When it comes to scoring sales on your holiday shopping spree especially when you`re the one responsible for feeding everyone, should you shop at bulk stores or grocery stores? Here are tips from a bargain hunter to maximize your money!
From paper products to potato chips, hamburgers to hot sauce, a lot of us love having all sorts of food to scarf down at our holiday parties but the bill to pay for it can sometimes make you queasy. So to help make your party planning more appetizing, Newswatch 16 turned to frugal living expert Jenna Urban.
The mother of three from Dunmore runs her own bargain hunting blog. She gave us some pointers on what to buy at a bulk store including here at main source in Scranton versus a grocery store.
"Buying in bulk for a big party can save you lots of money," said Jenna.
"Rather than buying the traditional stars and stripes napkins. You want to go after the solid colors, like the red white and blue. That you can save 50% on and use them throughout the whole year," said Jenna.
"This is a great time to stock up on condiments. It`s grilling season summer and you`re going to get them 50% off. You`re going to pay $1.99 for a bulk bottle. In a grocery store. You`re going to pay $3.00 up to $4.00 dollars. So stalk up on condiments with a long shelf life," said the bargain hunter.
Jenna claims another bulk store biggie to buy: hotdogs and hamburgers! A word of caution with the burgers. Jenna said go after ground beef instead of those pre-packaged patties so you`ll end up paying per pound rather than per box and whatever ground beef you don`t use at your party, you can always use for future meals.
Now, let`s talk grocery stores and what this money maximizing mom says you should purchase at the supermarket.
"Some of the deals you want to look for in a grocery store are your snack items. You`re going to see lots of deals on chips, buy one get one free, two for five dollars, and you compare those with coupons. Go back, dig up your Sunday paper, go online to coupons.com, redplum.com, those are some great sites," said Jenna.
And finally, where to dish out the dough for your party drinks! Jenna says don`t sweat this one too much because prices are about the same across the board.
"With soda, avoid buying cans. Look for 2 liters," she said.