Have you noticed how expensive groceries are these days? You walk into a store to buy a couple of things and hundreds of dollars later your cart is barely full. The price of food and household stuff is continuously going up. It is becoming more and more expensive to put food on the table. So, let’s go over some of the things you can start doing on how to save money on groceries.
Over time as we all start getting into the habit of budgeting for our households it will be easy to see what we spend our money on. For me on a monthly budget, groceries rank very high on the budget. Feeding a family of four to five people which is the average size of most middle-income families is getting more difficult over time. We can blame it on inflation among other things.
I have researched and tried some techniques to drive the costs of groceries down. This has enabled me to save money on groceries and these steps are not hard to implement. I promise!
How to save money on Groceries
Table of Contents
Create a Budget
As mentioned above the first step to saving is budgeting. You always have to know where your money goes. Without this knowledge I feel like I am walking into a negotiation unprepared. I would not know how much money I actually have to spend and I wouldn’t even have a strategy foe ensuring that I stay on track.
Budgets are critical in ensuring that I spend my money on the things that I need in the house and that I also avoid wastage and impulse shopping. Wastage and impulsive shopping are some of the biggest drivers of high grocery bills. Creating a budget requires assessing what’s necessary, what’s nice to have and what’s needed.
By creating a list of these three things you are able to walk into the grocery store with a plan. A budget allows me to see where I can or should cut back. It also tells me where we are over using things in the house. For example, if I am consistently buying a product that should be used over a two-month period I then have to check why we are wasting. This aligns with my goal to live sustainably and cut back on waste in my house.
Create a Meal Plan
Prior to starting Keto I didn’t really have any idea what meal planning was. I would simply eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This means that there wasn’t really a plan going into the kitchen and I simply ate whatever was available.
This is not a great idea. First because you never know what you have in the house. It’s difficult to keep track of your pantry when you don’t plan out your meals. This means that certain things would go bad before I even noticed that the expiration date had reached and passed. What this translated to is waste.
We cannot live sustainably if we keep wasting what we have. Fast track to meal prepping now I create a meal plan for the week. I use the meal plan to decide what to buy at the grocery store. If I need chicken for three days of the week then I buy enough chicken for three days. A meal plan ensures that you buy exactly what you need and not any more.
It also ensures that I always eat relatively fresh food because my groceries aren’t stored in the fridge for weeks on end.
Meal planning has an additional benefit because it helps you stay on track for diets because you always know what you are going to eat. This is because you only buy food that fits the diet plan which also stops wastage and saves money on groceries.
Shop Sale Items
Those little booklets they give you at the store can come in handy if you take a minute to flip through them. Alternatively check online for sales before hitting the store. Sometimes prime meat cuts go on sale at my local store. I love such deals because meat can get expensive so I stock up on such items making sure to check ‘best to use by’ date.
This has saved me serious cash over time. Also check for those group deals where us you buy more than one item the second one is half off. This is another opportunity to save. You may be thinking, “Well that will blow my budget”. However, if you are buying things like toiletries, they never go bad and you are guaranteed to buy them again in the future when you run out.
For things like this I view them as future saving. I buy now to use later. This means that my budget for the next month for instance will be lower because I bought those things a month ahead. It does require shifting things a little but if it will save you a significant amount of money then it’s a good idea to buy in bulk.
Buy Produce that’s in Season
I like to stock up on produce that is in season because the sale price is always significant. If I need to change my meal plan around this then sometimes that’s what I do. As a person who strives to live frugally, I have to make adjustments from time to time.
Have you tried to buy an avocado when it’s out of season? I literally see my hard-earned money fly away because an avocado can get quite expensive. This is where I say to myself how can I save elsewhere to afford this avocado and stay within my budget? The answer is simple.
By buying more produce that is in season I am able to substitute things I really want verses things I don’t. As a transformed avocado eater I have to eat avocados for my Keto lifestyle so I buy cheaper produce to be able to afford the more expensive stuff and also to stay in my budget.
Don’t buy Pre-Packed Food
Pre-packed anything is always more expensive. That’s because a convenience fee will always be tucked in. Also, you don’t get a deal out of pre-packed food. Whether it’s fruits or vegetables anything that has been sliced up and cut up for you will always be more expensive than the whole.
Think about it, if a whole water melon costs say $5 and a quarter costs $2.50 the grocery store is making a killing on your hard-earned money. The next time you go shopping do a quick math calculation to see what the mark up is on the pre-packed groceries. You’ll realize that in most cases the grocery store is making way more money on the pre-packed stuff.
Store Food Properly
I hate waste especially when it’s waste that I can control. The next time you go shopping check the expiration or sell by dates on the groceries that you buy. Try to buy groceries that have a date that’s further out from the date of purchase.
This will ensure that you get fresher food and that also you can keep it longer. If you shop twice a month then you have to shop for groceries worth two weeks. This means that it’s critical that you store your food properly to avoid having to throw it out.
One of the biggest culprits in my house for going bad is fruits and leafy vegetables. I make sure that I store these produce more carefully because throwing it out is similar to flushing my money down the toilet.
Read the labels on the meat produce carefully then consume the food when it’s freshest to avoid wastage. Store the food in the fridge by order of dates to ensure nothing goes bad because it wasn’t eaten on time.
Use Coupons
Whenever possible I try to use coupons. I am not big on couponing because it’s very time consuming. However, coupons for toiletries, detergent and other big-ticket items are a favorite of mine. This is because for one toilet paper and cleaning products tend to be a little bit pricier and coupons come in handy when I need to save money on groceries.
Additionally, they are easy to store for future use because they rarely go bad. Stocking up on such products using coupons is a great idea for your next visit to the grocery store.
As you use coupons be careful to stick to the budget and to buy the necessary stuff. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean that you need it. I stick to using coupons for things that I need regularly around the house and that have future savings value. Buying things, I don’t need would be a waste of money.
Shop Beyond Eye Level
This is a trick I picked up from reading various mom blogs. Grocery stores can be very tricky and will stock the more expensive stuff at eye level. Because people will rarely look up or down, they will grab the cheapest thing at eye level.
The next time you go shopping bend or kneel to compare prices with the produce that is at eye level. You will be as surprised as I was and now because I am petite, I will frequently bend or kneel to check prices. I have saved using this strategy quite a few times.
Buy the Generic Brand
For some of my grocery shopping I buy the generic brand. There is seriously no difference except the higher price for buying name brands. I am however careful about the things I buy store brand because sometimes cheap can be expensive. It’s a trial and error process.
To save money on groceries for example, I will try out toilet paper that’s a store brand and if it work’s out great then I continue to buy it. I do compare prices to name brands because during a sale they may be cheaper than the store brand.
Sometimes locally grown may be cheaper than name brands so always look out for this as well. This is especially true for seasonal produce or produce that is made in the same state for example.
Use Cash when Possible
Cash is king! It may sound like a joke but using a cash system for grocery shopping keeps you on your toes because you must stick to the budget. There is no room for impulse buying because you know exactly how much you have to spend for the grocery trip.
This is a trick that my mum used when she went shopping. This predates credit cards and where I grew up check payments were not an option. This meant that she would only buy whatever was on the list and nothing else. She continued this tradition even in the credit card era because it requires discipline to stick to a budget.
Bigger is Not Always Better
Unit prices are printed for a reason. They are there to protect consumers. If you are buying in bulk or have a big grocery budget the savings here could be significant. Compare brand prices and sizes as well. A brand could try to compete on packaging and us the consumers have to protect ourselves. They must provide unit prices by law and that’s your opportunity to protect yourself.
Compare not only the total price but the price per unit. If there is a sale factor this in and if you are using a coupon check this as well. This takes time but if you want to save money on groceries you have to do some of the leg work.
Do not shop when you are hungry
If you didn’t create a budget or meal prep, then shopping when hungry will make spending less even more difficult. Everything will look appealing in the store. You will feel like it’s necessary to buy things you don’t ever eat on a normal day.
Also, your empty stomach will make you think you need more food than you actually need. Use this simple trick the next time you shop.
Create a List
I love lists. I make a list for just about everything in my house. Lists help me to keep track of things that I have run out for and therefore need to be included in the budget. You can create a basic list for the things that you but all the time and then add things that you buy occasionally as needed.
I like to stick a list on the fridge for people in my house to check off as needed. For example, if you use the last roll of tissue or toothpaste, I request that the item is marked as finished to ensure that I budget for it. This also helps me keep track of things that are in the pantry and therefore don’t need restocking. In the end this helps to save money on groceries that I don’t need.
Stop Buying Bottled Water
Not only does this save the environment because it means less plastic it also saves money. Buy a good filter and use a bottle for water on the go. Buying bottled water is expensive and using water from your house will save you a good amount of money.
This is true especially when there are many people in the house. A pack of water could run at $5, if you buy 4 packs every single time that’s $20. This could easily be a $40 saving every month which adds up over time.
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