Grocery Shopping Tip: Clearance sections have stock-up items too!

One of the best ways to save money on groceries is to stock up when things are a good price. Sometimes it's a lot easier said than done. A tight budget can make it seem impossible to stock up. I've been there, but I've always managed to make it work so I enjoy helping others do the same.

An unexpected way to save at the grocery is with clearance. Clearance? Isn't that the stuff that's about to expire? How can I stock up on that? Depending on your store, it's easy. Yes, clearance has a lot of soon-to-be expired items, but it also has items that are being phased out for one reason or another. At my local Kroger, they clearance items that they just got too many of. Clearance is also the home of damaged packages.

This 2lb bag of rice was on clearance for more than 1/2 off because the bag was cut when they opened the box.

With this in mind I check the clearance sections almost every time I go in to the store. I say almost, because it depends on what my list looks like. If my list puts me at the top of my budget and I don't want to consider changing anything, I skip the clearance. If I am below budget or am willing to substitute some items, then I take a look.

This cheese, a favorite treat, was marked down, but the sell by dates are still months away.

Some weeks, the clearance is a barren wasteland and I don't find a thing. Other weeks it's a complete treasure trove of things we like and use at fantastic prices and I have to figure out which items on my list and in the clearance need to go home with me. The majority of the time, I just find an item or two and I can easily fit them into my trip.

This baking spray was marked down because the lid was damaged, since I usually ditch the lids anyway, I didn't care.

The pictures in this post are from this week's grocery trip. My list included items for this menu, but I already had all of the meat and cheese which is the expensive part. Plus there weren't many sales I wanted to take advantage of, so I had plenty of space in my budget. I found all sorts of items and honestly part of them I don't typically buy, but I justified them and still had some money leftover.

This package was marked down by more than a dollar because it was missing one bottle! I like to have these for the kids.

What's the best bargain you've ever found on clearance?