5 Ways to Save Money On Groceries

After housing, food could easily take up the most space in your budget. Here are 5 practical ways to save money on groceries and minimize your monthly spending on meals.

Plan Ahead

The first way to save money on groceries is to make a menu plan. Then write a grocery list. If you try to come up with meals on the fly while at the grocery store, you’ll end up spending more than you want. You’ll grab x, y, and z hoping that you can make a meal out of them when you get home. Instead, plan your menu for the week first, and then write a list.

Check the ingredients needed for the week against what you already have in your pantry. This cuts down waste as well. Every item that goes into your cart has a purpose. Then you check them off the list you’ve already made.

Shop the Ads

You know all those newspapers that live in a bundle on your doorstep will pesky ads? Well not all the ads are pesky, especially the grocery ones. When you are sitting down to menu plan, do it with the weekly grocery ads in front of you. If ground beef and avocados are on sale this week, think about having a taco night.

Stock Up During A Sale

Now that you have your menu plan based around the sales, buy a lot of an item when it’s on sale. Sometimes a store may place a limit on how much you are allowed to purchase, eg: limit 2 packs of bacon. That’s a hint that it’s a good deal. An easy way around this is to grab two packs, have your spouse grab two packs, and check out in separate lanes.. because who doesn’t love bacon, especially when it’s on sale.

There are a few things to consider when stocking up as well as buying in bulk: shelf life and shelf space. How long does the item last? Canned goods and rice can last a while. Produce on the other hand may not be the best thing to stock up on. Although, I can’t resist avocados when they go on sale for $0.50. I’ve learned that if you want avocados to last longer, put them in the fridge! The internet says you can freeze them as well but I tried and it was a DISASTER. (e.g. hard, yet somehow spongy yellow avocados..)

Do you have the space to store the groceries? Currently, we live in a 2 bedroom apartment that doesn’t have a pantry, but does have a closet where our washer and dryer sit. We moved the washer and dryer over as far as we could to create a 2 square foot pantry. We even managed to squeeze a deep freezer into the closet of the second bedroom. If you get creative, you can make stocking up on food work!

Buy In Bulk

If the sales aren’t so great in your area, check out a wholesale warehouse, where you can buy in bulk. Things are almost always cheaper this way. We were going through our measly 1-2lb bags of rice every week. That was until we switched to buying rice by the 20lb bag. Now we only have to get rice every 1-2 months! We not only saved money, but we also saved on trips to the grocery store.

Wholesale warehouses such as Sam’s Club (annual membership from $45-$100) and Costco (annual membership from $60-$120) have great prices when you buy in bulk. The initial price tag may be high but it equates to long term savings. You may not be able to find all your groceries at one of these places but you could sure save a ton just buying diapers in bulk!

Pay In Cash

Have trouble sticking to your grocery budget? Pay in cash. Go to the store with ONLY the amount you intend to spend IN CASH. There’s something about that looming threat of looking like a fool if your grocery bill rings up to more than you have with you. In order to avoid that, tally up the item prices as soon as you put them in the cart. That device you carry around in your pocket at all times has a dandy calculator and will come in handy if mental math isn’t your thing.

Don’t forget to add in sales tax. Now depending on your state, there may not be sales tax on most food items (for example, there is a small tax on things that can be readily consumed but that may vary by state and locality) but do this step anyway because this will add in an extra cushion. To be on the safe side, I just multiply the total by the sales tax percentage. Sales tax in my state is 5% (look up yours here). Convert your percentage into a decimal – add .0 front of your percent: .05. Let’s say the total food items tally up to $42.08. Multiply that number by your sales tax : .05. The number you get will be your sales tax: $2.10. Add that to your total: $44.18. That will give you the cushion before heading to the checkout line. I think you’ll find that when you pay in cash, you won’t add as many “non-essentials” to the cart.

There you have it! 5 practical ways to save money on groceries. Implement these and watch your grocery budget go down.. well, maybe up at first if you are buying in bulk.. but then you will reap the benefits of long term savings!

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