Butchering Your Grocery Bill (Bestie Ep) #1003

Summary

Podcast Summary: How to Money – "Butchering Your Grocery Bill (Bestie Ep) #1003"

Release Date: June 30, 2025

Hosts: Joel and Matt
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts

---

Introduction

In the milestone episode #1003 of How to Money, hosts Joel and Matt delve into a universally relatable topic: managing and reducing your grocery bill. Aimed at providing actionable insights for everyday financial challenges, this episode is packed with practical strategies to help listeners take control of their grocery spending without sacrificing quality or enjoyment.

---

The Importance of Managing Grocery Expenses

Joel kicks off the discussion by highlighting the significance of groceries in personal budgets:

“Everyone out there has to buy groceries. This isn't one of those expenses where you're thinking, oh, you know, this isn't an expense that applies to me.”
— Joel [10:34]

Matt adds context by mentioning the impact of inflation on grocery prices, noting that as of December, grocery costs had risen by nearly 12% compared to the previous year. This sets the stage for why effective grocery budgeting is more crucial than ever.

---

Practical Tips to Butcher Your Grocery Bill

1. Budgeting Techniques

• Assess and Set Realistic Budgets:

  Joel emphasizes the importance of understanding past spending to set attainable grocery budgets:

  “Use previous numbers to help you come up with an attainable dollar amount to shoot for.”
  — Joel [25:11]

• Monthly to Weekly Conversion:

  Breaking down monthly budgets into weekly limits can make them more manageable:

  “If you have a $600 grocery budget per month, let’s say you hit up the store once a week. Well, we're talking about $150 like that is roughly what you should be spending each time.”
  — Matt [26:32]

2. Meal Planning

• Plan Meals in Advance:

  Allocating time each week to decide on meals helps create precise grocery lists, reducing impulse buys:

  “Knowing what you're going to be eating helps you make a grocery list. And sticking to the list is one of the best ways to make sure you don't overdo it.”
  — Joel [27:19]

• Incorporate Leftovers:

  Strategically planning for leftovers can extend meal options without additional costs:

  “If you have a couple containers of pulled pork in your fridge, the ability to then use that to make barbecue sandwiches or fritters is something you want to pounce on.”
  — Joel [32:05]

3. Shopping at Discount Stores

• Switch to Discount Grocers:

  Transitioning to stores like Aldi or Lidl can result in significant savings. Matt shares a personal anecdote:

  “Once we started shopping at Aldi, literally overnight we saw a 30% reduction in our grocery budget.”
  — Matt [38:30]

• Limited Options as a Benefit:

  Fewer choices mean less time spent comparing prices and more streamlined shopping:

  “Your grocery trips are going to be shorter just because of the footprint of these stores.”
  — Joel [39:32]

4. Utilizing Apps and Digital Coupons

• Leverage Store and Third-Party Apps:

  Utilizing apps like Flipp for sale flyers or Ibotta for cashback can enhance savings:

  “Check out Flipp.com to see what's going to be on sale this week and plan your shopping accordingly.”
  — Matt [36:01]

• Digital Coupons Over Physical:

  Emphasizing efficiency, Matt suggests using digital coupons provided by grocery store apps instead of hunting for physical ones:

  “I use Kroger coupons when it's easy. I'm not searching the Internet for coupons because I think for most people that's a waste of time.”
  — Joel [36:48]

5. Buying Store Brands

• Switch to Store Brands:

  Store brands often cost significantly less while maintaining comparable quality:

  “Consumer Reports found that 76% of store brand products tasted just as good as the name brand.”
  — Matt [41:53]

6. Buying in Bulk and Managing Leftovers

• Strategic Bulk Buying:

  Purchasing in bulk from stores like Costco can lead to savings, provided you manage portions and storage effectively:

  “Take bulk items and portion them into smaller, manageable sizes to prevent waste.”
  — Joel [43:59]

• Investing in Storage Solutions:

  A deep freezer can make bulk buying more feasible by reducing food waste:

  “Matt, my father-in-law buys like half a cow at a time... He had to buy a deep freezer in order to make that make sense.”
  — Joel [34:29]

7. Avoiding Processed Foods

• Focus on Whole Foods:

  Steering clear of processed foods not only benefits health but also reduces spending:

  “By eating these whole real foods, it's gonna be better for you. It's gonna help your waistline. It'll help what you're spending on groceries as well.”
  — Matt [48:20]

8. Using the Right Credit Cards for Cashback

• Maximize Cashback Rewards:

  Utilizing credit cards that offer cashback on grocery purchases can amplify savings:

  “The American Express Blue Cash Preferred will snag you 6% cash back at the grocery store on up to $6,000 of expenses a year.”
  — Matt [50:40]

9. Additional Strategies

• Eat What You Have:

  Encouraging the use of existing pantry items to craft meals reduces the need for additional purchases:

  “Use sites like SuperCook to create recipes based on the items you have on hand.”
  — Matt [53:34]

• Portion Control:

  Being mindful of portion sizes can prevent overeating and unnecessary spending:

  “A lot of us are just eating more than we actually should. This has led to us becoming a pretty fat and overweight nation.”
  — Joel [55:04]

---

Personal Anecdotes and Quotes

Throughout the episode, Joel and Matt share personal experiences to illustrate their points:

• Joel’s Exploration of Shipping Services:

  Joel recounts his experience using Shipley to ship a desired piece of furniture:

  “By the end of the bid, because everyone's competing against each other, the bids were in the low $200s to move this thing.”
  — Joel [06:08]

• Matt’s Transition to Aldi:

  Matt explains the drastic reduction in their grocery bills after switching to Aldi:

  “Once we started shopping at Aldi, literally overnight we saw a 30% reduction in our grocery budget.”
  — Matt [38:30]

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Joel on Breathing Better Analogies:

  “If you're able to improve something as fundamental as breathing, similarly, getting better at grocery shopping can lead to a lifetime of happiness.”
  — Joel [09:02]

• Matt on the Psychology of Cooking:

  “It's the psychology of cooking and tricking yourself into some of the different ways which makes certain habits stick.”
  — Matt [19:22]

• Joel on Avoiding Defeat in Budgeting:

  “What use is coming up with a number that you're never going to actually meet?”
  — Joel [25:16]

---

Conclusion and Final Insights

Joel and Matt wrap up the episode by reiterating the importance of adopting sustainable and enjoyable habits to manage grocery spending effectively. They emphasize that while macroeconomic factors like inflation are beyond individual control, strategic personal actions can significantly impact one's financial health.

Joel encourages listeners to share their own grocery-saving tips via email, fostering a community of shared knowledge and support.

---

Additional Resources

For listeners seeking to implement the discussed strategies, the hosts direct them to their website howtomoney.com where they provide links to all mentioned resources, including discount sites like Shipley and apps like Flipp and Ibotta.

---

Closing Note:
As best friends and financial enthusiasts, Joel and Matt continue to provide valuable, jargon-free personal finance advice, ensuring that listeners are equipped with the tools necessary to lead a financially healthy and enriching life.

Transcript

[Matt]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Joel]

This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal can help you find and finance the right vehicle with ease if you don't have the cash on hand with Navy Federal's car buying service powered by Truecar, you can find the vehicle that's right for you as you search through inventory and compare models. And you could get an amazing rate when you finance with Navy Federal.

[Matt]

Visit navyfederal.org truecar to learn more. Navy Federal is insured by NCUA Credit and collateral subject to approval where do.

[Joel]

You see your career in 10 years? What are you doing now to help you get there? The sooner you start enhancing your skills, the sooner you'll be ready. That's why AARP has reskilling courses in a variety of categories like Marketing and Management to help your income live as long as you do.

[Matt]

That's right, AARP has a bevy of free skill building courses for you to choose from because the steps that you choose to take today with will help you to love what you do in the future. And that's why the younger you are, the more you need AARP. Learn more at aarp.org skills in business.

[Unknown]

They say you can have better, cheaper or faster, but you only get to pick two. What if you could have all three at the same time? That's exactly what Cohere, Thomson Reuters and Specialized Bikes have since they upgraded to the next generation of the cloud. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure OCI is the blazing fast platform for your infrastructure, database, application development and AI needs where you can run any workload in a high availability, consistently high performance environment and spend less than you would with other clouds. How is it faster? OCI's block storage gives you more operations per second cheaper. OCI costs up to 50% less for computing, 70% less for storage and and 80% less for networking better. In test after test, OCI customers report lower latency and higher bandwidth versus other clouds. This is the cloud built for AI and all your biggest workloads right now with zero commitment. Try OCI for free. Head to oracle.com strategic that's oracle.com strategic.

[Joel]

Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.

[Matt]

I'm Matt.

[Joel]

And today we're talking how you can butcher your grocery bill.

[Matt]

And this episode is brought to you by ButcherBox. Just kidding. That would be way too on the nose. I don't even know what butcher box butcher box is. I want to say butcher blocks for some reason.

[Joel]

I don't know. I think it's an expensive way to get meat delivered to your.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's like a meat delivery service, right?

[Joel]

That would actually probably be the opposite thing you want to do if you want to save money on it.

[Matt]

It's like stitch fix where they just automatically send you clothes and you're tempted into keeping it.

[Joel]

And I get it. For some people it's a worthwhile splurge. But for most folks, that's not how you're going to save the most money doing it, right?

[Matt]

That's right. And by the way, but we want.

[Joel]

People to take a cleaver to their monthly grocery budget. And especially now, people just feel the pain in groceries more. So we're gonna talk about, give a bunch of suggestions about how to like relieve that pain today.

[Matt]

Which cleavers, like Chinese cleavers are totally in, by the way. Have you seen Kate's over at her house?

[Joel]

Oh, yeah. It looks fancy. I wouldn't know how to use it, though.

[Matt]

I mean, you just use it like a regular chef's knife. But it's just another tool to add to the toolkit. Right. It's another tool in the arsenal when it comes to cooking. But this is gonna be a great topic because I'll readily admit there are some topics that I know we talk about that we discuss that may not appeal to everyone out there. There are certain things that we discuss that aren't applicable to everybody. That is not the case today.

[Joel]

Sometimes we talk about real estate investing, and some people will be like, dude, snooze fest. I don't care, I'm not gonna do that.

[Matt]

But everybody not gonna be well. And we want to encourage folks to listen to those episodes. Cause I still think that there are some little nuggets of information that you are gonna be able to glean from those episodes. But this one is gonna be a topic that is most definitely applicable to everyone out there.

[Joel]

For sure. All right. Something else that's applicable to a lot of people that a site that I've heard about Matt, but I just gave it a test, but this week because I wanted to know, okay, is this actually a good way to go about saving money on getting something shipped across the country? So there's an Instagram account I follow. They sell mid century furniture. And did you buy.

[Matt]

Did you buy a fancy piece of furniture?

[Joel]

No, I didn't yet. I'm thinking about it, but I was like, they're in North Carolina. And I was like, I don't, you know, I'm not going to go pick this thing up. What is, what is. It's just like a bar Cart, basically, we have a space that, like, has been sitting empty since we moved in in July.

[Matt]

I know exactly where you're talking about.

[Joel]

Been looking for some sort of bar car essentially to fill that space or like a display cabinet, but. And I'm looking for something that fits in with the rest of our furniture. And this, you know, seller on Instagram that I've been following for years, posted one and I was like, that's really reasonably priced and it looks good. But I was like, how can I get someone to bring it to me?

[Matt]

I'm not going to drive up there.

[Joel]

Wait for too much money.

[Matt]

Where in North Carolina? Maybe we can.

[Joel]

It's in Asheville. Oh, which we should. Dude.

[Matt]

Okay.

[Joel]

That'd be a good.

[Matt]

Why would you not want to take a trip up that to Asheville? I guess it's actually getting it. Could you fit it in your van?

[Joel]

Yeah, yeah, I could totally fit it in too. So maybe I should do that. Maybe that's.

[Matt]

Maybe we'll take a road trip.

[Joel]

The best way around it. But I was like, okay, what would it cost to have someone bring it here? And they mentioned, hey, we've got this white glove service reach out to them. The cost was pretty expensive. It was more than the cost of the item I was looking to buy. I was like, ouch, no way.

[Matt]

Not interested.

[Joel]

Not a deal now. But I looked up, there's a website called Shipley, and Shipley is basically putting it out for bids to all the people who are interested in moving that piece of furniture. First couple bids were like 700, 600, 500. And I was like, that's still really, really, really, really expensive. And by the end of the bit, because everyone's competing against each other, the bids were in the Low twos, low $200 to move this thing. And so I'm like, okay, cool. I still haven't pounced. I haven't decided to buy this thing or to have it, you know, hire someone to ship it to bring it to me. But I was like, now it's reasonable. So that's kind of cool. And they have, like, reviews and stuff and I love it.

[Matt]

Dude, how do you spell it?

[Joel]

S, H, I, P, L, Y. Shipley. Yeah. So we'll link to it in the show notes. It's again, not something I've actually used yet, except for an attempt, but if you're looking to get something moved across country or at least just even just a couple states over, because, yeah, you're. You don't have the time to go to Asheville or Whatever. Even though you want to desperately. Because the beer scene is so good. I think Shipley is kind of a cool site we're checking out.

[Matt]

Very cool. Yeah. Anytime there is a platform, a website that facilitates a free and open competitive marketplace like that, I'm all for that.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

But let's introduce the beer you and I are going to enjoy during this episode. This is a barrel aged sour brown ale that is, I believe, is called Darken. That's, you know, it's written in the biggest letters, I guess, on the label. But this is by Upland Sour Ales. I assume they only make sour beers, but I'm looking forward to enjoying. I don't think we've ever had a beer by these guys before, so definitely looking forward to this one. And stick around to the end of the episode because that's when we will share our thoughts on it for sure.

[Joel]

But for now, let's get on to the topic at hand. We're talking about how to butcher your grocery Bill and Matt, everybody eats food. That is what you need to sustain life. You gotta have water, gotta have food, gotta have air. And so air makes me think of the fact that we all have to breathe. Right? Well, I didn't really realize this until just, I don't know, six months ago until I read a new book, but I didn't realize that we could all breathe better. It had just not really crossed my mind. And then I read this book called Breath, which is aptly titled Makes Sense by James Nestor, who's a journalist. He, like, looked into the science of breathing and he gave a bunch of tips and it was just this thoroughly fascinating excursion of something that I thought was basically mundane and boring, that there just wasn't much to discuss. But a couple of his main tips from that book were to breathe through your nose, not your mouth.

[Matt]

Yeah, I've heard of that one.

[Joel]

Apparently the conditions of your nose just make it so much better. You get 20% more oxygen because of the conditioning that your nose is doing versus just breathing in straight in through your mouth. Right?

[Matt]

I'm breathing through my nose right now.

[Joel]

See, you look healthier already.

[Matt]

The color in my cheeks, they're rosy.

[Joel]

Yes. It's just kind of fascinating.

[Matt]

It makes sense, right? Yeah, I guess it goes through your sinuses and I'm assuming it adds moisture to the air.

[Joel]

That's right.

[Matt]

Warms it up a little bit.

[Joel]

Yeah. So there's a bunch of different sciency reasons that breathing through your nose is better than breathing through your mouth. And just one other quick tip from the book. If you're like, I'm not gonna read it, give me the Cliff Notes. Well, fewer deeper breaths is another way to breathe effectively. Just because it regulates your body. Because try just breathing short, like you're.

[Matt]

Having a panic attack. Yeah.

[Joel]

You're gonna feel bad really quickly, but if you take those. I think he said five and a half second in. Five and a half second out is kind of the ideal duration of a breath.

[Matt]

I love it.

[Joel]

Yeah. So all sorts of interesting things to something that you're like, I didn't know there was much to learn on that front.

[Matt]

Dude, this is like the Huberman lab kind of stuff that I'm into. Like, you tell me all these things, and I will start doing them.

[Joel]

Okay, well, you're gonna like this book then.

[Matt]

For the rest of my life.

[Joel]

Have you read it?

[Matt]

I.

[Joel]

You'd be into it.

[Matt]

I think we've talked about it before, which is why I think I know some of these things. Or maybe I read a summary on it, but I don't think I've actually picked up the actual book. Okay.

[Joel]

All right. Well, maybe audiobook. It's not. It's not too bad. But after, like, just a few tweaks. Yeah, you might be breathing better, living better, but the same thing is true with groceries. So we've got kind of a basic subject today, but something that I think seems simple on the surface, maybe, but there are a lot of ways to improve your grocery store habits to save more money.

[Matt]

Yeah. Just like everyone out there, they've got to breathe air. We all have to eat food. And literally, like I was saying earlier, like, everyone out there has to buy groceries. This isn't one of those expenses where you're thinking, oh, you know, this isn't an expense. That applies to me.

[Joel]

No way.

[Matt]

We've all got to eat. And we've all probably seen from personal experience that groceries are the third largest line item in the average person's budget, which means this is a smart place to start working on being more efficient with your dollars. And also inflation. Inflation has also taken a toll on food prices. Now, the Labor Department said that grocery prices went up by almost 12% back in December compared to a year prior. And obviously, inflation, it is starting to come down. We've seen some encouraging headlines, some encouraging news from the Fed. That being said, it's not happening overnight. And groceries seem to be one of the stickiest sectors where inflation is hanging out, hanging around even longer. So that's just another reason for us to discuss savings techniques on the show today. When it comes to food and how you can save money.

[Joel]

Yeah. I saw an article about Whole Foods. They're asking their suppliers to trim costs in order to drive their cost down so they can kind of pass some of those on to the consumer. And it makes sense, especially for one of the more expensive grocery stores like Whole Foods. They're feeling the pinch in a bigger way as people are trying to trim their grocery bill.

[Matt]

Go figure. What? Why isn't everybody doing that?

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Well, and Whole Foods asking for that nice guy discount.

[Joel]

That's one of the things that people kind of instinctively do is they trade down in an environment where costs are rising rapidly. And so Whole Foods, I'm sure, is seeing people walk out the door, go down the street to another less expensive grocery store. And so they're saying, hey, guys, can you lower. Lower these prices for us? Because we got to make sure our customers stick around. Right. Keep coming. Keep coming in the store.

[Matt]

Yeah. Their customers are going to Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's customers are going to Walmart. Walmart customers are.

[Joel]

I don't know where they're going, Aldi. Yeah. Or planting a garden in their backyard. But enough about the negative. I think that, you know, the truth is that there's. There's a joy that we often associate with food. Right. I can still vividly remember, Matt, meals that I've had on a trip or even just like, cooking something together with my kids at home. Like the communal aspect of food that we can enjoy. There's a clear reason that we're all not just drinking Soylent three times a day. Our three square meals are just in some sort of prepackaged bottle through a straw. Right. I mean, because what we eat, it goes beyond just nutrition in an attempt to stay alive. Three Soylents a day might get me by, but I'm going to hate my life by the end of a week. And making strides with your grocery shopping and your cooking, I think it could lead to years or even a lifetime of happiness that you're able to experience where your meals are enjoyable and what you're paying for groceries is leading to, like, delicious things that you get to enjoy with people that you love.

[Matt]

So much of life revolves around the table. Right. And, like, when you think about how often it is that we do eat, this is something to pay attention to. And also, this makes me think of a recent movie that was out the menu, which I would not recommend. I don't. It wasn't that great.

[Joel]

I didn't like it either all that much. I thought I would, but I didn't.

[Matt]

It was weird to. I mean, and obviously, like, not the whole premise of the show, but just the way that they did it. I don't know. I don't want to sit here and bash.

[Joel]

My one line review was that the social commentary felt just super basic, and if it had been more interesting, fell flat. I could have been down with the whole premise.

[Matt]

Yeah, there wasn't enough depth.

[Joel]

Yep.

[Matt]

Anyway, so one maybe shining point within the movie, maybe my favorite part, one of the main characters, he's like a foodie, and he's just talking. He's kind of like waxing poetic about food or specifically, too, about chefs. And he's talking about how so many people worship or pay a lot of attention to athletes. And he's like. And they're just down there playing with a rubber ball. It's. It's really dumb. Whereas chefs, they're working with the actual elements of life. And he's just talking about why he's so into food. And that part of that, actually, it kind of resonated with me. Not to the extent that it does with him, like, where you are looking to, you know, drop like a, you know, $12,000 on a single meal, that kind of thing. But when you recognize truly how central food is to our lives, there are some steps I think, that we can take in order to make it more pleasurable, in order, like you said, to garner some more joy from it. And one of the ways that hopefully you can begin to see meals as something, you know, that brings you joy as opposed to just seeing it as a chore is by learning how to cook better. Nobody likes doing something that they're not good at. But you're also going to be able to save money by increasing your kitchen skills. And so if we're talking about your holistic food budget, you're less likely to go out to eat, and you're more likely going to opt for eating in, which is going to be far less expensive. And so we would recommend for folks to find ways to increase some of those different skills that they might have. Early on, Kate and I, we took some cooking classes, actually, here in Atlanta, some affordable cooking classes, which was a. It was a ton of fun. We actually did it for, like, a couple dates, but also we were able to formally learn some of the techniques that you would regularly put to use in a kitchen. But even before that. So that was after maybe we'd been married for, like, a few years or something like that. Well, right after we got married, we hadn't launched our business yet and she didn't have a job, so she was just hanging out at home. And this is when she watched a lot of the Food Network. And no joke, she literally credits watching folks cook on TV with her ability to just sort of where she is now.

[Joel]

I mean, she's over the years now she's a modern day Guy Fieri.

[Matt]

Everybody says that back then. I think it was, it was Rachael.

[Joel]

Ray and her hair looks just like his.

[Matt]

Oh my gosh. If only she's got the shades as well. I love it. But no joke. I mean, it's one thing to like look up a recipe online, but like, how is it that you actually execute that recipe? And that's when I think whether it be affordable cooking classes or. But just literally watching something on TV and seeing how they cut, seeing how they blend, blanch vegetables, just all, all the different techniques that you might be able to read about. But when you can see somebody doing it, I think that can oftentimes help. And now she just, honestly, she follows a lot of folks on social media as well.

[Joel]

I mean, just like anything in life, just learning a couple techniques can help you enjoy the thing more. Like, I, I play disc golf. Not as much as I'd like to, probably three or four times a year. I wish I went once a month. But it's, it's one of those things where you just learn a couple basic mechanics of throwing the disc. And if you try to throw it like a Frisbee, then it can. You're just annoyed, right? You're just angry because, like I have to, it takes me 20 throws to get it to the pin. But if you do just certain way that you need to do it, learn a couple of specific techniques, you're like, okay, cool, it took me four or five throws to get to the pin instead of, instead of 20. And that just makes it way more enjoyable.

[Matt]

Exactly. But then regarding what to actually make, of course you're going to want to make some inexpensive meals. And so we suggest following some of the folks that we've had on the show, specifically thinking of Beth Monsell from Budget Bites as well as Leanne Brown. She wrote the Good and Cheap Cookbook. They both prioritize cooking healthy, tasty food without breaking the bank. And we'll make sure to link to those interviews where we have those ladies on for sure.

[Joel]

Yeah. And Matt, I'll readily admit I'm no kitchen expert. Like, there's room for growth for me. Right. But I've grown, I would say in My ability to cook for our family. And it's like learning those disc golf techniques. It's rewarding to kind of make progress in that area. But I think one thing that might help if you feel like a complete kitchen novice is to check out meal delivery kits. And they're not the best option for saving money on groceries. And whether or not you should try one of these services really depends on how much you're currently spending on, you know, when it comes to food and how good in the kitchen you actually are. But services like Blue Apron, they might be a smart decision, particularly for the novice home chef. And it can be like a happy medium for a lot of people. It has been for us at different seasons in our life, depending on how busy we are. And my Emily, like, really likes using these services. We don't use them regularly, but when we get a discount or something, we'll go back to them and test them out again. And I think largely a good reason to test these out is because it could be kind of like a gateway drug, leading you back towards home cooking and eating out less. Signing up for these kits in perpetuity is probably going to be a budget buster. Getting three or four of these every single week. But using them to get you back in the kitchen, kitchen at least, and then weaning yourself back to meal planning and grocery store shopping in a smart way, that could be a good plan for a lot of people, I think.

[Matt]

Yeah, absolutely. So this reminds me of a listener who wrote in and he was talking about how him, I think him and his wife, I think they're empty nesters. But he was pointing out how this was something that they did that was fun and it allowed them to do something together, but it also introduced them to just some different foods, like different meals that they otherwise would never have thought to pursue. Look up how to make this thing. And it's not just getting delivered directly to them. It tells them, you know, they've got all the pre measured ingredients, they've got all the instructions, and all of a sudden they're eating something that they would never have otherwise eaten.

[Joel]

It's not just a friend passing on a recipe, it's literally all the pre measured stuff that goes with it. And so it makes it kind of like, yeah, a fun thing to attempt. But again, it can be expensive if that's your go to every single week. But I think it can be kind of like a paint by numbers for a lot of people who are like, I kind of want to get into painting. That's a Good place maybe to start.

[Matt]

Well, and I love again what you said about it being fun because we do things that are fun to us. If something is fun, it doesn't matter if it necessarily is gonna save you money, you will continue to do that thing. And so by tricking yourself back into the kitchen where you're cooking more, you're intentionally cultivating the joy of cooking.

[Joel]

Right, Julia Childs.

[Matt]

And not to mention, like you said, over time you wean yourself off of that and all of a sudden you have built up this joy for cooking food. And all the while, you're likely going to be able to save money in the long run.

[Joel]

Now you just like being in the kitchen. And I think that matters a lot if it's something that you're gonna cook, continue to do. Right.

[Matt]

It's the psychology of cooking and tricking yourself into some of the different ways which.

[Joel]

How many personal finance nerds talk about the psychology of the kitchen?

[Matt]

You and I, we are doing it more and more because I think we've realized how important it is not to just know the steps to take, but how important it is to approach something with a certain mental state and based on how it is that we actually live our lives.

[Joel]

Yes. Yeah, exactly. You could talk about, theoretically, the best things to do, but if that's not what people want to do, we need to give practice. Practical advice is necessary. And I think this is one of those things where it's like, like a lot of personal finance experts would be like, those meal kits are way more expensive than shopping in the grocery store. And it's true. Like, that is true. But what's gonna get you back in the kitchen over the long term? Just like, what's gonna get you working out over the long term? Is it, is it the most efficient, best three hour workout? No. And so you gotta find the thing that's gonna let you show up and continue to do the thing day after day.

[Matt]

Exactly. It's not just about winning this one battle. We're here to, like, win the overall war. And so, like, we're not just focused on what it is that you're gonna spend on groceries the last week in February. We're talking about how much you're gonna spend on groceries over the course of the year.

[Joel]

Yes.

[Matt]

And I guess so far we've essentially made a case for why it is that you should be paying more attention to your groceries. But we're gonna get to some practical tips on how it is that you can butcher your grocery bill and we'll get to some of those right after this.

[Joel]

Hey there Joel here.

[Matt]

And I am Matt. We are from the how to Money podcast.

[Joel]

Matt, Summer is here. I could not be more excited for our annual family beach getaway together, my friend.

[Matt]

Oh heck yeah. I'm excited as well. This year we are taking our families on a joint vacation to St. Simon's. This is off the coast of Georgia. That's right, the Atlantic coast.

[Joel]

And we found an awesome Airbnb that's perfect for everyone. The kids, they're excited about exploring the beaches in the historic St. Simon's Lighthouse. I want to check out the historic oak trees this year too. Plus we got a great pool at the Airbnb, which our kids are going to love.

[Matt]

It is going to be a blast. I can't wait, man.

[Joel]

And you know what? That's what makes hosting an Airbnb so special. A stay at your place could be the highlight of someone else's vacation. So why not consider hosting your own home on Airbnb? With the co host feature, it's easier than ever to manage your reservations and guests.

[Matt]

Exactly, man. A co host can handle everything for you, making hosting stress free. Find a co [e-mail] host looking for.

[Joel]

A smarter way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are just cheap imports. They're heavy, clunky, hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that. They're assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US Manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed.

[Matt]

And here is the real game changer. Guardian's patented SureStop braking system. One lever. It stops both wheels, giving your child more control. Faster stops and it prevents those scary head over the handlebar accidents. It's so easy that even a two year old can do it. And so if you are ready to support American jobs and keep your kids Safe, head to guardianbikes.com today. You'll save hundreds of dollars compared to the competition. And when you join their newsletter, you'll get a free bike lock and pump, which is a $50 value.

[Joel]

That's GU guardianbikes.com built in the USA made specifically for kids. Guardianbikes.com this episode is brought to you.

[Matt]

By Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal can help you find and finance the right vehicle with ease. Assuming you hadn't saved up the cash and this summer you are in the driver's seat. With savings, you could get a $250 bonus when you buy your next car through Navy Federal's car buying service. Powered by TrueCar and Finance with Navy Federal.

[Joel]

With this tool, you can find the vehicle that's right for you as you search through inventory and compare models. And you can get an amazing rate when you finance with Navy Federal. Navy Federal strives to support all active duty veterans and their families to achieve their personal and financial goals. And this partnership with TrueCar is one of many tools Navy Federal uses to help its members.

[Matt]

That's right. Make your plan with Navy Federal and TrueCar today. To qualify for the $250 bonus, car purchase and financing must be completed by September 2, 2025. Terms and conditions apply and are available at navyfederal.org TruCar Credit & Collateral subject to approval. Navy Federal is insured by ncua.

[Joel]

All right, Matt, let's keep going. Let's talk about butchering your grocery bill Makes me think of Sam the butcher from the Brady Bunch.

[Matt]

I thought you were gonna say butcher bill from.

[Joel]

Oh, that'd be a good one, too. Gangs in New York.

[Matt]

Yeah, that's right. Yes, that was a good one.

[Joel]

Some good butchers in classic American film and TV history. But you know, we were just talking about recipes before the break and how it might make sense to order a meal kit to help you out. But. But one of the advantages of going with a recipe is that you can plan and buy your groceries in a very precise way. You're also not following a recipe for every single meal that you're making at home, typically. Right. There's some that you're just going from memory. A lot of things I cook are the same seven or eight things I cook every time. I don't have this wide arrange. And I'm not always testing out new things, although that's something I hope to do more over time. There's a lot of things that you're doing on the fly. And the same thing is true when it comes comes to setting up a realistic budget, which is an important part of butchering that grocery bill and lowering your grocery costs. There's a learning curve and you're likely to get better over time. And so when it comes to budgeting, we don't necessarily want you to spend what you spent last month. Depends on how thoughtful you were about grocery purchases last month, I guess. But it's crucial to know how much money you spent on groceries in February. So that it can at least inform your March budget and you can take a realistic approach. Right. You can put a line item in your budget for groceries that is absurd, that you'll never hit. You can say, I'm a family of six, we're going to spend $220 on groceries. And that is just setting yourself up for failure.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

Well, what use is that really of coming up with a number that you're never going to be able to actually meet?

[Matt]

Or you just really like the feeling of defeat?

[Joel]

Right. Yes. So we would suggest using previous numbers to help you come up with an attainable dollar amount to shoot for. But at the same time, you'll probably want to use that number and then challenge yourself to improve upon previous spending level order to free up more cash for other goals that you've got. That's the whole point of saving money at the grocery store. So you can take extra dollars that you were putting towards feeding your family and funnel them towards more exciting, more fun areas.

[Matt]

Yeah. Even feeding your family in the future by investing those dollars. Yeah, but, so maybe you're thinking, well, I have no clue how much I should be spending on groceries. I can see what I have spent. But if that is you, a decent rule of thumb is to not spend more than 10% of your take home pay on groceries. So let's say you make around $100,000 a year. So after taxes and withholding, you're taking home a little less than $75,000 depending on your state. But meaning your monthly take home Pay is around $6,000. So that means it's a good goal to try and spend no more than $600 a month on groceries. If you are spending more than that, or, you know, maybe you are spending a little more than you want to, then we would recommend to work on reducing that amount. Don't do it all at once, but look at doing that over like two or three months instead of just doing it instantaneously like you're flipping a light switch. Because again, we're trying to be realistic here and we want you to implement changes that are going to actually stick. We don't want you to feel the sting of defeat yet again. So another way to help keep you on track then is to split up that monthly budget amount just into those equal installments for each trip. So again, if you have a $600 grocery budget per month, let's say you hit up the store once a week. Well, we're talking about 150 bucks. $150, like that is roughly what you should be spending each time. And so we're taking that larger amount, $600, and we're breaking it down into smaller, more manageable amounts of money in particular that are anchored to time, that are anchored to each week.

[Joel]

Well, because I think for a lot of people, they might say 600 bucks. That's my grocery budget for the month. They go the very beginning of March, they drop 350 because they buy some stuff they wouldn't normally otherwise have gotten, and then they find themselves towards the end of the month like, holy crap, how am I going to keep this under wraps? But if you think about it as $150 per trip that you make, you're more likely to actually hit the goal that you set. You're more likely to keep your spending in check because you've brought it down to an even more bite size, more manageable spend amount. Right?

[Matt]

That's right. Yeah. You're pacing yourself.

[Joel]

Yeah. Okay. And so I think meal planning is something else that needs to be mentioned. I think budgeting is massively helpful, and I think that rule of thumb is going to help a lot of folks make more sense of their grocery budget and at least kind of see cool. What are we spending of our take on Pay? Oh, 15%. Okay, well, we can get it down into 10% through some of the tips and tricks that Matt and Joel talked about. But while we're discussing, like a weekly strategy, it's a good idea to plan your meals in advance, too. You know, pick a time each week where you're going to spend, I don't know, like, 30 minutes or so thinking about the meals for the week for the family or for you as an individual and what they're going to be. You know, knowing what you're going to be eating helps you make a grocery list. And sticking to the list is one of the best ways to make sure you don't overdo it and spend too much at the store. So, yeah, consider making extra too, I'd say, but only if you're actually going to eat it. Matt is the leftover king. I don't know. I love the leftover king. Anyone who left loves leftovers more than Matt.

[Matt]

I don't know if I love them because I know me money, and so I, you know, like when you have something that's associated with something else that you like, you like that thing.

[Joel]

Yeah. You like it even more that way.

[Matt]

Exactly. Sort of like we're talking about cooking earlier. Like, if you can trick yourself into doing something that will ultimately save you Money. Well, it's like, win, win. Yeah. I don't know if I, like, actually like leftovers because I've convinced myself that they taste better because I know that I'm saving myself money, or if actually the flavors meld together and better. Yeah.

[Joel]

Because after being in the fridge for.

[Matt]

A day or two, things that. But you know where that's the case? Obviously not some things like French fries, but other things like a lasagna.

[Joel]

Oh, leftover French fries is just the worst.

[Matt]

It's the worst.

[Joel]

Yeah. But. But I think, like, meal planning.

[Matt]

Still eat them, though.

[Joel]

And planning for leftovers and then planning how to use and eat those leftovers is smart. And a lot of people will, like, make everything on a Sunday, and then they'll put it in the freezer, they'll freeze breakfast, literally. Like breakfast burritos or something like that, pull them out every single morning, heat them up, and then it's like, boom. I don't even have to think about it. I already made it. And I also know that I'm not going to be stopping to get fast food on the way to work because I plan my meals and I had it ready in advance. So I think meal planning makes a lot of sense, but you just also have to, like, have a plan to eat the stuff that you're making, too, if you're making extra.

[Matt]

That's right, man. Yeah. So that's enough about planning. Right. Let's get more tactical with it. Listen, envision that you're there in the grocery store. What about sales? Sounds like you're about to say something.

[Joel]

I was just thinking you said, envision you're in the grocery store. And I was like, what is if there was, like, a Metaverse app where you could put yourself in an Aldi? I mean, that sounds ideal.

[Matt]

I'd consider going to the Metaverse for that.

[Joel]

I've not been interested in the Metaverse until I just thought of that thought.

[Matt]

But for real, though, if you are at the grocery store and you see a sale, do you take advantage of that sale or not? Well, I like the idea of making a little bit of wiggle room for some incredibly discounted food within your budget. So, for instance, getting that pork shoulder when it's been marked down to a dollar per pound, that is when you pounce.

[Joel]

Sounds like a recent example out of your life, Matt.

[Matt]

Something I did recently bought two of those jokers, smoked them both, even though I wasn't necessarily planning on buying one that day. The price necessitated it. But just make sure that you aren't Using a big time sale, like a manager special to justify a purchase that you shouldn't make.

[Joel]

Well, in this case, it sounds like the porkness. It forced your hand on this, right?

[Matt]

I had no choice.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

No, you definitely don't want to make a purchase that fits, that doesn't fit within how it is that you approach your groceries. It needs to fit within your general grocery buying ethos.

[Joel]

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people might walk through the grocery store and then they walk through the chip aisle and they're like 30 cents off Doritos. Okay, I get you sale. I'll toss it in. And there's a lot of fake sales that go on in a lot of retailers.

[Matt]

Depends if they're cool ranch or not. Repeat hope. His joke is like, oh, yeah, that.

[Joel]

Electric, the electric tingle. It's like sticking your tongue to a 9 volt battery.

[Matt]

It's so good.

[Joel]

Which is true.

[Matt]

How do you resist?

[Joel]

Cool Ranch Doritos are delightful, but they're also really expensive and they're.

[Matt]

And they're terrible.

[Joel]

And they're terrible for you. And they're the kind of thing that's gonna, you know, bust your grocery budget. And it's not, it's, you know, if you like the 9 volt battery tingle of a cool ranch Dorito from time to time, put it on your list once a month or something like that. That's fine. Like you deserve, you deserve to treat yourself every now and again. But, but I think a lot of people are prone to do it in the moment just because there's a minor discount or minor sale. But when you're talking like a dollar a pound for pork shoulder, that's, that's different. And that's like, that's a lot of meals from, you know, one, one, one buy right there.

[Matt]

Totally. Yeah.

[Joel]

Even if it wasn't on the list, I think it makes sense to hop on it. Well, sure.

[Matt]

And that's a basic protein that you can then incorporate into other meals. And again, some folks don't cook this way, but if you know that you've got a couple containers of pulled pork in your fridge, the ability to then use that. Oh, all right, let's make some barbecue sandwiches. Oh, okay. Let's. Let's make some fried rice. O take that meat and incorporate it into a pizzole, that's literally something. These are all meals that our family made last week. And so when something like that comes along and it's got legs. Right. That you can then apply to other meals, that's something you Want to pounce on?

[Joel]

Yeah. Okay. So one other thing I think that can help when you are buying something like a pork shoulder, which just because it's on discount is if you have a deep freezer. And one of the biggest problems when you're stocking up or something like that because of a sale is when groceries are perishable. That can make it more difficult to do that. Right. So non perishables, buying extra cans of something that you know you're going to use because it's on sale. Oh hey, soup is half price. Boom. Let me get a couple extra of those, that's fine. But when you're talking about things that are perishable, it's harder to justify that. But I think a deep freezer can make that more justifiable because you then you haven't wasted money, like completely wasted money. Buying the thing and not using it.

[Matt]

Which would be the absolute worst. There's nothing that gets under my, gets under my skin is like an ingredient that we haven't used in particular vegetables. Right. Like you got that produce and sometimes it starts getting slimy and you have to freakin toss it. I hate that. There's nothing that strikes at my heart more than taking food that we've purchased with our own money and we just didn't have a chance or we chose not to use that vegetable in something and I gotta toss it in the trash.

[Joel]

Well, eating and not wasting what you buy is one of the biggest, biggest ways to save money too. Because such a huge percentage of our grocery bill goes to stuff that we throw in the trash, which is a crying shame. So we do have to get better at that. But I think the freezer, a lot of us think that's where we just put the ice cream or something like that. But depending on the size of your family, how you shop, what you eat and the amount of space in your house, getting a deep freezer might pay off in the long run. For example, Matt, my father in law, he buys like half a cow at a time. Yeah. And so it's chopped up into all these different ways. But the price per pound is, I want to say he said like $3 a pound, which is insane because that's what you pay just for ground beef. And he's getting steaks and roasts and stuff like that out of it. But he had to buy a whole.

[Matt]

Rack of ribeye as well.

[Joel]

Sure. But he had to buy a deep freeze in order to make that make sense. And so for some folks, spending money on a deep freeze can actually pay off in the long run.

[Matt]

Sure, you're making a case for me wanting a deep freeze right now. But let's talk about coupons. And generally speaking, Joel, you and I, we're both in agreement that coupons are overrated. The typical family, they save somewhere between five to nine dollars a week using coupons. And depending on how much you're spending on groceries every week, this could be chump change or it could actually be a meaningful amount of money. But just make sure that you're thinking about the overall ROI before you go coupon crazy. Right? Like it's possible to be be penny wise and pound foolish here just by hunting and clipping actual physical coupons when the savings that they'll net you, they may not necessarily be worth the time. Couponing it might make sense for some folks out there, but others should probably spend that time focused on more important aspects of their money. Some stores out there that you know, they've got apps that make it easy certainly make sure that you're a part of their loyalty program. Give them that phone number if they've got that program, if they've got that as an option. And also check out the site flip.com, that's flipp.com but they, it's a, it's a site, man. I love aggregate sites that bring together all bits of information that you would normally have to kind of go scouring for. But they combine all the different circulars that the different grocery stores have so you can see what is going to be marked down, what's going to be on clearance, what's going to be on sale.

[Joel]

It's easy to kind of plot your plan of attack for where you're going to go shopping that week based on sale flyers by looking at flip as opposed to waiting for the Sunday actual print section to come out. Flips really cool and it makes it easy. Well, Matt, I don't really. I'm with you. I'm against couponing as well. I use coupons when they're easy. And Kroger, when I go to Kroger for some of the things that I can't get at Aldi or Costco, I use Kroger coupons because the digital coupons are pretty simple and they send actual coupons and stuff that I typically buy directly to my house. It's literally based on things that I bought in the past. And they say here 60% off a couple thing of spinach because you buy spinach here sometimes. So that kind of stuff is I'll use those coupons when it's low hanging fruit. But I'm not like searching the Internet for coupons because I think for most people that's a waste of time.

[Matt]

Kroger's, they've actually got a pretty decent app as well that you can keep on your phone.

[Joel]

Yeah. So I think it's helpful to have that app for the stores that you're most loyal to. I have the Lidl app on my phone as well because sometimes I get discounts there. And speaking of Lidl, I think where you shop is probably one of the biggest difference makers when it comes to butchering your grocery budget. And Lidl and Aldi, we talk about them all the time because they're two of the best nationwide discount grocery chains that you can shop at. Trader Joe's are a lovely, slightly more expensive alternative, but like, if you have one of those three close to you, you're gonna save money by going there. And these stores, they don't even have to play the coupon game. They don't really get into it at all, largely because their prices are so incredibly low already. But just changing this one part of the grocery equation in your life, you could claw back a huge percentage of your grocery budget seemingly overnight. And even when you compare a list of basic items between Aldi and Walmart, Walmart, which prides themselves on low prices, they're known for low prices. If you compare Walmart to Aldi, Aldi wins by a landslide.

[Matt]

Even still.

[Joel]

Yeah, even still. Even though Walmart is cheaper than a lot of the alternatives, Aldi's cheaper than them. And it wouldn't be outrageous to see something like a 20% reduction and what you're spending each month just by doing this one thing. And if you're shopping at Whole Foods, you're going to see an even bigger discount in what you're spending if you move to Aldi.

[Matt]

That's right. But simultaneously, there might be some items that you can't get at Aldi that you would, you know, that you might have to go to Walmart for. But you mentioned 20%, dude, back when we, before the Aldi near us had opened up, we were doing like the majority of our grocery shopping at Kroger. And once we started shopping at Aldi, literally overnight we saw a 30% reduction in our grocery budget.

[Joel]

It's insane.

[Matt]

Like, it literally felt like magic because we weren't even necessarily trying to reduce how much we were spending. We just switched where it was that we were shopping. We saw a massive decline.

[Joel]

That's like, it really is like the easiest thing to do. There's all these little ways it really around the edges, it's the easy button, but that's the easy button to save the biggest deal.

[Matt]

It is, but we were kind of talking about Walmart and how they certainly have more options than Aldi. The trade offs of stores like Lidl, like Aldi are that you're going to have fewer options. And so instead of there being like 82 ketchup bottles that you can pick from, you're going to only have like one, maybe two if you're lucky. And we actually kind of see this as a plus. But also your grocery trips are going to be shorter just because of the footprint of these stores are going to be smaller and you're not going to have to spend as much time comparing the unit prices between all those different varieties of this exact same thing. You know, we get that this is not for everyone out there, but. But if you haven't tried some of the discount grocery stores like Aldi, like Lidl, and you are looking to trim your grocery budget, then you have got to at least give this one a shot.

[Joel]

Yeah. So not only are you going to save money at those discount grocers, but also you're going to spend less time, which sounds nice too. I love it. And plays out in reality, man. My trips to Lidl are quicker, although.

[Matt]

Lidl has the little carts for the.

[Joel]

Kids and so I did take a little longer.

[Matt]

Lidl's are bigger, dude. Lidl's are twice as I bet on average, if there's any sort of research out there.

[Joel]

Still a third of the size of a Kroger.

[Matt]

Still much smaller than Kroger, way smaller than Costco. But I mean, I used to pride myself in being able to literally get in and out of an Aldi with a thing of milk and eggs in like 90 seconds because they're just, they're so quick at the register and it's.

[Joel]

So easy to get back there to the coolies. They really are, I will say the Aldi, the people that work at Aldi are incredible.

[Matt]

They know what I want.

[Joel]

They have fewer people to get out.

[Matt]

Of there as fast as possible, but.

[Joel]

They pay them more and they, they like, they crush it so well. Okay. Something else though, on that front, like it's not just a major discounter, so you can check out. There are also like smaller independent discount stores and you can find one near you at a site like buysalvagefood.com and Matt, there's one 30 minutes from us. I haven't been there yet because it's 30 minutes from us. It's not four minutes away like the grocery store I typically go to, but it's one that I want to go to because they're selling kind of salvaged, dented secondhand food items, but it's still good food and they're selling it for a whole lot less. And yeah, so we'll put a link to that one in the show notes, but it's one that you can totally check. Like check out if there's one within five or ten minutes of you. It might save you a ton of money by going to one of these stores that's not, doesn't have a nationally recognized name, but you can, you know, they've got great prices that are going to save you money. Misfit Market is kind of the modern version of these independent discount stores as well that you know, that you would find on that Buy Salvage website. They've got lots of organic items as well. I just signed up. I'm going to give this one a chance. Never given it a go yet, but like it's basically giving you access to nice foods at a discount that they will ship directly to your door.

[Matt]

Very cool. And if you are not interested in the mega discounters or in trying a new service like that, don't forget about one of the easiest ways to save at the grocery store, which is buying store brands. Name brand items are going to crush your grocery bill most of the time. Trader Joe's and Costco, they have some of the best store brands in my opinion. I feel like Trader Joe's in particular, they've got, got, they've got certain items that have a cult like following. Although. Did you do we talk about the, the lead and cadmium and dark chocolate?

[Joel]

We haven't.

[Matt]

Some of the Trader Joe's dark chocolates are on that list of like high.

[Joel]

Well, it's a lot of the dark chocolates. Right? It is.

[Matt]

But maybe we'll link to that story as well. But there are some, certainly some ones out there that are a little bit safer if you like to eat a little bit of dark chocolate every day. It's funny because you talk about how like there's certain things like dark chocolate that are, are good for your health. They got those flavonoids and all that kind of action going on, but you can't, you never want to overdo it in any one area before it like turns around and like bites you.

[Joel]

By the way, flavonoids totally sounds like a word you just made up.

[Matt]

Maybe I Did. I'm pretty sure that's a real word. But we're talking about name brands and data from Consumer Reports. They say that store brands cost between 5 and 72% less than their name brand counterparts. And actually, when Consumer Reports, when they ran a taste test, they found that 76% of store brand products tasted just as good as the name brand. So we wanted to mention that because maybe you're being name brand loyal for no reason. And while we're talking about some of these different stores as well, I want to give Costco a little more love, since in particular for our family, they're our latest store that is certainly getting more of our dollars. But the ability to buy bulk is huge. And when you're used to buying small packs of stuff at some stores, but then you can go to a store like Costco and buy a massive double or triple pack of something, there is serious savings involved there, whether it's chicken thighs or whether it's like a giant thing of rice or giant thing of oil. But what's key, and this kind of speaks to, like, the waste side of things. What's key is to when you get home, to break those things down. And so if we're talking like, we're talking about chicken thighs, like, literally take them out of the packaging and just go ahead and package those into, like, Ziploc bags of portion sizes that you know that you will typically cook with. Yeah, same thing with, like, oil, because, like, at Costco, they got like that. I don't know, it's like a gallon and a half container thing of olive oil. And you think, how the heck am I supposed to cook with that? Well, you don't. So you take that home and fill up your little small oil bottle that you keep next to your stove, and you're gonna fry up some eggs. There are things like you buy bulk in order to save, but then you break it down in order to actually use those things and not let them go to waste and.

[Joel]

Yep. No, I like that. All right, Matt, we've got more grocery store saving tips that we want to get to, including, like, apps that can help you save. We'll talk about that. And there are a couple others we'll get to as well. We'll get to those right after this. Hey there. Joel here.

[Matt]

And I am Matt. We are from the how to Money podcast.

[Joel]

Matt Summer is here. I could not be more excited for our annual family beach getaway together, my friend.

[Matt]

Oh, heck, yeah. I'm excited as well. This year, we are taking our families on a joint vacation to SA St Simon's this is off the coast of Georgia. That's right, the Atlantic coast.

[Joel]

And we found an awesome Airbnb that's perfect for everyone. The kids, they're excited about exploring the beaches and the historic St. Simon's Lighthouse. I want to check out the historic oak trees this year too. Plus we got a great pool at the Airbnb, which our kids are going to love.

[Matt]

It is going to be a blast. I can't wait, man.

[Joel]

And you know what? That's what makes hosting an Airbnb so special. A stay at your place could be the highlight of someone else's vacation. So why not consider hosting your own home on Airbnb? With the co host feature, it's easier than ever to manage your reservations and guests.

[Matt]

Exactly, man. A co host can handle everything for you, making hosting stress free. Find a co [e-mail] host looking for.

[Joel]

A smarter way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are just cheap imports. They're heavy, clunky, hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that. They're assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US Manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed.

[Matt]

And here is the real game changer. Guardian's patented SureStop braking system. One lever. It stops both wheels, giving your child more control, faster stops and it prevents those scary head over the handlebar accidents. It's so easy that even a two year old can do it. And so if you are ready to support American jobs and keep your kids Safe, head to guardianbikes.com today. You'll save hundreds of dollars compared to the competition and when you join their newsletter, you'll get a free bike lock and pump, which is a $50 value.

[Joel]

That's guardianbikes.com built in the USA, made specifically for kids. Guardianbikes.com this episode is brought to you.

[Matt]

By Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal can help you find and finance the right vehicle with ease. Assuming you hadn't saved up the cash and this summer you are in the driver's seat with savings. You could get a $250 bonus when you buy your next car through Navy Federal's car buying service Powered by Truecar and Finance with Navy Federal.

[Joel]

With this tool you can find the vehicle that's right for you as you search through inventory and compare models. And you can get an amazing rate when you finance with Navy Federal. Navy Federal strives to support all active duty veterans and their families to achieve their personal and financial goals. And this partnership with TrueCar is one of many tools Navy Federal uses to help its members.

[Matt]

That's right. Make your plan with Navy Federal and TrueCar today. To qualify for the $250 bonus, car purchase and financing must be completed by September 2, 2025. Terms and conditions apply and are available at navyfederal.org TrueCar Credit and Collateral subject to approval. Navy Federal is insured by ncua. All right, we are still talking about some of the different that you can butcher your grocery bill. Joel, do you think that folks are getting hungry as we're sitting here talking about all the different kind of things?

[Joel]

Probably. They probably want to taste your, like pork empanadas or whatever it was that you were making.

[Matt]

Pizzole. It's like a Mexican soup. But let's kind of tackle some, I guess, some of these more actionable, practical tips that we've got for folks in order to reduce their grocery bill. And one of those is to avoid processed foods. The old maxim of shopping around the periphery of the grocery store is pretty accurate because that is where you're going to find fruits and veggies. That's where you're going to the meat and the eggs, the milk. Right. Like what we're talking about here is real foods as opposed to potato chips, the cookies, candy, pre prepared foods.

[Joel]

You're saying those Totino's pizzas aren't good for me, Matt.

[Matt]

They don't count, man. And those often aren't going to be as good for you. Right. Or as filling. And so we want to encourage folks to eat real foods whenever you can. You are your own person so you can eat whatever you want.

[Joel]

We're not your mom.

[Matt]

But by eating these whole real foods, it's gonna be better for you. It's gonna help your waistline. It'll help what you're spending on groceries as well. Not just processed foods, but the ability to avoid processed drinks as well. I think that's an area where a lot of folks can say of like juices and spending money on Coke, Sunny D. These are, I mean, for one, they're empty calories. But two, like, man, these things are loaded with sugar and you don't necessarily need to be spending your money on that. Again, you are your, you're an adult. You do what you want to do. And I know this is coming from the dude who likes. They always hear me talking about how my beer, oh, I wish it had a little more sugar. Yeah, I get it. Like, I like things to be a little bit sweet, but I'm owning it. You know, like craft beer is my craft beer equivalent. I'm willing to spend money that isn't necessarily helping my health because I really enjoy. So if you really love Sunny D. Joel, you buy that sunny dude. But don't think you're necessarily buying groceries with it.

[Joel]

Sure, yeah, yeah. Those are the kind of expenditures you're right. That are you're getting calories, but you're not necessarily getting the good kind. Getting the filling stuff. Exactly. On that note, like, should people buy organics? I think that's another question that people have because organics are certainly more expensive and different folks have different priorities on this front too. So we're not trying to be uber prescriptive here, but the price gap between organics and non, it often depends on the specific item. Right. Because organic eggs, they're not much more than regular ones at Costco. But organ milk, it feels like it's like twice as expensive, if not more.

[Matt]

It's a bit more.

[Joel]

So yeah, it depends on what your priorities are. And you might say, yeah, cool, I'm like me, I don't mind spending a dollar more for the organic eggs, but I'm not going to spend $6 more for the organic milk. And so, yeah, this is another example of how where you shop plays such a massive role in how much you spend. Because Walmart is the largest organic retailer in existence and their prices are going to be much more affordable than at Whole Foods, for example. But you know, we can all make different trade offs at different stages of our lives as we have different amounts of disposable income specifically to spend on food. And for some, you might prioritize cost over everything else. So you might say no to organic at every turn. But there are ways to buy affordable organic products too. I think that deserves to be mentioned. And there are a lot of people who just prioritize that strongly for like everything they buy. And there are other people who say, I'm going to pick and choose the organics I want to bring into my life, but I think it's possible to do the organic thing without completely breaking your budget.

[Matt]

That's right, yeah. Costco, that's where you buy your organic toilet paper. Only the finest for your tush. Another tip is we would recommend for folks to use the right Credit card. We've recently talked about this, but the American Express Blue Cash Preferred will snag you 6% cash back at the grocery store on up to $6,000 of expenses a year. And man, speaking of Aldi again, when they started taking credit cards a few years back, the choir of angels were singing in my head.

[Joel]

I still remember that day.

[Matt]

It was such a big, stinking deal.

[Joel]

Because, like, that's an extra 6% I'm saving on all groceries from here on out.

[Matt]

It was the only place I was using my stupid debit cards every single.

[Joel]

It was like literally the only place I used a debit card too.

[Matt]

I don't think I've pulled that thing out ever since. But being able to shop with this card is going to mean that they're already low prices. If you use that card, they're going to get 6% better overnight, like instantly. But of course, only use this card or any credit card like we discussed last week, if you can pay that bill off on time and in full every month. But if we're talking about easy ways to save more money on groceries, this is certainly one of them. And you can get the annual fee waived for the first year right now, in addition to that $250 signup bonus, we'll make sure to link to that card in the show notes for this episode.

[Joel]

For sure.

[Matt]

It's one that both of us use weekly, for sure.

[Joel]

Yeah. Okay, so what about apps that help you save too? And we've talked about the actual proprietary apps that the grocery stores have themselves. Almost every grocery store has their own app, and you can download that and find ways to save there, which I think is good. When you buy into their ecosystem, they offer you extra perks. And that's great. You should totally do that. But there are other third party apps that are worth considering too. Flash Food is a new one, at least one that I hadn't heard of until recently, that offers significant discounts, at least in some parts of the country, for buying items from grocery stores that are just about to expire. So that's kind of cool. You're kind of preventing something from going into the landfill and you're getting a sweet discount at the same time. I like that one. I looked to see if it was available here, near where we live. Matt. Sadly, no. But maybe soon. Maybe soon. But ibotta is probably one of the best known apps that will earn you cash back for taking a picture of your receipt after you check out. You got to jump through a couple of hoops, but these can be kind of like, you know, the coupons we talked, they, they might be easier than going out there and pecking and hunting for coupons to use at the grocery store, but they also might not be worth the hassle, but it's at least worth looking into. You know, some people swear by apps like Ibotta and they say they save, they get tons of cash back just by kind of doing the shopping they normally do. But so much really comes down to you, how you shop and how annoyed you get by these apps trying to like having to constantly interact with with them.

[Matt]

That's true. All right, let's get to the most dad like advice that we can offer when it comes to saving more on groceries. And this advice is to eat what you've got. And yes, again, I want a clean.

[Joel]

Plate out there, folks.

[Matt]

Happy plate club. Do y' all ever do that? I know a lot of folks do the happy plate club sometimes, but you know, definitely eat your leftovers, of course. But this also means that you should be cleaning out your pantry or your fridge or your freezer. Super Cook. This is a cool site that can help you to create a recipe based on the items that you have on hand. Of course, if it's just cookies, right, like if you just got Oreos and some Doritos and like a random chicken thigh, you're gonna have a tough time.

[Joel]

That would be a really interesting meal though.

[Matt]

Most likely. Hopefully.

[Joel]

Could you make like a crumble and bake it? Bake that chicken thigh in it.

[Matt]

Hopefully you're not down to the like the drags to that point. But it's smart, I think, to make this a game like that, right? Because if you're aiming high in an attempt to keep your grocery budget low, well, trying to make meals out of what you've got on hand is a way to gamify things in order to stretch your budget. There's a lot of oftentimes you'll see different folks taking on the challenge of like just only eating out of your pantry or your cupboard where you're only allowed to go to the grocery store for like, for fresh veggies or milk and eggs. Right. But a, of course we do want you to eat healthy, balanced meals. But I think there's a way that we could also challenge ourselves to not, not buy more of the non perishables that are already lining the shelves of our pantry.

[Joel]

All right, so another last suggestion would be just to eat less in general. And I think we, we get especially when we go out to eat, think about the Portion sizes. Oh, gosh, yeah. When you go out to eat in a foreign country, you don't get portions that big. But for some reason here in the States, we just have just something ignore and we. If it's on our plate, we just assume that's what we're supposed to eat. And so we do. And so a lot of us are just eating more than we actually should. And it's led to us becoming a pretty fat and overweight nation. In reality. The latest data reports that something like 42% of U.S. adults are considered to be medically obese.

[Matt]

Yeah, nearly half.

[Joel]

Which is tragic.

[Matt]

All adults.

[Joel]

Tragic, because not only is that expanding your food budget, it's just massively harmful to your health. And now we're like prescribing drugs to help cure obesity instead of making a national push towards changing habits which would lead to healthier outcomes, I think. I think so. Yeah. It just. Eating less in general and eating healthier whole foods, kind of like you talked about earlier, Matt, instead of eating a lot of the processed crap that we normally get in the center of the grocery store, that's going to make a big difference in how we feel and how much we spend on money, on food. Totally. Yeah.

[Matt]

And unfortunately, I think it's sort of become taboo to say that. And we will acknowledge that genetics play a role. Right. Not everybody can work out multiple times a week if they're looking to lose weight. But. But the ability to reduce how much we're consuming like that is something that is available to everybody. And it's just, it's kind of crazy that that is not something that is talked about more. Not to mention, and this is our whole angle, it also saves you money. And so it's.

[Joel]

For some reason it's become off limits, which I don't like, because it's kind of something we've been able to talk about openly for decades and decades and.

[Matt]

Decades and hundreds and thousands of years.

[Joel]

Yeah. And if you, but if you, if you make it off limits to talk about, then people receive the help they need, I think.

[Matt]

Yeah. So bottom line, groceries are a big line item in all of our lives. In the past year has certainly made shopping for food feel even worse because inflation, it's been a massive pain for everyone. Egg prices are actually coming down now, but they, they're still expensive. But the tactics that we mentioned today, they're not going to stop the macroeconomic environment, but it can help you to take some more control over the expenses in your own life. And you know, when this is with Food and cooking, when that's something that you do multiple times a day, you may as well get good at it.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

You know, you were talking about breathing earlier. It kind of makes me think about driving. Like, that's something that most people do. And there might be some folks who are better at it, who enjoy it more. There might be some folks who don't enjoy it as much, or there might be some folks who are terrible at it. But just because if you were to say, though, well, I'm just not good at it. And you get in like a fender bender every single weekend, you don't just like, throw in the towel and say, I'm just not good at driving. No. Like, you take steps, start taking Ubers everywhere. You take steps to make sure that you turn into a better driver. Right. Like, whether that's paying closer attention to the road or driving slower or finding different times of the day to get to where you need to go. There are steps that you can do.

[Joel]

Hiring a coach.

[Matt]

But in a similar way, I feel similarly about food. You may as well learn how to do it. Well, you may as well enjoy it. And obviously along the way, by doing those things, you're going to find ways to make it more affordable, saving you money that you'll then be able to funnel into other areas of your life, for sure.

[Joel]

All right, I agree. And so hopefully all of our listeners are able to cut back in big ways at the grocery store. And, you know, if you've got other grocery shopping tips, we'd love to hear it. You can always reach out to us. We'[e-mail] Matt, let's get back to the beer that we had on this episode. This one was called Darken. It's a barrel aged sour brown ale from Upland Sour Ales in Bloomington, Indiana. What were your thoughts on this one, man?

[Matt]

Yeah, I see on the back of the bottle here, it says a blended work of art. This was a really, really interesting beer. So it's a brown ale, but it was a sour brown. What tasted like was then Married with the spices from a Belgian quad, not the yeasts. Right. So it doesn't have like that the sweetness that you get with Belgian beers that you get from the yeast. But it totally had the, like, the Belgian spices going on. And so it had the darker sour funk. But then it had these notes, notes of like, Christmas. It's almost like when you get a song stuck in your head and you're just like, wait, why can't I get this? Like, what is it about this, I feel like that's what this sort of had going on with those Belgian spices.

[Joel]

Yes. On the back it says that it was kind of trying to imitate the oud bruen style, which is like sour brown. Right. Which is a traditionally Belgian style sour and which I love that style beer so much.

[Matt]

But that being said, this is incredibly unique.

[Joel]

Yeah, this is an alternate take on.

[Matt]

That very differently than a nude brun.

[Joel]

Well, of course, Americans, you know, like to shake it up, do things differently. So this is an American take on a Belgian style beer and I really liked it. But you're right, it definitely has some different vibes, some different spice action going on. But I mean, anytime someone says they're making an oud bruin, like give it to me, I'm going to take it.

[Matt]

Anytime that there's somebody making a barrel aged anything, the oat came through in.

[Joel]

A big way on this one too, for sure. All right, that's going to do it for this episode though. Matt, for folks who want links to some of the resources we mentioned, we mentioned a lot today. Specific apps and sites where you can go to save money on groceries. Well, we'll list all those up on our [e-mail] and not only are the.

[Matt]

Resources up there from this specific episode, but we've got a lot of new content up there on the site. We've got obviously the show notes, but just other articles, other helpful content, the credit card tool. There are a ton of fantastic resources up there for you, so we wanted to mention those as well. But Joel, that's going to be it for this episode. Until next time, Best friends out. Best friends out. Out.

[D]

There's a myth. A lot of us grow up believing that hair loss is just a part of life. It happens, it runs in the family. And once it starts, there's no stopping it. But here's the truth. That's outdated thinking. Scientific understanding of hair loss has advanced in recent years. Today we have a deeper knowledge of underlying causes and we've developed science backed solutions that are both effective and safe. And that's at the very root of Happy Head. Dermatologists led innovation offering stronger FDA approved ingredients that work. But what really sets Happy Head apart is how personalized it is. They don't do one size fits all fixes. You fill out a comprehensive consultation and they're board certified dermatologists. Assign a formula specifically for your hair loss pattern, goals and lifestyle. And whether you're early in your journey or more advanced, Happy Head offers targeted options that actually work. Topical treatments, oral capsules or potent dual action bundles all deliver directly to you, discreetly and freshly compounded. In the U.S. most people start seeing results in three, six months. But the real magic? It's sustainable. This isn't just about growing hair, it's about keeping it long term. So now, no hair loss isn't inevitable anymore. Visit happyhead.com and find out what's possible. When science, expertise and personalization come together, Hair happiness starts here.

[Matt]

Did it occur to you that he charmed you in any way?

[Joel]

Yes, it did.

[Matt]

But he was a charming man. It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story. Because this ties together the Cold War with the new one. I often ask myself now, did I know the true Jan at all? Listen to Hot Money, Agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.