Most people spend more than they need to on groceries. We learn to shop by going to the store and standing in the aisle thinking “should I make chicken this week?” or “am I out of this?” If you do this, then you may be in the same situation that I was. It took me months of experimentation and research to figure out what I was doing wrong. Now I save money without bathing in coupons, store-hopping, or staying out late pulling pennies off of the pavement in the WalMart parking lot. No matter how small or large your family is, these handy, effective, and sensible methods can help you organize your shopping.
Forums, online groups, and statistics all agree that the average two-person household spends 500 or more per month on groceries. If you don't think that this number is too high, stop for a moment and think about the difference that an extra $250/month could make to your budget. If you have debt to pay off, investments to make, a down payment to save for, your food budget might be where all of that money is going.
I’m not advocating going hungry! I actually made very few diet changes adopting these techniques. I have been spending between $220 and $250 per month on food for the past three months, and my grocery-related stress level has plummeted. Not only do I have a healthier budget, I actually have more time to be productive the evenings.
Saving at Home
Saving money on groceries starts inside your home. Your shopping trips are equally important, but what you choose to do with the food, pantry, and produce items that you already have will make a huge difference. Do you have fruit or vegetables in your home that don't get used and go waste? Do you leave leftovers in the fridge until they go bad or mold? Even if the ingredients were inexpensive, you're throwing money away when those items are wasted. Take these steps to reduce the amount of food you throw away. Don't let your hard-earned money end up in the trash can.
1. Meal Planning
Plan your weekly meals around items you already have. "Shop" from your produce and refrigerator before you even look in your pantry. It's important that your perishable items get used first. Once you get into the swing of things, you'll do your meal planning in two-week chunks, right before you do your shopping. You'll need to plan to eat more fresh produce, like salads, bananas, and fresh tomatoes, at the beginning of your two-week segment. Plan for more canned or less perishable produce, like onions, carrots, and frozen veggies, at the end of your segment.
I meal plan for five nights of dinners per week, and I plan for flexible breakfasts and lunches. I make sure I always have eggs, bacon, and oatmeal available for breakfasts, but I do not plan out each morning (too much work). Although I will often eat a wider variety of food than those three items, the additional ingredients will come from the rest of my shopping list.
I always plan to have sandwiches for lunch. That way I keep ham, cheese, bread and mayonnaise in stock at all times. However, I only end up eating plain old sandwiches once or twice a week. Between leftovers and creative combinations of my consistent pantry items, I am able to shake things up pretty well.
2. Leftover Planning
The inevitability of leftovers makes meal planning a lot easier. Plan at least two "leftover nights" for dinners into each week. Leftovers may seem like a boring alternative to dinner, but they are in many ways a blessing. They save you cooking time, cleanup time, and money. Certain meals I cook knowing I will have leftovers: meatloaf, spaghetti, and pizza to name a few. Other meals such as tacos or a box of Mac and cheese, I know I'll make just enough for one night.
3. Portion Planning
Just as leftovers are a blessing, they can also be a burden. If you generally cook too much food and have the same thing left over all week, you may need to change the way you cook. Make sure your cookware is an accommodating size for your family. If you don’t want leftovers, think carefully about how much food you need to prepare. You’re main goal is to make what you need that night, and possibly the next night. It’s hard to be motivated to eat the same thing for more than two nights.
I grew up in a family of six and had to learn to change the way I think when preparing food. Instead of cooking “instinctual” amounts of food, I needed to visualize how much I would eat, and double it. It still seems odd to chop and boil only two potatoes, but it allows me to save time, money, and fridge space. Camper fridges are tiny.
Savings on Your List
I’m a firm believer in good old-fashioned grocery lists. But I discovered several months ago that I had been creating my lists incorrectly for years. I learned a much better way from Lynette at cleverlysimple.com. The organization and user-friendliness of your list will help you stay on track when you are in the store.
With this efficient and organized method of list-writing, you will know exactly what you will buy before you set foot in the store. This allows you to save a lot of money on impulse buys. When you don’t have a list, every buy is an impulse buy. When you don’t have a numbered list, you don’t think about how much you need. Here is an example of what your list should look like. Your list should have three columns and a row for each item. I use a Google Document to create my list.
QTY
|
ITEM
|
SAVINGS
|
2
|
Cans Diced Tomatoes
|
Coupon .25
|
1
|
Bag of Dried Black Beans
|
|
1
|
Bag of Brown Rice
|
|
It takes a lot of discipline to make a proper list and stick to it. Make sure your partner is on board with you! When you work as a team, staying disciplined and resisting temptation becomes much easier.
Now comes the part of the planning process that you probably fear unnecessarily. Picking out a couple of coupons to use on your grocery purchases is a simple process if you already have a grocery list. I search each item on coupons.com. If nothing comes up, I move on to the next item. If a coupon comes up for a brand that I know I buy, I click the “clip” button and move on. After that, I denote that I have a coupon in the “savings” column of my list.
When I’m finished, I print all 5 or 6 of my coupons and put them in my wallet. At checkout, I hand them over with my card and save money. Its easy and simple.
One thing you should never buy without a coupon is cat or dog food. There are so many pet food coupons out there that save you between 2.50 and 6.00 on a bag, that you can always trim your grocery bill in that area. I have saved as much as $20 using a combination of coupons, bringing my $100 trip down to $80. On another positive note, the fancy brands of cat food end up being the better deal once you use coupons so my cat is purr-fectly content with this option (sorry).
If moderate couponing doesn’t scare you, then you can save money on groceries in this way. If you have a smartphone, you can download a couple of grocery rebate apps. I save an average of $5 on a shopping trip using Ibotta and Checkout 51. Most of the rebates I redeem are the “any brand” offers for veggies, milk, bread, and cheese. This allows me to effectively get a coupon on a store brand item.
Savings in the Store
Eat a snack or meal before you go to the store. It’s much easier to resist temptation if you are not hungry. Once you are in the grocery store, you need to have a goal in mind: get the items you came for, and leave. The longer you stay, the more you will spend on items that you only think you need. Scan your list for items in the same aisle or department. If your partner is willing to help, that’s fantastic. Don’t skimp out by getting fewer items than you put on your list. You planned your list to last you two weeks.
Store brands are an excellent alternative to brand name items. You can purchase a slightly larger container of store brand canned or dried goods, and still spend less than you would in a normal trip. But sometimes the cheapest item is not the same item. Butter, for example, magically turns into margarine when it gets down to a certain price. Make sure you know what you are buying.
Some stores have better prices on store brands than others. A while ago, my partner and I went to two different stores to do our shopping. We assumed that one store would have cheaper store brands, but we were mistaken. I recommend rotating which stores you go to over the first couple of months, and paying attention to the store brand prices. You will soon get a general idea of whose store brands are the best price in your area.
A word of warning, try not to go to more than one store in your shopping trip. We tried “store-hopping” for several weeks, and ended up spending so much time going to different stores, that we effectively burned ourselves out. We didn’t save enough money to make it worth it. Personally, if I am going to consistently save money during my shopping trips, then I need to make the process as simple and straightforward as possible.
You can do it
Having your simple and effective plan for saving on groceries will serve you tremendously in the long run. Whether you are trying to get out of debt, save for a trip, or put something aside for retirement, cutting the waste and excess out of your bill will help you achieve your goals.
Saving money on groceries isn’t hard. It takes discipline, planning, and good stewardship of your resources. If you put these principles into practice in your home, you will be doing yourself a huge favor. I hope that these tips help you cut your bill in half.
Coming soon: Practical meal plans, saving money on household items, making things you used to buy, and more. Subscribe to our blog by entering your email address in the subscription box in top-right corner.
