Grocery Shopping Costs

mrsmac08

I have 18 month old twins with food allergies. My daughter has a milk protein allergy and my son has soy protein and peanut allergies.  Before they were eating "regular" food and mostly on baby purees, our grocery bills were manageable. But, now it seems like things are getting out of control. I buy a lot of fruit/veggies and try to make a lot of stuff to freeze for them. Having to buy a specific brand of something rather than buying what's on sale, or having to do a second shopping trip at Whole Foods every week is really starting to add up.

Any tips for saving money on allergy friendly foods? I think some of it may come down to planning and coupons, but I do have trouble finding the time for that while taking care of my family and working full time. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

shotzie

Have you checked other local stores for those special brands? For example, our Super Target carries some Applegate Farms cold cuts. And I've found almond milk yogurt and coconut milk yogurt at King Soopers (regular old grocery store). There are also a few smaller health food stores where I live that have better prices than Whole Foods, so that's where I go for the stuff I can't find anywhere else. (So I shop at Super Target and at Vitamin Cottage). I could save more by only shopping sales, but like you, I don't have time to go to five different places each week. So I focus on shopping sales and using coupons at Super Target since they usually have the lowest prices anyway, and VC has better prices than WF. 

Other than comparison shopping, you can email/write companies and request coupons. I contacted Amande, Applegate Farms, and Kitchen Basics (McCormick) through their websites and told them we love their products and we buy them due to food allergies. I asked them if they ever have coupons for their products and within a week, they all sent me several coupons.

I know my answer involves coupons, but it's not just the usual looking through the paper and clipping coupons. The companies I contacted were ones I'd never seen coupons for in the paper. Although I think Applegate Farms has coupons on their website/FB sometimes these days.  

mrsmac08

Thanks for the reply!

NHbride129

What are the things you buy the most of and on a regular basis?   We deal with several allergies here and I've been buying Enjoy Life things on amazon.  The best deal for coconut milk and applegate products is Trader Joes.