How to Save Money on Groceries | 9 tips for grocery shopping on a budget
In this post, you’ll learn how to save money on groceries, with 9 easy tips that require little effort!
If there’s one purchase all humans have in common, it’s food! We all need food every day, so we must all grocery shop. But how can we eat the food we want, while sticking to a budget? After many years of trial and error, I’ve managed to get my grocery bill down to about $50 per week for myself ($100/week for my boyfriend and I together), while still eating food I love and enjoy. I’ll share with you my best tips on how to save money on groceries!
This post is all about how to save money on groceries!
1. Shop the flyer
Before you even go to the store, I recommend checking out their flyer to see what’s on sale! This will help you get some meal ideas based on what’s a good price. If salmon is on sale, make it one of your dinners for the week. Staple items go on sale all the time, so you may as well buy them when they’re on a good sale.
2. Shop your pantry
After you take a look at your local store’s flyer, “shop” your own pantry! You’d be surprised at how much you can reduce your grocery bill by just using up what you have on-hand. If you have a bag of nacho chips and a jar of salsa, then you already have some of the ingredients for a taco salad!
3. Make a meal plan
Once you know what’s on sale and what you already have on-hand, go ahead and meal plan.
When I say “meal plan”, I don’t mean that you have to meticulously plan out every bite of food you’ll eat that week. I just mean that you should have a general idea of the main meals you’ll eat that week, so you don’t over-buy (or under-buy) at the store.
For me, meal planning involves just picking dinners for the week because lunches are usually leftovers, and breakfasts are simple staples (eggs, toast, etc). Pinterest is a great source for recipe inspiration!
4. Avoid pre-cut items
I know it can be SO tempting to buy pre-cut fruit and vegetables. But these tend to be soooo much more expensive than buying the whole produce and cutting it yourself. There’s a large price to pay for convenience! Not to mention the waste of packaging.
5. Take advantage of reward programs
These days, most grocery stores have reward programs that give you points when you shop. I talked about this in my post on 8 Easy Ways to Save Money, but I highly recommend taking advantage of reward programs at stores you frequently go to (ie. groceries- we all need food!!).
6. Regularly go through your fridge, freezer, and pantry
One of the biggest ways you can waste your money is throwing away food. It’s bad for your wallet, and bad for the environment! I recommend going through your fridge, freezer, and pantry often to find any food that’s nearing the end of its life, and find a way to use it up.
7. Buy generic brands
Don’t be fooled by the lure of brand names! Generic or brand names are usually way less expensive, and often you can’t tell the difference between the two. Do you really notice the difference between name brand and no-name oats? Probably not. If there’s a name brand item you really like (and think it tastes better) keep an eye out for sales!
8. Avoid fancy grocery stores
Trust me, I know how nice the ambience of fancy grocery stores like Farm Boy or Whole Foods is! It’s truly a lovely shopping experience. But, guess what? The store has to pay for that, and it usually ends up in the price of its food. I save huge amounts of money by doing most of my shopping at budget grocery stores like Food Basics. I have noticed the exact same can of beans was double the price at a “fancy” grocery store compared to a normal one. Why would you want to pay more for the exact same thing?
9. Set a budget
Personally, I use budgets as an awareness tool rather than a “rule”. What I mean by that is… if I set a budget for $50 for a week of groceries, it’s not that I can’t spend $51. But rather, if I spend $80 one week, I make a mental note and do a quick check in. Did I buy food that went to waste? Or did I buy too much food? Or did I buy things I really didn’t need? If I over-spent one week, I may try to adjust the next week.
This post was all about tips on how to save money on groceries!
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