they try to get by in an economy where inflation is supposedly “stabilizing,” but food costs remain in the clouds.
Photo by David Corby / Creative Commons
Make it yourself
Making foods your family members love from scratch may save you money, says author Tiffany Doerr Guerzon, but there are other considerations: “If you get a box of apples at a produce stand and have time to make and freeze applesauce, then yes, that will be cheaper than the store-bought version. But if you are in a time crunch, then buying soup stock and applesauce on sale might be better for your household.” Here’s one of Doer Guerzon’s favorite from-scratch recipes.
Yummy Granola
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 6 cups rolled oats
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- 1 cup wheat germ or ground flax seed
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup oil
- 1 cup sugar plus ¼ cup water
- 1 tbsp. vanilla
- 1 tbsp.salt
Directions:
- Combine the first four ingredients in a very large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix 1 cup sugar with ¼ cup water until all of the sugar is wet. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix again.
- Spread the granola into two, 9x13 inch (or larger) pans sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 250 degrees for one hour or until brown on top and fairly dry.
- If you like your granola in bigger chunks, don’t stir at all during cooking. If you want smaller pieces to eat as cereal with milk, stir every fifteen minutes or so, breaking up the chunks.
- Makes approximately 16 cups.
Doerr Guerzon’s book, self-published on Amazon last year, is a simple, no-fluff primer on how to do it. At 102 pages, “Save Money on Groceries Without Losing Your Mind, 15 Strategies Anyone Can Use” not only provides concrete tips on where to cut costs and how to cook in ways that stretch food funds out but also invites readers to understand their food finances, take meaningful stock of their kitchens and pantries, and load them up in cost-saving ways.
The chapter on creating low-cost school lunches kids will actually eat (recipes included) struck a cord: Back when my daughter was in grade school, she constantly whined about the lunches I tossed together: “Can’t you make it interesting?” I felt her pain. I am not an interesting cook by any standard. Having Doerr Guerzon’s tips might have saved her a seemingly endless run of PB & Js and my feelings of lunchbag inadequacy.
Doer Guerzon started researching how to tame her grocery budget several years ago. Now, with two grown kids and a teenager at home, she prioritizes saving on groceries and time. I was curious why Doerr Guerzon, who raised her three kids in Maple Valley, chose this topic for a book. Here are her answers:
Seattle’s Child (SC): What background brought you to this book?
Tiffany Doerr Guerzon: When I left my career to be a stay-at-home mom, we had to recreate our household budget as a one-income family. Since the mortgage and other bills are fixed numbers, the grocery bill is where I tried to make cuts. I started researching how to save on food costs while still cooking healthy meals for my family. After a lot of trial and error, I came up with a “back to basics” approach. I published the (my) book “Save Money on Groceries by Going Back to Basics” in 2016. [It’s] no longer available [but] that book reflected where I was in my life at the time, being at home with small children [and was] geared toward people who have time to cook from scratch and really need to save pennies.
SC: Why this book at this time?
TDG: As my children grew and I started working again, life got busier, and I needed to find a way to cut down on time in the kitchen while still saving money. “Save on Groceries Without Losing Your Mind, 15 Strategies Anyone Can Use,” started out as an updated edition of the first book. I found that so much had changed during and after the pandemic, many of the tips from my previous book are no longer applicable. So I wrote a new version. The current version offers three levels of savings for each of the 15 strategies, recapped at the end of each chapter as cheap, cheaper, and cheapest. If you have a big bill come in and you really need to slash your spending, use the “cheapest” version of the strategy, which saves more money but takes more time. If you are really pressed for time, you can still save by using the “cheap” strategy. This book emphasizes balancing convenience with saving money.
SC: What are the key takeaways for families?
TDG: Make a menu for the week and then make a shopping list of ingredients needed for that menu. It sounds basic, but having a plan gets you in and out of the store quickly (studies show that the longer you are in the store, the more you spend). You will be buying items that will be used. Taking just a few minutes each week to make a menu and a list will save time and money in the long run.
If saving time is a priority, utilize services offered by grocery stores such as online ordering and pickup or even have your groceries delivered. The fee you pay to have your shopping done for you will be less than if you didn’t make it to the grocery store and had to take the whole family out to eat because there is no food in the house. Using shopping services also eliminates impulse buying.
SC: What is the biggest money-eating mistake parents/families make when it comes to feeding the family?
TDG: I would say food waste. According to a 2023 Gallup Survey, the average household could save up to $1,500 per year by eliminating food waste.
One way to cut food waste is to use up leftovers by taking these for lunch or having a leftover night in which the family chooses from the last few days leftover meals buffet style. Another way of cutting waste is to do a “pantry challenge” every few months. This consists of using what you already have in your pantry, fridge and freezer to create meals for that week. You will need to shop for some fresh ingredients, of course, but this is a way to use up what you have before expiration dates pass.
SC: Why include recipes?
TDG: In my research and in talking with parents as a speaker on this topic, I found that many adults weren’t ever taught basic cooking methods, like making a base for soup or putting together a casserole. Instead, they were relying on kits and premade meals, which cost more. Also, every parent I spoke with cited time as being a reason why they don’t cook at home very often, which means they are spending more money on takeout and restaurant meals. I include slow cooker meal ideas as well as instant pot and freezer meal information in the recipe section because that is one way to still cook at home while saving time.
SC: Any other advice?
TDG: Use the technology available to you to assist in your quest for a lower grocery bill. There are apps for recipes, grocery lists and even apps to help you create recipes from specific ingredients.
“Save Money on Groceries Without Losing Your Mind” has garnered high praise on Amazon. Doer Guerzon has been featured on local news programs New Day Northwest and King 5 Morning News as a grocery shopping expert. She also speaks on grocery budgeting as a part of the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Speaker Network.
Personally, I’m glad Doerr Guerzon stayed away from wordy prose about what’s gotten us into this place of crazy food costs. Most of us don’t need a pundit, we need been-there-done-that guidance. And that’s what Doer Guerzon provides as she cuts to the chase:
“Reasons for these cost increases are many: the pandemic, avian flu, shipping snags, severe weather, and the war in Ukraine, to name a few. Unfortunately, none of these things are under your control. What you can control is the way in which you shop and cook.”
Consider this: The index at the beginning of this little book is three pages. Three whole pages. That equals a whole lot of ideas on how to save.
The book is available in print and as an e-book on Amazon.
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