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How to saving money on canned food when budget is tight

post #1 of 25
5/28/11 at 2:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all,
Currently I am feeding a mix of grain in and grain free for my two cats Kattie and Oscar. I rotate through brands so they don't get finicky and also so they have a rounded diet. Currently their dry is Before Grain Chicken and Wellness Chicken for the grain in food. I have fed in the past Blue Wilderness, Felidae, Taste of the Wild, Solid Gold, Wellness, Acana and Orijen. I rotate and they seem to like them all. I always stick with a high quality dry food and would never feed the cheaper stuff drywise.
However, on their canned they are super picky. They don't really like the pates although Katie likes the BG turkey formula and some of the Blue line pates. She will eat the lower end brand pates like Friskies poultry platter, Fancy Feast Classic lines, they both love the Whiskas trays ect. On the higher end stuff they like Pro Plan, Avoderm and they absolutely love Nutro max cans. I don't care for the Nutro brand, but I can always guarentee that it will be gone.
I try to get both cats to eat canned twice a day and they are on a limited amount of dry twice a day. Kattie likes canned more than Oscar, but I find that he likes the chunks in gravy (I know they aren't as good, but I figure he is eating it and that is more moisture for him.)
Well next month is going to be a tighter than normal month in the budget, so I am going to try and stock up in canned foods for both the cats and dog. Any tips ans to getting good prices? I know that if I buy a pallate or tray that it is cheaper, but the cats like variety and won't eat the same flavor two days in a row, (I know spoiled). Can I mix flavors on a tray of say friskies or fancy feast? I like getting the better stuff like Blue, Wellness, Avoderm ect, but it isn't always eaten and that is alot more money wasted compared to 55 cents on fancy feast. Don't get me wrong I normally buy a mix of good and not so good but it might have to be more of the cheaper stuff for next month. Also I can buy the authority line and is the sophisticat line any good? My cats are also more of the chunks in gravy lovers so I worry when getting the cheaper stuff as the ingredients don't usually look as good. Anyways, I am looking to buy about 30 cans of cat food both 3 and 6 ounce versions, and I also have to get dog food but a can lasts two days for him so I can get by on less plus I try to feed more of the grain free stuff to him. Any tips would be appreciated. Also if there is a cheap brand that is still decent that I haven't mentioned let me know.
I know everyone is probably having to pinch pennies, and I will never feed the super cheap stuff, or stop cans, i just need ideas to get through the next tight spot til money is a little better.
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post #2 of 25
5/28/11 at 2:59pm
You can buy Fancy Feast and Friskies at Wal-Mart for less than 50 cents / can.

Bring a magnifying glass with you to read the tiny print on the labels. I only buy Fancy Feast classic beef with the brown label and classic turkey and giblets with the olive green label. Neither one has wheat gluten, corn gluten or corn meal. The first three or four ingredients are - if memory serves - real meat and fish and broth.

Every now and again, granted not frequently, there's a can-top coupon good for $1 off 18 or 24 cans of Fancy Feast. That's like a nickle off each can.

Good luck with finding a good way to squeak through this tight spot in your budget.
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post #3 of 25
5/28/11 at 4:04pm
Do you have a Trader Joe's near you? Their canned food is by-product free, and is $0.59 for a 5.5 ounce can, which is a very good price.

Petsmart (if I am remembering correctly) right now has Friskies canned on sale for $0.40 for a 5.5 ounce can. Poultry Platter is probably the best flavor that Friskies has, ingrediant wise.

Walker's Healthy Pet is the main store that I go to either They will give you 5% of a case of 24 cans OR you can get 25 cans (of all differant brands and flavors) and get the 5% off discount. But it looks like the closest one to you is around 80 miles away. They are only in WA state.

Buying in bigger cans always helps too

Safeway, if you have one near you, has their own brand of canned food called Priority. They have 22 ounce cans for $1.19...they have by-products, but I think the Turkey & Giblets flavor is grain free.
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post #4 of 25
5/28/11 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks guys,
Yeah this month is going to be a little tight but we'll make due. I have a Petsmart and Petco nearby. Petsmart usually has better prices than Petco and is closer. I am not super close to a Walmart, but I do think that we have a Trader Joes nearby, just have to google map it. I live in Tacoma Wa but we have different stores than where I used to live. I do go to Safeway for little things here and there so I will have to check out their house brand. The kitties have been real fussy lately and been wanting more of the chunks in gravy than the pate. We have been using Nutro and Nutro natural Choice as they love their chunks in gravy styles, but I think that it has Wheat gluten so I don't feed it all the time. If the kitties were like the dog, it would be easier because he'll eat any wet, lol. Everyone is healthy so far, although I think I gotta bring the dog into the vet as he has been limping off and on for the last few days. I go food shopping next week so we will see what we can find!
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post #5 of 25
5/29/11 at 1:00am
I've been mixing a little water with the pate kinds. My cats have to eat on the cat tree or the shelf next to it because the cat tree is the only surface my dachshund/minpin can't climb. Fin can't seem to eat without knocking his bowl down, Winn is tiny and dainty and doesn't have this issue, clumsy boys. I've been mixing water in to make it easier to eat, so less bowls end up on the floor. They like it better, I think, and it gets more moisture into them.
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post #6 of 25
5/29/11 at 8:00am
I've kind of skimmed posts here, so forgive me if I'm just repeating what others said. IMO - any wet food of any quality is better than no wet food at all. Especially given you feed high quality dry foods. My kitties eat a mix of wet foods - Friskies, Fancy Feast, Merrick, Authority (Petsmart brand), Science Diet, Tiki Cat, Eagle Pack, etc.
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post #7 of 25
5/30/11 at 11:36am
Great advice. I just got two new kittens and this post helped a lot
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post #8 of 25
5/30/11 at 12:05pm
Just a thought for the future Katiekitty. When next you have a little extra money in your budget buy another dozen or two cans of cat food. That's in addition to your usual monthly purchases.

Keep feeding the "older" stock and buying new. That way when money gets tight you'll have those dozen cans to get you and your kitties through the lean patch.
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post #9 of 25
5/30/11 at 5:32pm
I know you say that your cats are picky and so you don't want to buy too much of one kind, but you have to look at the long run. First thing I did when I switched to canned was buy 4 pallates of food, all of a different brand/flavor. I give a different can every day, so he never gets bored of a flavor and I saved a Lot of money compared to if I had bought from petsmart/petco. Also I don't have to worry about food in the tight months because I have enough food to last me more than a month!
If you were still wondering, yea, I'd recommend Authority, its a good food for the price, no by-products or any of that junk.
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post #10 of 25
6/1/11 at 11:32pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I have a pretty good stockpile as it is, but I need to add to it so it doesn't get too low as it will after this month as I counted out cans lol. I do like the authority as it seems decent for the price but I was wondering if they have a gravy style as well as a pate? I think I am going to get a couple of the pallets. I also asked and if I buy the equivalent to a pallet which I believe is like 24 cans I can mix and match and still get the pallat price which I thought is cool. Also good news is that we have a high end private petstore opening up down the street from me that carries the high end stuff for good prices. No more searching for Acana and Orijen yay!
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post #11 of 25
6/3/11 at 6:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kattiekitty View Post
Hello all,
Currently I am feeding a mix of grain in and grain free for my two cats Kattie and Oscar. I rotate through brands so they don't get finicky and also so they have a rounded diet.
Hi Kattie, this will be long and I apologize for it. You indicated you don't care for the Nutro brand but I love it and you have indicated your cats eat it. Sooo... You can go to http://www.nutro.com/index.aspx and go to coupons/rewards. You can print coupons from the coupon link. You can also join the My Nutro Rewards below the coupon link and be able to print out coupons. I think the dog food coupon is for $7 and the cat food coupon is for $5. Any size and any one of the cat/dog food lines. Pretty good deal. Nutro now has a new grain free dog food out which you can use the coupon on also.

I have a friend that has shopping for her 2 meezers and her pooch down to a science. She has a tight budget so coupons and sales are her friends. First thing she does is scan the Sunday weekly coupons for any dog/cat food items she uses. Like you she uses a variety of wet foods. She then asks her friends and family to give those coupons to her. She usually winds up with 10 coupons a week from doing this. She then organizes them by expiration date. She will use them now and then when she needs to buy something but tries to save them up for the Petsmart "Friends and Family" event which happens twice yearly. During that even she gets 15% off her entire purchase, she can use all of her coupons and even the sale items with her Pet Perks card can be used. The spending limit is around $500 but she says she usually spends about $300 and stocks up on wet and dry food and cat litter. She saves between 50 and 75% of her total purchase. She's good!

Her cats, in addition to Nutro, will eat just about any wet food but they get picky and so she will throw in some grocery cat foods into the mix along with some Wellness and Innova now and then when she can afford it. Her cats love Fancy Feast and so my friend gets a lot of those $1 off of 24 cans and/or those $1 off 18 cans. She tries to wait until it's on sale for 50 cents per can or less and then buys as much as she can afford. She will also buy Exquisicat for 48 cents a can but it is seldom on sale.

Her dog has been eating Nutro Max for about 5 years and has thrived on it so she does not change his food out at all. It's within her budget and her dog is quite healthy with a beautiful coat so she's happy there.

I don't know of any really inexpensive grain free. I *will* keep a lookout and if I come across anything will send you a PM with the info.

Best of luck to you and I hope you get through this difficult time. I'm sure you will!
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post #12 of 25
6/3/11 at 11:06am
My petsmart has the Innova on sale in the 12oz varieties. I bought a case, as the ingredients looked fine. Supposedly the company was just bought so the ingredients might change, so I haven't started feeding it quite yet.
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post #13 of 25
6/3/11 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
My petsmart has the Innova on sale in the 12oz varieties. I bought a case, as the ingredients looked fine. Supposedly the company was just bought so the ingredients might change, so I haven't started feeding it quite yet.
same here. Since my Pip has possible FIC (cystitis) I am putting him on all wet food now. I really like the EVO and INNOVA wet foods. I have also fed Fancy Feast too, especially if someone decides to get finicky, they always will eat that.
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post #14 of 25
6/3/11 at 10:41pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks everyone for the tips,
I do have quiet a few coupons so I am going to use those as well when I shop. I am also going to check out the nutro site as my cats and dog do eat the canned versions of Natural Choice and Nutro Max. My dog was just switched to Acana Pacifica and looks like a new dog on that. My cats eat a mix of Wellness, Acana and Blue Buffalo, but I have a coupon for TOTW that I am going to use. I think we will do fine, but I am always looking for ways to make my dollar go farther=)
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post #15 of 25
6/4/11 at 6:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kattiekitty View Post
Thanks everyone for the tips,
I do have quiet a few coupons so I am going to use those as well when I shop. I am also going to check out the nutro site as my cats and dog do eat the canned versions of Natural Choice and Nutro Max. My dog was just switched to Acana Pacifica and looks like a new dog on that. My cats eat a mix of Wellness, Acana and Blue Buffalo, but I have a coupon for TOTW that I am going to use. I think we will do fine, but I am always looking for ways to make my dollar go farther=)
Kattie, the Petsmart "Friends and Family" event starts June 9th and goes through the 12th. The 15% discount is good in store on all merchandise, sale items (with a Pet Perks card which is free), discontinueds and reduced to clear. There are other coupons also.

http://benefits.petsmart.com/friends_family.shtml
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post #16 of 25
6/4/11 at 9:12am
Where do y'all find coupons for the higher-end foods? The only ones I've ever seen are for Friskies, Fancy Feast, et al. and I'd like to know where to look.
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post #17 of 25
6/5/11 at 6:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by parsleysage View Post
Where do y'all find coupons for the higher-end foods? The only ones I've ever seen are for Friskies, Fancy Feast, et al. and I'd like to know where to look.
You might try the company websites.

You can also Google for coupons but be careful you don't fall into one of the coupon websites that set coupon "traps" where they try to get you to buy a bunch of other stuff.

They Sunday ads sometimes have coupons for high end foods as well.
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post #18 of 25
6/5/11 at 1:53pm
Thread Starter 
Perfect! I have a petperks card and will be going out tomorrow so hopefully I will snag lots of deals!
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post #19 of 25
6/9/11 at 8:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kattiekitty View Post
Perfect! I have a petperks card and will be going out tomorrow so hopefully I will snag lots of deals!
Let me know how you make out. Like a bandit I hope
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post #20 of 25
6/9/11 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NutroMike View Post
Let me know how you make out. Like a bandit I hope
I was really happy at Petsmart the other day because the 3oz cans of Blue Wilderness were 30 cents off - it was a welcomed sale! So I think the best way is to combine coupons with membership cards and sales, etc.
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post #21 of 25
8/29/11 at 10:58am
most pet stores sell you wet food by the 24 pack this what we did and it saved us a quite bit of money.
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post #22 of 25
8/29/11 at 9:20pm
I am considering ordering Fancy Feast from Amazon. If you order $25 or more you get free shipping, plus if you "subscribe" to have the order repeated every month you can get a 24 can case for $11.80. That's $0.49/can where my local grocery store sells the same stuff for $0.65/can, that translates to a significant saves per month for us having 3 cats to feed.

The only flavors of Fancy Feast I buy though are Chicken Feast, Turkey and Giblet Feast, Ocean Whitefish, and Cod, Sole & Shrimp Feast. These were the only ones I saw that did not contain any cereal/vegetable based fillers.

http://www.amazon.com/Fancy-Feast-Go...4677562&sr=1-7
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post #23 of 25
8/29/11 at 9:29pm
A warning on subscribe+save on Amazon, you are NOT price locked when you subscribe.

So when a month comes up, if the price changes, you are billed at whatever the price is that day and are not notified in advance. Says so in the Amazon FAQ and verified on slickdeals forum.

So your best bet is to use subscribe and save, but set it for 6-months maximum just in case you forget, and after shipment just cancel the subscription. When you need more, check prices and do subscribe and save again if the price is still good.
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post #24 of 25
8/29/11 at 9:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducman69 View Post
A warning on subscribe+save on Amazon, you are NOT price locked when you subscribe.

So when a month comes up, if the price changes, you are billed at whatever the price is that day and are not notified in advance. Says so in the Amazon FAQ and verified on slickdeals forum.

So your best bet is to use subscribe and save, but set it for 6-months maximum just in case you forget, and after shipment just cancel the subscription. When you need more, check prices and do subscribe and save again if the price is still good.
Oh. Good to know. I would have fallen into that trap and probably not realized they had jacked the price up for months. Thanks.
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post #25 of 25
8/30/11 at 4:56pm
We use about 100 cans of food per month and I buy whats on sale, flavors I know they will eat. Unfortunately my oldest Sphynx only wants Friskies (ugh!!!) I have been to the point of crying because he refuses anything high end. He is also a poultry only kind of boy. He loves beef, but it upsets his tummy. I do buy higher end brands on sale because I got so tired of throwing money in the trash. I mix the good stuff with his junk food and it ultimately gets eaten. Im glad I have some cats that are happy to eat whatever I serve.

Petsmart and Petco usually have decent sales and Walmart is also cheap for FF and Friskies. best idea ever? Amazon Prime. Its expensive for the 79.00 fee, but for a year you get free 2 day shipping on a ton of different stuff. I buy about 90% of our catfood/litter that way. They do have a free 30 day trial. You might want to check it outand price some of your food there.

Im also feeding a 62lb dog who eats kibble and wet and i get great dealson her food on Amazon.
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