If you have been grocery shopping lately, you probably noticed how expensive everything has become. I seem to have the same reaction every time I checkout. “What!!!” I actually paid $5 for a celery stalk today. Five dollars!!! (Just to clarify, I used three exclamation points because that is exactly what this type of situation requires.) As the costs rise, we must begin to take definitive action to keep within our budgets. Here are some of my best tips for getting more bang for your grocery buck.
First, let’s be honest. Most of us gained weight during Covid and some of us might have gained some while writing cookbooks too. Now is the moment to save money through dieting! If you don’t eat, you don’t need to buy groceries! Mike drop. Ok. I am just joking, at least about the part where we should starve ourselves to limit our grocery spending. But more seriously, the first and biggest thing that will help in our quest to reduce the grocery bills is paying attention to prices. If you just grab whatever you are used to grabbing without looking at the prices, you are already losing this challenge. If you don’t know the prices of the food you are buying, you will fail at bringing your bills down. This is your baseline. Use this knowledge wisely, along with the next tips to save grocery money.
Once you know how much your food usually costs, you can begin to look for better prices. Often there will be other options for the same items that are cheaper, whether another name brand or the store brand. Now, I am not suggesting that you only purchase store brand goods. I am suggesting that you pay attention to the price differences and pick and choose when you need the brand you are used to buying and when you feel comfortable substituting a different version that is cheaper.
Now, let’s bring the grocery bill down even more. This means we will probably need to get more exercise by shopping in more than one store. That’s right, don’t buy your entire list in one grocery store. Take a walk through each of your local grocery stores. I know this is a bit time consuming. Consider shopping in a different store each week until you know exactly what you want from each store. You can also ask your friends and neighbors what good deals they have found in different stores to help you with this process. I guarantee that each one will have good prices and bad prices. I keep shopping lists on my phone to help me remember to purchase each of my items in the correct store. This may sound complicated, but it really isn’t. I write the name of the store, and then when I need celery, I write that down on the list where I know the celery is cheaper. And sometimes you won’t have time to run between stores and will have to grab an item where it is more expensive. But overall, your groceries will cost less. Some of the stores I shop in which have some less expensive grocery prices include Walmart, Wegman’s, Aldi’s, and Shoprite.
Another way to save money on groceries is to buy in bulk. Using stores like Costco and Sam’s Club wisely can also help reduce your food costs. You may spend a lot, but each item my cost less when you divide it up. But make sure to really pay attention to the prices there as well. Not everything they sell is a good price and don’t overbuy items that you won’t use.
One of the easiest ways to save involves using coupons, either the classic paper kind or the kind that you use an app for, to reduce your grocery costs. A coupon will reduce the cost of your groceries before you even pay. But I can’t always remember to bring my coupons with me. However, there are several apps that will allow you to scan your receipts after your purchase is completed and give you points on certain items that you purchased. The points can then be converted into money and sent to your bank account or into gift cards for your favorite stores. My two favorite grocery apps are Ibotta and Fetch, but I am sure there are many others to choose from.
And one final way to help you save money on groceries is to reduce food waste. I don’t mean eating banana peels, unless of course, you want to. I mean reheating leftovers or using the remains of one meal to make another. If you have leftover chicken, rice, and vegetables, make a nice pot of soup for dinner the next night. There are many ways to enjoy leftovers and make them feel like an entirely fresh meal. Not wasting food means you won’t need to buy as much, which will in turn save you money.
I hope that some of these ideas will help you deal with the increasing struggle that is groceries. What is your favorite grocery shopping trick or tip is that helps you reduce your grocery costs?
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