Are you looking for ways you can save money on groceries? You are in the right place. Sharing with you 18 ways you can easily reduce the amount you are spending on food.
As it is, groceries make up a large portion of my monthly budget and for a few months now, am all about a frugal living lifestyle. If I find any realistic and easy way for me to save money on groceries you can be sure am all in.
Today am sharing what has been working for me and other tips and tricks you can add to your daily routine. These tips will give you a clear focus on how you can save more money on food.
Honestly, food is expensive and the funny thing is we can’t do without it. Am sure you could put the extra money towards other things like a mortgage.
18 Simple ways to save money on groceries
1. Have a shopping list
Every time you are going grocery shopping make a list of everything you need and stick to it. This will reduce the temptation of impulse buying. We all get drawn in by those discounted chocolates or any other junk food.
A list will help you to buy the things you only need. Remember to also check on the items you are getting low on, to avoid those emergency runs to the store.
2. Make use of leftovers
Making use of leftovers is one of the easiest ways to save money on groceries. They will also help you save so much time, all you will need to do is to reheat or maybe cook a side dish to go with the leftovers.
You will also notice that some things even taste better later. Some ingredients tend to blend way better with time.
When you cook your dinner, try to have leftovers that you can have for lunch the next day or even dinner for the next few days. You can tweak it a little and it will be a whole new meal.
3. Save money on groceries: Meal Planning
Meal planning will help you save money on groceries in a big way. It makes your mealtime less stressful because you will always know what you are going to make early enough. You will also notice that there will be less food waste and you will end up eating healthy.
If you don’t know where to start with meal planning, check out the 5 meal plan. Why I love the $5 meal plan is for only $5 per month you get a delicious meal plan sent straight to your inbox. You end up saving money because $2 per person is enough to make a meal, save time and it’s stress-free.
With such a service, they do all the planning for you, they include all the ingredients you need and the recipe to follow. What’s not to love about that?
4. Buy in bulk
This is a no-brainer, you should buy the things you use regularly in bulk. Buying in bulk is cheaper and you will end up saving so much money. For example things like cereal and canned food. Just check the expiry date before but most non-perishable items can last up to 8 weeks.
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5. Shop at sales
This is the best time to stock up, especially on those items you use regularly. As mentioned above most items have a 6-week sale cycle which is good enough. So stock up on things like spaghetti sauce and pasta.
Pay attention to sales. Just because something is on sale doesn’t mean it’s worth buying. For example, the sales that need you to buy 8 items to save $4 and most likely you don’t need all 8 of them, so they end up going to waste.
6. Sign up for grocery reward cards
Most grocery stores have reward cards where you accumulate points every time you shop and you can redeem them later. Some store even gives discounts on selected items like gas if you are a cardholder.
7. Shop for groceries online
With the rise of technology, most shopping is now done online. A great place to buy items that aren’t commonly sold at your grocery store is Amazon. Items like almond and coconut flour.
It’s also a convenient way to buy things in bulk. I have noticed that every time I shop online, I don’t overspend.
8. Always counter-check what you already have.
Am a big victim of this, I always end up buying some things that I already have in the fridge. Checking your cupboards and the fridge will help you save money on groceries because you might realize you don’t even need the groceries and you automatically reduce food wastage.
When you have so much groceries some of it gets spoilt with you knowing. Chance is you can make a delicious meal out of what you already have in the house.
9. Eat the food in season
Simply because the food will be cheaper and you will also end up eating healthy. You can easily get any type of food you want all year round but that doesn’t mean it will taste or even cost the same. For example, strawberries in summer taste better than in winter.
If you are patient enough and substitute with what is readily affordable you will end up saving a ton of money. Simply plan your meals around the food in season.
10. Save money on groceries: Shop fewer times
I have come to realize that the few times I shop for groceries the more money I save simply because the temptation to impulse buy is less. I now buy my groceries once a week mostly on the weekend which has helped me to stop being wasteful. Any other shopping I do during the week is for things like milk and bread.
I have also become accustomed to carrying the exact money I need for shopping and when something runs out before the next shopping day I just find a substitute with what I already have in the house.
You will find this easy if you start meal planning because you will already know what it is you need.
11. Have a spending budget
Knowing how much you are going to spend on groceries is going to save you lots of coins. This will help you to make sure you don’t blow your food budget halfway through the month.
If you go overboard on your spending, you might end up resulting in junk food which tends to be cheaper, or even worse you start using a credit card, and 5 months down the line you are still paying interest.
12. Eat less
Easier said than done I know. All it takes is to train your body. The simple analogy to this is to buy less then eat less. You will notice that most of us eat way more than we need.
You won’t give in to the craving of eating the things you don’t have in the house. Not only will you end up saving money on groceries but your waistline will thank you.
13. Make use of what you already have.
Chances are you can make a delicious healthy meal with what you already have. Alternatively, you can substitute for what you don’t have. For example, you can substitute chicken for beef.
14. Buy generic or store-brand products.
For most of the things, you can’t even tell the difference in taste they just have different packaging. This is because they are made the same way, so why not save money on groceries by buying them because they are way cheaper?
If you aren’t used to this, try it out with a few items and you will notice buying brand food doesn’t mean they are better than the rest. Unless the brand items are on sale and also cheaper than the generic item no need to pay for fancy packaging.
15. Leave your kids at home
Every time I go shopping with my nieces they always want treats. Which kid hates candy anyway? I always give in after a few minutes of begging. I have discovered it’s way easier if do shopping when they are in school, that way I don’t have to spend more on treats.
16. Don’t shop when you are hungry
Every time I shop when am hungry I tend to buy so much junk and then beat myself about it later. Shopping hungry will make you buy unnecessary things just because you have a craving.
17. Eat less meat
Meat can be expensive. You can find other protein substitute like chickpeas and beans which are cheaper and also good for your health.
18. Make your food.
For things like seasonings, baked goodies, sauces, and jams you can easily make them from scratch. You will save tons of money doing so rather than buying the ready-made ones from the shops because they are way expensive.
There are so many recipes on Pinterest you can use. Making your food healthier because you are more aware of how much salt, preservatives, and sugar are in the food.
I hope you have found some easy and incredible ways how to save money on groceries from this post. Let me which one(s) you will start implementing and if you have any other tip that has worked for you, let me know in the comments below and I will add it to this list.
