15 Top Tips To Save Money on Groceries. With food prices rising, our food budgets are being stretched to the breaking point. This article will provide you with the best tips for saving money on groceries without sacrificing your favorite foods!
As global inflation becomes a problem, many people are concerned about the cost of food, which is rising at the fastest rate in more than 40 years.
In times of stress, we can cut many expenses from our budgets, but there is one thing we cannot change: we must eat!
And I’m here to share my favorite tips for taking control of your grocery budget and saving money while still eating delicious and healthy meals.
15 Tips to Cut Your Food Budget in Half
1. Plan your Meals
Although I enjoy cooking, before I discovered meal planning, I was always throwing away and wasting food because I had the wrong vegetables in the fridge.
Meal planning makes life in the kitchen much easier because you only buy what you need.
Consider what you’ll need ahead of time and what you still have in your kitchen.
This is a simple way to eat healthy food while saving money on meals and avoiding food waste.
If you’ve never tried meal planning before, start with the free meal planner below.
2. Write a food shopping list and stick to it
Make a list of all the missing ingredients and quantities needed after you’ve planned your meal ideas.
Consider everything you require and stick to your shopping list!
If it’s not on your list, it’s because you don’t need it, so don’t buy it!
You will save money by making a grocery list!
This vegan dinner meal plan list is a great example. You can find it here. You can Join Canva.
3. Eat before you go grocery shopping
If you’re hungry, you’ll be tempted to buy more snacks, sweets, and unnecessary food.
To avoid being driven by your stomach, only go food shopping after a healthy and filling meal.
This will help you stick to your list and save money.
4. Shop less often
I used to go food shopping 3-4 times a week, stopping by my neighborhood grocery store on my way home from work. Which is wrong!
You end up purchasing unnecessary items. Reduce the frequency with which you go shopping. I recommend doing a big shopping trip once a week.
This will save you time and money because you will not be tempted to overspend on extra food and impulse purchases.
5. Do Seasonal Shopping
Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables if you want to stay healthy. To keep costs low, choose only products that are in season.
Seasonal food is always the best option for a variety of reasons. It’s less expensive, healthier, and tastes better.
6. Buy more frozen vegetables and fruit
In terms of frozen produce, did you know that the average American household wastes approximately $1,600 of food each year?
That is more than they spend on gas, property taxes, home heating, and cooling, or clothing!
Much of this cost is borne by produce that spoils before it can be consumed and ends up in the trash.
That’s why one of the simplest ways to save money on groceries is to buy more frozen vegetables and fruit, which can last in the freezer for months rather than days.
7. Eat less meat
Meat does not have to be the focal point of every meal!
Meat is very expensive, and it is acceptable not to eat it with every meal. Furthermore, we all know that eating too much meat is bad for you.
If you enjoy meat, try having a meatless day once a week (veggies noodles are delicious, or try a healthy lunch bowl) and gradually increasing to a meatless meal every day.
You will notice a significant difference in your grocery bill, and I guarantee you will feel much better as well.
Replace meat with beans and lentils, which work well in casseroles and pasta dishes.
8. Get money back using grocery store apps
Shopping less frequently is one thing, but did you know that by using cashback apps, you can get 5%, 10%, or even 20% cash back or more when you shop for groceries?
Given that the average American household spends about $8,289 per year on groceries, you can easily save hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
Here are some suggested ones:
Rakuten
Rakuten is probably one of the best apps for saving money while shopping online, but it’s also a great way to get cash back at the grocery store.
Ibotta
The Ibotta app allows you to select in-store grocery discounts before you go shopping, then take a photo of your receipt with your phone and upload it to the app once you’ve made a purchase. You will then receive cashback in your Ibotta account.
Fetch Rewards
Fetch Rewards, like Ibotta, allows you to earn rewards by scanning receipts from grocery store purchases.
Too Good To Go
Not-so-fun fact: the United States wastes 30-40% of its food supply or 1 pound of food per American per day.
Too Good To Go is an app that is attempting to address the issue of food waste by collaborating with thousands of grocery chains, food retailers, and restaurants across the country to find a home for food that is nearing its expiration date and would otherwise be thrown out.
9. Shop online
To Save Money on Groceries you should consider shopping online. You don’t even have to go to the grocery store to save money on your grocery purchases.
I can’t emphasize how much my life changed when I began having groceries delivered to my door via grocery delivery services.
But how do paid delivery services save you money?
To begin with, time is money; every minute you don’t spend walking the aisles of the grocery store or standing in line at the checkout is time you could be spending doing other things you enjoy.
You also save money on gas because you don’t have to drive to the supermarket.
And you won’t be tempted to add more items to your cart once you’re there. When you shop online, I find it much easier to stick to your list!
You can experiment with Instacart and Amazon Fresh. And once you do, I’m sure there’s no turning back!
Instacart
Instacart lets you shop for groceries at a variety of stores, then have one of their personal shoppers pick up your specific items and deliver them to your door in as little as an hour. Of course, there is a fee for the service, which is usually around $3.99 for the delivery fee, a service charge, and whatever tip you give the driver.
So, how does Instacart help you in saving money on groceries?
To begin, they have a wide range of special promotions and coupons that you can browse on their website and use every time you place an order.
Furthermore, Instacart recently partnered with Ibotta, which means that by linking your accounts from both platforms, you can receive all of Ibotta’s cashback whenever you use Instacart.
Amazon Fresh
Amazon Fresh is a grocery delivery service that is available to Amazon Prime members in cities throughout the United States, as well as in select locations in Europe and Asia.
When shopping through Amazon Fresh, Amazon Prime members will receive 10%-20% off a variety of food items.
You can also use Amazon’s Subscribe and Save feature, which is a subscription service that allows you to choose products to be delivered weekly or monthly and receive 15% off each product.
This could be ideal if you frequently buy the same item or enjoy meal planning.
And, if you truly hate the idea of paying for delivery, order groceries through pickup/drive-up to avoid being tempted to pick up other random items while still saving time.
10. Buy store brands
Supermarkets and marketing campaigns often mislead us into purchasing more expensive options, but what you often get is the same product with nicer packaging and higher prices.
Because we care about what’s inside the box rather than how pretty it looks, always experiment with store brands to see if we like them as much (or even more) than branded products.
They are frequently manufactured by the same company as the most expensive options!
11. Go homemade
Make as much of your food from scratch as possible.
It is beneficial for three reasons:
- It’s much healthier because you avoid ready meals that are high in bad fats, salt, and sugar.
- It will save you money! You can save a lot of money by purchasing whole basic ingredients.
- It brings the family together: cooking and preparing a healthy meal is one of the best ways to spend quality time with your children and family, and nothing beats eating a delicious meal prepared with your own hands around the table.
12. Buy whole
Purchasing whole is frequently less expensive than purchasing smaller portions.
Buy a whole chicken and cut it yourself, for example. Pre-packaged vegetables should be avoided.
A head of lettuce costs much less than a small pre-packaged salad bag, and it isn’t full of chemicals and hasn’t been washed so many times that half of its goodness has been lost!
13. Check the price per unit
Grocery stores and food brands succeed at covering up the true cost of food.
To find a better deal, always check the unit price, which is usually on the price tag (tiny, under the actual price of the product, so most people won’t notice it).
Purchasing a larger package or products in bulk is not always more cost-effective. Get your phone calculators out and compare prices.
14. Organize your fridge
If you want to do your grocery shopping on a budget, don’t underestimate the power of a well-organized fridge!
My best tip for avoiding food waste and consuming all products before they expire is to follow the example set by supermarkets.
Always place the food that expires first in the fridge (such as vegetables, meat, and fresh cheese such as ricotta or mozzarella), and products with a longer shelf life in the back (like condiments, hard cheese, and drinks).
Check your fridge at least once a week to see if anything needs to be moved.
If you bought something that is about to expire but you can’t cook it yet, store it in the freezer.
Bread works well for this, as do bananas, which can be frozen and then used in baking or smoothies.
Did you know that cheese and milk can be frozen for months and then thawed and used as if they were fresh from the store?
Freezing foods is also useful for storing leftovers. You could even cook extra and freeze it to use at a later time.
15. Make a budget
Make a budget if you know how much you are spending and how much you want to spend.
Determine your weekly spending limit and stick to it. There are four-person families who spend as little as $20 per week!
This is probably a bit extreme, but I just wanted to point out that the sky is the limit, and if you plan ahead of time, you can spend less and still eat well!
That’s it: 15 Top Tips To Save Money on Groceries
Following these extremely simple tips will significantly reduce your grocery budget without sacrificing the healthy and delicious foods you enjoy.
Please let me know how things are going in the comments section, and don’t be afraid to complain about inflation!
Thanks.