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I would love to hear how you organize shopping for daycare supplies, snacks, etc. and if you find a warehouse store like Sams to be worth the membership. Also, how many kids to you have and what sort of things are you shopping for? I have my two plus three daycare kids (and adding two more in the future)so it is becoming more necessary to have a plan to keep costs low. Two of the kids are just now getting into spoon feeding so it won't be long until they are in on snack time and then on to art and other activities that require supplies.
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we had a Sams membership but never used it. We shop at a discount grocery store, the cloest one is 45 minutes away....so we go once every three months and but staples liek bread and milk at Walmart. It may take some tiem to get your 'list' perfect but it will help if you have pre planned menus. -
These are the tips I can share. When buying art supplies, always save your money and buy it right at the end of back-to-school sales in August/September because everything you need will be 75%-90% off. Crayons on the shelf right now are $1.14 which is not bad when you think about. Back-to-school sales crayons, I'm referring to Crayola brand, cost .25 for a 24 pack box. Take the normal price and the annual sale price and multiple by 7 or however many kids you have and multiple that by 2 or however many times a year you need to replace them or enroll another child to start fresh. ($1.14 x 14 = $15.96 OR .25 x 14 = $3.50) I also stock up on the .10 notebooks and use that paper instead of printer paper for random scribbling and writing practice.
Food: Do you have a menu? Write down specifically what you eat. Go to the store and write down the size of the box and the cost per box. Type up a spreadsheet on the computer with all the possibilies of food choices on the left-hand column. Then across the top row write in all the possible stores you shop at or even go to the grocery store you don't shop at just to see prices. You can bring in this handy sheet of paper and just write down numbers. Go home and figure out which place has the best deal and remember to leave a space here and there for the generic store brand items to see the best value.
Our Wal-Mart usually has the cost-per-unit on the shelf label to help those who can't figure out which deal is better. Just because it's a bigger box doesn't mean it's actually cheaper. Look at Hershey Kisses for example. You can pay $2.50 for a medium/large bag or pay $7.98 or so for a jumbo bag and it's cheaper to buy a few medium bags than it is to buy one large bag. Take the price of the item and divide it into the ounces to figure out the cost-per-ounce to find the better value. Once you have this done, watch for ads and coupons and you'll know right away if it's a good deal. If the item has a long shelf life, stock up when they're on sale!!!Comment
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Abigal you are the guru of shopping for food, please come my way.
I have made a menu that works for the kids. One that I know they will eat the food I serve and I won't have any food battles with any of the kids.
My menu is pretty boring and stays pretty much the same monthly. Fruits and veggies will change with the seasons.
Knowing this, I am able to stock up on the items that we use the most in large qty. Like the buying apples in bulk, buying the large yogurt, milk in a two pack from costco and so on.
I tend to only shop for a week at a time unless there is a great sale then I will stock up on the item for sale. Keeping a close eye on your grocery store add is another great way to take advantage of stocking up on items you know you can use and won't spoil. Like noodles, peanut butter and etc. Shelf items..
I do cook dinner some nights and then freeze the meal for the DCK to be used at a later date, or for a meal the next day. This really cuts down on my prep time and meal costs...
Like abigal said, buying in bulk is not always the way to go and really do have to pay attention to the cost per unit....Comment
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Definately depends on what you are buying and for how many. Like pp said, make lists and compare. I shop at Costco. But I also have a large group group of kids (12) as well as my husband and my own 3 boys (19, 10, 8). I almost always buy my milk at Costco because it is the cheapest and I buy about 7-8 gallons a week. But I watch the local stores because occassionally they will have it on sale. I usually buy snacks at Costco too because I can get a larger quantity at a cheaper price. I will stock up on things when they go on sale too. I have an extra freezer in my garage. Things like paper products depend on whether they are on sale or not at Costco because they only carry certain brands and it may be cheaper to buy another brand at another store.Comment
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I have a group of 9 kids and my family of 4 and i would never give up my sam's membership. I don't purchase most of my paper products there but for groc it is great and I do still shop the sales at my groc store some of the sales you can't beat. But the milk is more than $1 per gallon cheaper and the fruit is cheap and good so if you only use it for milk and fruit you will get your money back over and over. Remember the membership is a deduction for taxes.Comment
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I shop at sams club. Their selection of fruits & fresh veggies is the best. I also buy stuff like chicken nuggets & frozen pizzas. I tend to keep my menu very simple. I use a lot of convenience foods mixed with fresh fruits & veggies, all whole wheat breads & pastas. The kids eat well and parents seem happy with the menu.Comment
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I would never give up my Sam's membership! I buy everything from toilet paper and paper towels to kitty litter and 10 lb rolls of hamburger!
A lot of what I use for the daycare is toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher detergent, sanitizer, lysol, Tide, etc. I've compared prices per ounce to Walmart and it doesn't compete! One visit and you'll save the $40 you spent for the membership!
We've even bought books and movies!
I've never been to Costco but I'd love to get in there to see what they have!Comment
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I'm canadian and I love sam's club. So roughly once a month I go and stock up. But I have a family of 6 and have 7 daycare kids. But it depends what I need and what is on sale. If I were you, I would go in and look around and see. I buy milk in the states because its cheap cheap cheap, I also shop at aldi's which is another cheap place to buy food.Comment
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Just because it's a bigger box doesn't mean it's actually cheaper.
YES this is the flip end of the marketing technique of buying in bulk and saving money. Now most people have this engrained in their heads so they go for the jumbo Tide or jumbo bag of ***. In MOST cases the larger container is more expensive per ounce. It's the opposite of what people think.
I do all organic so I have no choice but to buy in season and buy in bulk. As the veggies and fruits come in season I buy as much as I can physically manage to put up and put them in the freezer for the next year. I do this with everything but milk.Comment
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Nan~
90% of the research I have done, Sam's Club is cheaper price per ounce than Walmart although they are the same company!
Their produce is by far cheaper than Walmart or HyVee and a lot fresher too!
The Tide, milk, etc. is extensively cheaper making the trip worth while. (18 count eggs $1.72 last week. Gallon of 1% milk $2.18!) That's even cheaper than Aldi!!!
Depending on what you are shopping for, the savings can be substancial or mediocre.
Movies, books, and meat savings aren't that great but saving a buck is still a buck in your pocket!
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I shop sams, Gordons food service, and walmart. I do prefer Colby jack from kroger and we buy most our seafood from marsh. Our grocery budget for both my family (6 plus 4-5 extra thru the week) plus my day friends, is never the same. We don't plan well. I have a fairly well stocked pantry and freezer. My in laws get us gift cards for the local butcher for Christmas and b days . But I know I waste money buying what I feel like instead of what's on sale. We do serve a lot of meals to daycare I cook the previous evening for my family. Like today I started two big roasts. I'll use half of one for roast taters and noodles tOnight, half for dinner tomorrow as veg soup. I will 1/4 up the other for roast beef sandwiches for daycare , beef and noodles, Then freeze the remaining two parts for use later when it's we'd night, I'm exhausted and dh says, what do you want for dinner. Lol. I have to admit, I spend a lot of money on food. More than I want to admit. We don't serve typical kid food here. We do have a variety of stuff but it isn't out of routine for us to have baked chicken, steamed fish, we do quite a lot of seafood, scallops, crab, salmon, cod, haddock, crappie, trout, walleye, not so much shrimp but more because of inconvenience than cost. I feel my job is to teach children about their world and much the same way I allow different art media, I allow different food types. I would be lost without my SAMs membership. I do save money on everything from papertowels to leg of lamb.Comment
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