How to Save Money on Groceries? 25 Best Ways

Grocery spending is unavoidable.

But wait for a second as this not the end of the story.

Actually, you can certainly save money on groceries.

And that’s really a silver lining.

As expenditure on groceries constitute an essential part of our budget and run into huge amounts month on month, so proper management of spending on grocery items is of utmost necessity.

But this would not go to happen automatically.

You would need to adopt and implement a sound saving strategy for grocery spending.

How to Save Money on Groceries?

Here we have come with numerous ways by which you can reduce your grocery spending and show you methods How to Save Money on Groceries.

Contents

25 Best Ways to Save Money on Groceries

 

Let’s carry on and find out how to save money on grocery buying.

 

1. Know Your Expenses and Prepare a Budget

The first and the foremost step you need to take is to pin down the exact amount of money you are spending on buying grocery items.

You need to make a list of what you are buying on groceries and then calculate the money you are spending each month on such items.

With this figure in place, you can then begin to prepare a budget and set saving targets for yourself.

Save Money on Groceries - Prepare a Budget

2. Have a Grocery List with you before you go shopping

Always have a grocery list ready for you before you go shopping. This would result when you would prepare a menu of what you would like to have on your dining table for the week or even for a month.

So sit down with your family and prepare the grocery list.
Developing this habit would pay you a lot, and you would be successful in reducing your grocery expenditure. A grocery list supports you in two ways.

Firstly you do not indulge in spontaneous buying and thus avoid extra spending, and secondly, you get everything on a single trip. Both contribute to saving money.

3. Avoid Expensive Items

You should try to find alternatives for the most expensive items on your grocery list.

There would be no problem for you to know what items you have spent the most.

When you have figured such items, then when you go to the grocery store next time look for cheaper alternatives instead.

And you would surely come out with such items that are cheaper and yet provide high-quality foodstuff. It would just require you to devote some time.

4. Utilize Your Grocery Items

Develop the habit of utilizing all the grocery stuff rather than wasting them.

Store them properly so that they do not get rotten or wasted.

This way you would save money as you would then do not have to indulge in frequent buying of the grocery items.

5. Use Grocery Cash Back Apps

Grocery Cash Back Apps are one of the best ways to have more money in your pocket when you go on to shop for groceries.

They are simple to use.

You need to sign up for an account.

Then download the app to use on mobile or else you can sign-in to your account on your computer.

Go on and select your favorite stores.

Select desired rebates for specific items.

Shop and buy cash back items.

Take out a photo of your receipt and submit it within one week. Then you can receive cash back. As your account reaches the required minimum, you can then cash out for gift cards or cash.

You can utilize several grocery cash back apps for maximizing your cash back apps.

6. Buy Groceries Online

Shopping at your local health food store can be quite expensive. The best alternative can be online options where you can get healthy and wholesome food at affordable rates.

One of the best places to buy groceries online is none other than Amazon.com. Here, you can get great deals on staples such as organic brown rice, all-natural peanut butter, and organic brown rice.

Thrive Market is also a good option for buying groceries online. It offers natural and organic products at wholesale prices. You can sign up for free and can browse the deals on their site. Plus, you can get 15% off your first purchase.

However, you should compare prices between online markets to make sure that you are getting the best price.

7. Shopping at Discount Grocery Stores

Discount stores are a good option for saving money on groceries.

You can start with Dollar Store, Aldi, and Save-a-Lot. They offer a limited supply; however, their low prices make them worthy of consideration and worth a trip.

8. Shop at Drugstores

Shopping at Drugstores like Walgreens and CVS can turn out to be very beneficial. Although most of their items are wildly overpriced, their weekly steals can be a great steal.

For example, you can get a dozen eggs for $1 at Walgreens.

These special deals can be cracked with a Walgreens card or CVS card.

This is very simple.

You just need to sign up at the cash register and render some basic information such as name and phone number. You would then be handed a card that is scanned before you make a purchase.

9. Don’t Shop Hungry

You can frown at this, but it is true.

In fact, it is one of the basic rules that you must adhere when you want to save money on groceries.

So, don’t shop hungry.

You will have less patience and less self-control when you shop hungry. Shopping hungry leaves you powerless against impulsive buying. Do yourself a financial favor and eat before you go out to shop.

10. Shop Alone

Shopping alone is the easiest way to save money on groceries.

It is also the most efficient way to do grocery shopping.

When you shop along with your spouse or children, it could be very distracting. You can forget an item or can be tempted to make an impulsive purchase.

When you shop alone, you can stick to your predetermined grocery list. You can focus on your grocery shopping and pick out the cheapest items easily.

Shop Alone

11. Use a smaller Grocery Cart

Using a smaller grocery cart is similar to eating from a smaller plate. It goes on to limit the number of items you purchase, thereby helping in eliminating food and financial wastage.

In fact, nowadays, many grocery stores go on to offer multiple sizes for grocery carts.

When you select a smaller one, you will be forced to make out if you really need an item before you go on to place it in your grocery cart.

12. Avoid Buying Prepared and Convenience Food

Also, avoid buying prepared and convenience food as they come for an extra price.

So go for buying fresh vegetables in natural form rather than sealed bags of vegetables which have already been washed, cut and packed. Likewise, avoid using prepared food and prepackaged meals.

13. Check Unit Prices

To get value for money always checks the unit prices. A unit price of a larger package may cost less, but you are buying a smaller pack thinking it is cheap.

So always check the unit prices as they show how much you are paying per unit of that item.

14. Prefer Bulk Buying

Look for items which cost less when you buy them in bulk. If you do a little search, you get to find a lot of items which actually cost much less in bulk quantities.

These items are nonperishable and can be easily frozen. So there is no danger of losing or spoiling them.

Such items include laundry detergent, paper towels, batteries, rice, pulses, and even chicken breasts.

15. Stock Up When It’s On Sale

It’s always a good idea to stock up on items that go on sale. Moreover, you can stock up on produce by selecting items that are not ripe yet. So, you get a few days or weeks before you can go on to consume them.

However, just be aware of the expiration dates when you stock them up.

Additionally, you should ensure that you go on to use the items that you have stocked up, or else it would turn out to be a waste of money that you have saved by buying in bulk.

Grocery Sale

16. Buy Generic

It’s a well-recognized fact that generic is of equal value to name brand.

However, any difference in quality can be made out by checking at the label. You can compare the ingredients, nutrition, and weight to the name brand. In most of the cases, it’s exactly the same product in a different package.

So, you can save money by purchasing the more reasonable generic ones.

17. Looking up or down

Moreover, if you are shopping in a supermarket then develop the habit of looking down or slightly up rather than always looking at the eye level.

Usually, Name-brands which are expensive are all placed at the eye level, and brands which are cheaper are placed comparatively down or up the row.

So if you want to save a good amount of dollars on grocery items look down or slightly up.

18. Utilize Sales

Remember to shop when the grocery stores put up their weekly or monthly sales. This way you end up saving a good amount of your grocery items.

19. Use Coupons

Coupons can come handy when buying at grocery stores. They provide us with discounts and our total expenditure on grocery shopping can drop by a good margin.

But you should avoid making impulse purchases. So always have a shopping list with you before you use discount coupons.

20. Buy Cheaper Alternatives

Grocery products such as milk, cheese, and meat are expensive at a full retail price. So, you should try to limit your consumption of each of these items until you get a good sale.

However, meanwhile, you can consider buying cheaper alternatives such as coconut milk, or almond milk instead of getting yourself cow’s milk.

Additionally, you can consider buying hearty vegetables such as eggplant, mushrooms, and squash in place of meat. You can even go for nutritional yeast and yogurt instead of cheese.

These are cheap alternatives.

21. Go For Grocery Store Rewards

You can easily find grocery stores that run a rewards system for encouraging customer loyalty.

You just need to provide your name and phone number before checkout. In exchange, you get reward points that you can redeem for getting in-store discounts, gift cards, coupons, and specialty items.

So, using a rewards system is a good way to saving money on shopping grocery products.

22. Buy First and Then Make your Meal Plan

This is the most underutilized grocery shopping money saving tip. Most of us have the notion of making a meal plan and then shopping.

However, it is not a good idea to do that as you get the temptation to buy things that are not on sale just to complete the recipe for the meal you planned.

On the contrary, when you shop first and then plan your meal, you get to work with what you have bought on sale.

A good way to implement this strategy is to go to Pinterest and type the main ingredient that you want to use and then type the food you want to make.

For example, if you have bought chickens, then you could type in, “chicken recipes.”

You will get a plethora of chicken recipes.

Choose a recipe for which you have all the ingredients. This way you can have all the cheapest ingredients and prepare the best meal for yourself and family.

It turns out to be a good technique for saving money on groceries.

23. Make Staples from Raw Ingredients

There are some items such as peanut butter, juice, and beans that are better to make yourself. This way you not only cut out any harmful additives but also go on to save money by making it yourself.

So, consider buying peanuts, fruits, and raw beans. You can crush, juice, and boil to make cheaper staples.

24. Don’t Throw Away Your Food

The best way to utilize the left-over food is to recycle the meals that you prepare at home. For example, if you have enjoyed grilled chicken one night, consider making it into fajitas the next night.

Moreover, there are many creative ways for keeping your leftover from wastage. You can even ask Pinterest. In fact, avoiding food wastage helps to save money on your groceries.

Don’t Throw Away Your Food

25. Use What You Have

Before you go out and buy any of grocery stuff, make a point to check your refrigerator and your pantry.

Make sure that you use all your produce before it spoils.

Moreover, you should first use the canned food in your pantry before you go out and buy new ones.

This way you can make sure that you are not building a pantry and fridge with lots of food that will eventually get rotten, spoiled, or expire.

On the whole, if you adopt the above measures on How to Save Money on Groceries you would surely end up saving a lot of your valuable money on the overall grocery expenditures (month on month) which you can ultimately save or utilize elsewhere.

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