Do you have cheap sources of food besides the grocery store?

I shop at a local meat market that has great deals on meat. Also in the summer I get all my produce from a local farm store. This guy either grows the stuff himself or he gets the less than perfect stuff from the farmers that they can't sell to the stores. And he sells it CHEAP!  I also get my honey from him, he has hives out back.

We have a litle Mexican store and an Asian store I keep meaning to check out.

I shop at Grocery Outlet too, which is a grocery store but not will all the other stuff today's supermarkets have, they just have basic cheap food.

Across from work, there is a dollar store. Well, not the dollar store anymore, it's the $1.25 store. I live about two blocks away from San Francisco's Chinatown, cheap produce and staples. Also, my drugstore Walgreens is great to buy groceries.

Coupons,  I save buy using coupons!!  Walgreens is a great place to use them by matching the coupons up with there advertised specials. They are very friends in my area.

I use coupons from the sunday paper, All You magazine and searching the web.

My husband brags about my savings.

Wow, I am distressed to hear there is now something called a "$1.25 store" out there.  I haven't seen one of those yet myself, but if I ever do, it will be a very sad and eye-opening day. 

This may sound silly, but a cheap source of food is often....my own pantry.  I think we all buy stuff and put it away in our cupboards, forget it's there, and then buy more stuff.  Somedays I force myself to make a meal or two using only what I already have on hand.  By getting a little creative, I use up some things that might instead just eventually be thrown away when it gets too old or expires.  (And throwing away food is practically a crime to me!).  Plus, it changes things up, because I have to get inventive sometimes. 

We've moved recently and I haven't found new places yet.  But before we shopped at a resaurant supply outlet, a dented can store run by the Amish and an Amish family that sold cheese at a $1 a pound.  It made an incredible difference in our food budget.  Now that we are a little more settled in out new home, I need to start exploring the non-tradtional options here.

Growing my own vegetable garden and canning the harvest.

Our space is pretty limited, but I really put my mind to it last year and have been very proud of what I was able to accomplish. This year, I plan on doing more.

I haven't had to pay much for jars. I've "put the word out" that I want them and will gladly take them. (Also, I give out jars of jelly and such to those who bring them to me!) and DH now complains that we have so many! (I keep reminding him that they do get USED!)

Also, DH "put the word out" that we would take any excess from other's gardens. Last summer and fall he brought "stuff" home almost every day! Of course, I canned a lot of it and he took some back to those who'd "donated". It worked out for all involved! :)

Canning also works great for "bartering".  A neighbor down the street fell in love with my apple butter last fall and now he comes by with his snow blower and takes care of the berm in front of our drvieway, and I give him apple butter! :)  My hairstylist loves my zucchini pickles, so I take her some of those and she gives me a discount on keeping my hair blonde! :)

I really need to get into canning.  I'm sure it can save a bundle!  I just never learned how.  I do freeze some produce. 

My biggest savings comes from shopping at Aldi.  It's really significantly cheaper than ANY regular grocery store, even super Walmart.  I also like that the store is relatively compact.  I can get through it in a shorter amount of time because it's physically smaller.  There are fewer choices to make (they only have one kind and one size of ketchup... and this is true for most of their items) If I need it I grab it.  I don't have to compute the best size for the money oz per oz.  It's virtually ALWAYS cheaper at Aldi unless I find a terrific stock up sale at a regular store. So I save time AND money.  I probably buy about 80% of our groceries at Aldi.  I actually prefer a lot of their foods over name brands just because our family has gotten used to it.  If you haven't gone, I highly recommend it!

Edie

We often shop at a local salvage store. They have expired, discontinued, dented, seasonal, etc. items deeply discounted. You do have to watch your dented cans & your expiration dates but in all the years I've shopped there I've only gotten a few things that were bad.