Lower Your Grocery Bill
Much of our money goes into the food category of our budget and cutting back on food to save money can be tough. However, it doesn’t have to require a lot of compromise and isn’t as time consuming as you may think. Make your dollar stretch further than it ever has before with strategic planning and a little homework. In fact, with just a little effort, eating inexpensively can be as healthy for your body as it is for your bank account. You have to eat to live and you have to pay to eat. It’s a vicious, hungry cycle. If you’re wondering how to save money on groceries without losing too much of your free time, this guide can Here are X easy ways to help you save money at the store and lower your grocery bill:
Use coupons + cashback apps
Building a collection of coupons is a smart move if you’re looking to cut back on your grocery costs. Some ways to acquire coupons include:
→ Buy the Sunday newspaper
⇒ There are a number of coupon inserts included each week
→ Print from your computer:
⇒ Coupons.com, SmartSource.com, and RedPlum.com
⇒ Many retailers have coupons available on their website
→ Other sources to consider:
⇒ Coupons attached to receipts and packages, etc.
These store coupons can be paired with a manufacturer coupon to save you even more money. ombining store and manufacturer coupons is a great way to get products for free or cheap.
Once you’ve acquired a good collection of coupons, make your shopping list, and check the store circulars. Your goal is to match store coupons and manufacturer coupons with a store sale to get rock bottom prices. There are many blogs and websites that do all of the coupon match-ups for you (just do a Google search).
Using cash back apps like Ibotta make it easy to get money back on purchases you’ve already made. With Ibotta, you scan your receipt and are credited for eligible items instantly.
Don’t forget about all the rebate apps out there! Ibotta, Receipt Hog, Checkout51, and Walmart’s Savings Catcher are just a few of the great apps out there to help you save. These apps let you cash out your rebates. So, you won’t receive a discount upfront (like a traditional coupon) but you should see savings in the long run.
Plenty of websites and mobile apps will reward you for doing your normal grocery shopping. Ibotta and Checkout 51 reward you for buying certain items. Nielsen Homescan rewards you for scanning certain items. InboxDollars rewards you for using its coupons. You can even combine Ebates with Raise.com to shave a percentage off your grocery totals.
Did you know that you can get cash-back on your groceries just for taking a picture of your receipt? The very popular website and mobile app, Ibotta will pay you to do just that. Here’s how it works….
1. Sign up for Ibotta here (you just need a name/email address to start).
Browse through the cash-back offers in your area and take note the next time you go to the grocery store (the offers change every week). For example, in my area Ibotta will give me .50 if I take a picture of a receipt showing that I bought a gallon of milk and a $1.00 if I take a picture showing that I bought graham crackers. Pretty cool, right?
Coupons, cashback, discounts
Make a list before you go
This seems simple, but it goes a long way. Writing a list and staying true to it will prevent impulse purchases –– and keep you on budget.
stay focused on getting only what you need among the temptations throughout the grocery store.
Making a list also helps you stick to a budget, especially when you think ahead to deal-stack coupons and rebates.
A list can make or break your budget. Once you decide what you’ll make for breakfasts, lunches and dinners for the next week, write out each ingredient needed for those meals—plus a few snacks, of course.
When you get to the store, stick to your list! That’s the key to staying on budget. And if you go shopping as a family, let your kids help plan the meals and then find the items. It’s much easier to stay on budget when you’re shopping with a plan and working as a team. . . and when you get comfortable saying no to candy.
Buy generic
one of the easiest ways to drastically cut your food budget is by switching to generics.
Store brands are 30% to 40% cheaper than brand name products
Know that the store brand is not always cheaper Most coupons are for name-brand items, and if you have a good coupon (or several that you can stack!) it can drastically lower the price—sometimes even less than the store brand. So don’t automatically assume generic will be the least expensive option every time.
It’s worth noting that, in some cases, certain generic-brand and name-brand items contain the same ingredients—and they might even be manufactured at the same location! Which means they’re pretty much in the same family . . . just with packaging that’s a little different.
A group of Consumer Reports “taste testers” found that most store brands measure up to the name brands in taste and quality—and they’re usually 15–30% lower in price!(1
Research shows that if more of us purchased store brands, we could save roughly $44 billion collectively. It pays to be brand un-loyal!
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Always eat before you shop. Impulse snacks are kryptonite for an empty stomach.
Compare nutritional information on the packages to see if they are the same
Buy in Bulk—But Do It Wisely
Don’t assume that the big bulk buys at the discount stores are automatically the cheaper option. Be sure to stop and compare the price per unit or ounce for the item you’re buying.
buys her nonperishable items in bulk when she can. Spending a bit more on a bigger package can save bundles of money.
Do a unit-price comparison. The unit price is often located on the price tag affixed to the shelf below the product, with phrasing like “$0.59 per ounce.”ivide the price of the item by the number of ounces or other unit of measurement.
Just because something comes in a larger package does not mean it is a better deal than the smaller one. This is especially true if you like to coupon.
Pay attention to unit prices when you shop. Many stores make it easy on you and provide the unit price along with the total price right on the sticker, like price per ounce or price per unit. At most stores, there is a section of the price sticker on the shelves that lists an item’s price per ounce. This price is a better indicator of the value of the product
Compare these with the pricing on smaller packages to determine if you’re really getting a good deal or not.
Stockpile on sales. Smart shoppers stretch their budgets by leveraging sale items, closeouts and coupons. If you’ve got room to store extra food, buying more can be a smart move. Sales often run on 12-week cycles, so buy a three-month supply to last until the next sale of similar items.
If you catch a good sale — especially on canned goods and non-perishables — stock up! Even some produce, like berries and grapes, and some dairy, like milk and butter, can be frozen for later use.
Some things are always a better deal in bulk. Spices, for instance, are just pennies per unit when you buy them in bulk.
Don’t shop hungry
Don’t shop when you’re hungry. Dish soap can look tasty if your stomach is growling. Eating a snack first can save you $10 per week on food you grab that’s not on your shopping list.
Walk into the grocery store on a full stomach, and you might be pleasantly surprised at how much lower your grocery bill is!
Choose smaller carts. When you’re pushing an empty shopping cart, you feel compelled to fill it—which means you buy more than you need. If you don’t have a big grocery list, then carry a basket around the store instead.
Shop in season
Make it a point to only buy fruits and vegetables that are in season. Stick to buying fresh produce when it’s actually in season throughout the year
6) Pay with cash
Estimate how much your total will be, and aim to pay with cash. When you go to the store with cash in hand, you know exactly how much you can spend. Because once the cash runs out, that’s it! Plus, it’ll help you stick to the meat-and-vegetables necessities rather than the ice cream-and-cookie impulse buys. Those little extras are okay if you plan for them!
7) Try Different Grocery Stores
Compare prices
For the best results, do your own comparison.
Step 3: Compare prices and check out grocery store ads.
It may be more convenient to go to only one grocery store, but it can result in better prices if you shop around.
Different stores also have sales at varying times, so check out their weekly ads. Don’t forget about gas prices, though. If a store 15 miles away has slightly lower prices, the cost to get there may mean it isn’t worth it.
TIP:
BeFrugal has a long list of stores with links to their weekly ads. Look for stores near you and find out what they have on sale.
Make a list of the items you consistently need, then hit your local shops — a regional grocer, a value market like Aldi or Trader Joe’s, and a big-box store like Walmart or Target. Or, if you’re willing to pay the annual fee, maybe even a warehouse store like Costco or Sam’s Club.
Write down the price and amount of each item, then divide the price by the amount to find out the price per ounce or unit.
Depending on how far out of your way and how much extra time it’d take, it might be worthwhile to make a couple of different grocery trips to get the best deal on your staples.
Speaking of apps, several can help you make sure you’re getting the lowest possible prices on the items on your grocery list. Apps like Favado and mySupermarket monitor prices across several stores and alert you to where you can find an item the cheapest. For more options, check out this post on couponing strategies and apps.
be sure to check the weekly ads in your area for what’s on sale at competing grocery stores.
I may not have time to clip coupons anymore, but I do have time to browse ads. Did you know many stores will price-match their products?
I usually take my Aldi’s ad with me to my preferred grocery store and get my produce at Aldi’s prices.
Know what to buy at each store.
8) Use What You Have
Eating food already sitting in your cabinet is a great way to save money right away. Staples and dry goods like rice, beans, pastas and canned goods can form the basis for a balanced dish. Then look for local sale items for meat and fresh vegetables to round out the meal.
Try your best to actually use what you buy at the grocery store. Put a list on the front of your refrigerator if you think that will help jog your memory. Whatever you do, just don’t let those items go to waste.
One of our biggest wastes of money? Throwing food away. Go through your refrigerator and pantry twice a week and try to make a meal of what you have. Pair any produce with any meat, and you’ve got dinner. Waste reduction alone will save you a lot of money on your groceries each month.
. Evaluate what you have in your house already, like spices, pasta and frozen veggies. Then base at least one meal a week around something you already have, or can easily beef up with a small purchase. This will cut down on food waste and money waste!
Make a detailed meal plan. Your goal is to use everything you buy before it goes bad. Since most fruits and veggies spoil after a week, it makes the most sense to plan exactly what you’ll be eating when.
Try planning as many meals as you can that use up what you already have on hand in your fridge and pantry before you hit the grocery again.
By sticking to a meal-planning calendar, you can avoid buying ingredients you’ll never use, getting stuck with too many leftovers or going out for an expensive meal when you don’t feel like cooking.
Preserve the food you buy. The longer your food lasts, the more time you have to use it—and the less of it you’ll end up trashing! So when you get home from shopping, take a few extra minutes to store your food properly.
A website called Myfridgefood.com lets you enter whatever ingredients you
have in your fridge and tells you what you can make with them.
You can also check out Supercook which does the same thing
Misc:
- Bring your own bags
- Buy frozen produce – They’re just as nutritious or more so than fresh,” because they’re packed at their peak; And there’s virtually no waste because they can stay frozen for a long time
- Consider ALDI – In my area, the cheapest place to buy meat is Aldi,I always use Aldi as the baseline price to decide whether or not a sale at another store is worth it.
- Freeze leftovers – Cook big meals and divide leftovers into portions and freeze
- Grow your own produce
- Leave the kids at home
- Farmers markets – are often substantially below the prices in nearby grocery stores
- Shop at the right time Many major retailers change their prices on a certain day of the week, and if you know when those changes occur, you can potentially spot some great deals
Money Saving Quest 