Higher prices at the grocery store are something that we are all concerned about. At times, it seems to be getting worse instead of better. But, there are things you can do that will help you save money. The following tips will go a long way in reducing your grocery bill. You’ll save money and your family may not even notice the difference at mealtime.
1 – Stay on the Perimeter
Shop the outside of the grocery store where the produce, bakery, dairy and meat products are without crisscrossing back and forth through the store. Grocery store managers spread out the basics of eggs, bread, meat and vegetables so you’re forced to pass by aisles with high priced snacks, cookies, and juices.
2 – Use Coupons
Make it a habit to use coupons. If you’ve never used them before, it may seem a bit time consuming at first. But you will soon learn that it is definitely worth the time and effort.
Depending on how much time you can devote to locating, clipping and organizing coupons you can easily save 20% or more every time you go shopping.
3 – On the Other Coupon Hand
Clipping coupons is a time honored way to save cash. However, you may not be saving as much as you think. Manufacturer’s coupons are for major national brands which nearly always cost more than house brands. Most coupons are for processed food and rarely for produce, fresh meat, dairy or bakery.
4 – Two for One or 50% off?
Make sure you understand your store’s policy in regard to ‘2 for 1’ or ’10 for $10’ sales. In the majority of cases you can still get the sale price if you only buy one. For example, if something is 2/$5 you will be able to purchase one for $2.50.
The same holds true in regard to ’10 for $10’ sales. If you only need four like products, your price will be $4. Many stores that run this particular type of sale allow you to mix and match, as well. Look closely at the signage. If it’s required that you must purchase a certain number of items to get the special price, it should say so.
5 – BOGO
Buy ‘buy one get one free’ is not the same thing as ‘2 for 1’. Often if you buy just one you pay full price. If you’re not sure you can use both of your ‘buy get one free deal’ it’s not much of a bargain. Stores often raise the price of the item in order to offer the buy one get one free. For example: chicken breasts usually sell for $2.49 per pound. The BOGO price may be marked up to $4.00 a pound, which is still a price reduction.
6 – Tricks Grocery Stores Play to Get You to Buy More
Products on the end of an aisle aren’t necessarily on sale. The store places them there to encourage impulse shopping. These may be a different price than usual. For example a box of crackers usually costs $3.99. The end aisle offers them for $4.2
7 – Bigger is Not Always Better
Be realistic about how much of a product you’ll consume before it goes stale or bad. Storage space counts as well. Consider your budget. A 5 pound bag of chicken may sound like a screaming deal until you realize it eats up your entire meat budge for the week.
8 – Limit Ready to Eat
Try to limit the purchase of ready to eat meals, such as frozen entrées, and the ready-to-eat entrees from the deli. While these are certainly convenient, they cost you much more than if you made them yourself. In the next week or two make double dinners. Serve one and freeze one. You’ll soon have a nice selection of quick and easy frozen entrees at a fraction of the price you’d pay at the grocers.
9 – Go Natural
A can of kidney beans costs about $1. A pound of dried kidney beans costs about $2 but makes the equivalent of 6 cans of beans. Remember you don’t have to cook the entire package of beans at one time. As a bonus you have control of what goes into the beans. Rice, noodle mixes, potato mixes are more expensive than if you made it from scratch.
10 – Sub In for Fast Food
We’ve all been there. It’s late, everybody is hungry and getting cranky. It’s oh so easy to stop for fast food or order in a pizza. This is when it pays to have the mixes on hand. Combine a chicken rice mix with a can of peas and 2 cans of chicken and you have dinner for 4 in less than 15 minutes.
11 – Plan Ahead
If you go to the grocery store without a list, up to 60% of your purchases could be impulse. Make your menu for the week from the grocery ads, and develop your grocery list from the menu. If it’s not on the list, don’t purchase it. Of course, the exception is if you have legitimately forgotten a crucial item.
12 – Go to More than One Store
Grocery store management figures that if they can get you in the store for their advertised deals then you’ll spend your entire grocery budget with them. Check out the ads for several different stores. Buy their specials, then shop at the store with the lowest overall prices for remaining items.
13 – Shop Only Once Week
It’s a bad habit to run out to the store several times a week because you’ll end up spending more than if you shopped only once a week. Most produce and diary will keep a week if properly stored. Freeze meats to use at the end of the week.
14 – Weigh It Out
Don’t let packaging deceive you. A bag of small apples may seem like a bargain at $5 but not when individual apples are priced at $1 a pound. A 3 pound bag of brown rice may cost more than three 1 pound bags. Just because a box or bag is bigger doesn’t mean it’s a bargain. Bulk purchases may be the best deal, but again check the prices. Don’t assume.
15 – Rain Checks
Sometimes grocery stores run out of an advertised special and sometimes only stock a limited amount of the bargain product. Ask the cashier for a rain check. You may be sent to the front service desk which takes an extra few minutes.
16 – Don’t Shop Hungry
Everything looks tempting if you’re hungry. If necessary purchase a small bag of nuts or granola bar to eat before you start your shopping. Another option is to keep a healthy snack in the glove compartment of your car for when hunger strikes.
17 – Look High and Low
Grocery stores put the most profitable and popular items on shelves at eye level. Bargain shop by looking at the upper and lower shelves. Ask staff to help you reach the upper shelves if necessary.
18 – Scout Out the Markdowns
You might think that the stores would put the marked down items of say bakery items in the bakery. Not so. Often the marked down bakery and produce will be in a separate area away from the other bakery and produce.
19 – Eggs are an Eggceptional Bargain
Eggs are cheap at even $3.00 dozen. Two eggs make a hearty serving at only 50 cents. Work in an egg dish or two for dinner every week. Frittata, quiche and egg foo young are all egg based dishes for dinner. Egg salad is great for lunch or stuffed into a tomato. Use hard boiled eggs to add protein to a salad. Eggs go upscale when you add smoked salmon and you don’t need very much smoked salmon per serving.
20 – Carry a Calculator
Most of us don’t do math in our head. Figuring out what’s the best bargain is a snap is you carry a calculator or use a phone app. Some stores give you the price per unit on the sales sticker, others don’t, or don’t recalculate the price per unit based on the sales price.
21 – Loose Tea
Tea bags are convenient but you pay for that convenience. Use a tea strainer instead of tea bags. Make 3 or 4 cups at a time and store in a thermos. Putting hot tea or coffee in a thermos instead of making a fresh cup of tea each time saves on electricity.
22 – Sliced, Diced or Whole?
Compare the cost of the same item in different forms to get the best deal. For example, fresh carrots come loose, packed in 1or 2 pound packages, grated, as baby carrots, and sliced as coins. The prices could vary considerable and they’re all carrots.
23 – Fresh, Frozen or Canned?
Again look at the price differential of fresh string beans, for example, frozen and canned. Keep in mind that the canned has liquid and, the fresh beans have to be washed and the ends removed. The frozen beans have a different flavor than either fresh or canned.
24 – Produce – Go By Weight Not By Size
You might think that big of head of lettuces gives you more for your money but maybe not. Choose the heavier item when shopping produce that’s priced individually (think cucumbers, celery and lettuces) rather than by the pound.
25 – Beware of Dates (those on the calendar)
Some stores offer specials for a certain date such as Five Dollar Fridays, or Monday Meat Sale. If you go on the wrong day you won’t get the special pricing
26 – Bulk Paper Products
Large packages of paper products such as napkins, toilet paper, plates, and towels are usually cheaper in the larger packages
27 – Single Servings? Maybe. Maybe Not
As a rule single serving-sized packaging is more expensive than larger family sizes. Think chips, cookies, cheese, gelatin, pudding and fruit. An option is to buy the larger size and portion out into single size servings in zip lock baggies or reusable plastic or glass containers. On the other hand the single size serving cuts down on waste. And limits what you eat at one time.
28 – Tuna is Just Tuna
There’s not a lot of different between albacore (white chunk) tuna and light tuna but the price can be as much as 50 cents a can. Light tuna works just as well as white chunk tuna in many dishes.
29 – Where Does Your Olive Oil Come From?
Italian olive oil is often more expensive than Spanish or other country’s oil and yet the tastes are very similar. Use olive oil where the flavor is important. Use blander oils in dishes heavily spiced and flavored.
30 – Breakfast Convenience Foods
Waffles, pancakes and biscuit breakfast sandwiches are great for quick breakfasts but are expensive when you compare the cost to homemade. Make several batches and freeze. You could make a whole week of breakfast foods on Sunday morning.
31 – Juice It Up
Frozen juice concentrate is cheaper than the fresh squeezed and ready-made. If you look at the label of ready-made in the refrigerator case, it’s most likely made from concentrate, so why pay more because someone else added the water.
32 – Stay Private (label that is)
Most major grocery and big box stores offer their own labeled products right next to the national brand for considerably less. Taste test a small package of the private label to see if you like it. Sometimes the taste and quality are comparable and sometimes not.
33 – Go Digital
You probably already are a member of your favorite grocery stores, but did you know that if you download their app to your phone you get even more bargains? Stores often have a sticker that gives you the digital price, just point and click. At checkout time you get the digital price when you enter your membership number.
34 – Dollar General, Dollar Tree, 99 cent Stores
All offer canned and packaged food products at great deals. Some also offer frozen and dairy products as well. Select 99 cent stores even have produce. Most do not carry fresh meat but may carry frozen meats such as ground beef, chicken breasts or pork cutlets.
35 – Don’t Whine About Wine
Yes, prices can range up to $30 or more for a 750 ml bottle of “good” wine. However, don’t pass up the less expensive wines in big bottles or boxes. Unless you’re a wine connoisseur the less expensive wines might be just what you’re looking for.
36 – Bag Frozen Vegetables
Transfer frozen veggies from the original packaging to zip locked bags. The bags are sturdier than the original packaging and you can see exactly how much you have. No more thinking you have enough corn for tonight only to open the package and see only a few kernels left. The zip lock keeps the veggies fresher than the original packaging as well.
37 – Freeze Your Own Fruits
Packaged frozen fruit is expensive. Know when certain fruits come into season and freeze them yourself. Wash and pat dry. Slice larger fruits such as peaches. Spread on a cookie sheet to keep the fruits from sticking together as they freeze, then load into bags. Instead of $3.99 for a 1 pound bag of frozen peaches you could freeze your own when peaches are on sale for $.49 a pound.
38 – Freeze Your Own Vegetables
Okay it doesn’t make sense to freeze vegetables that are normally inexpensive both in their frozen and fresh state. It does make sense to freeze vegetables when they’re a great bargain. For example in the spring asparagus can cost as little as 99 cents a pound when the rest of the year the price goes up to $3.99 or more a pound.
Snap peas are another example worth freezing. Corn on the cob in the summer can cost as little as 4 to 8 ears for $1, while frozen they’re nearly a $1 apiece. Wash and trim. Plunge the vegetables in boiling water for 1 minute, then into an ice bath. Dry and package in dinner size servings. For example ½ cup (about 5 or 6 spears of asparagus is a single serving. If you have 4 in your family, package from 20 to 25 spears together.
39 – Consider the Salad Bar
At $5.99 to $7.99 per pound for mostly lettuce, a salad bar doesn’t make economic sense. However, for premium items or for ingredients that you just need a small amount for a recipe say feta cheese, artichoke hearts or specialty olives, the salad bar saves you money because you buy just what you need. Keep in mind some salad bars require that you buy a minimum number of items.
40 – Freeze Dairy
Milk, cheese, sour cream, and other dairy products freeze well even if the package has been opened. Of course transfer the contents of the opened container to a clean container. The texture of some dairy products may change but the taste won’t. Use in dishes where the change in texture isn’t noticeable.
41 – Produce Bargains
Some vegetables don’t have a season and are cheap, or at least budget-minded all year long. Carrots, celery, potatoes and onions fit that requirement. Yes, you could make a tasty vegetable soup with just those choices. Get creative and find ways and recipes to utilize these produce bargains. For example, make carrot soup, carrot slaw, roasted carrots or Asian stir fry carrots for example.
42 – Portion Control Meats
By meats include beef, pork, lamb, fish and poultry. These protein sources can be expensive. Keep portions to no more than a 4 ounce per person. How much is 4 ounces? About the size of a deck of playing cards for boneless meats, one chicken thigh or half (of a halved) chicken breast.
43 – Stretching Ground Meat
Meat loaf is a great example of how one pound of ground meat can generously serve 4 people when you add ½ cup oatmeal or bread crumbs, 1 cup of finely chopped or shredded vegetables and one egg to bind everything together. The bread crumbs and veggies absorb the juices and flavors of the meat as it cooks.
44 – Roll It Up
Present the 4 ounce serving of meat as more. We eat with our eyes. If the serving looks generous, the odds are you’ll be more satisfied. Pound the 4 ounce serving of meat, whether pork, chicken, or beef to ¼ to /2 inch thick. Not only does that make the meat look like a larger serving, it also tenderizes the meat.
Lay the meat flat. Arrange about ½ cup to 1 cup of chopped vegetables near one end of the flat meat. Wrap as a burrito. Bake at 350 to 425 degrees until done. Offer individual servings or make one larger “roast” and cut into serving portions after it’s cooked.
45 – Cut the Meat Ingredient in Half
When making stews, soups, chili, and casseroles, cut the meat ingredient in half and substitute bulger wheat, grains, beans or mushrooms. In other words if the recipe calls for 1 pound of ground chicken , which is about 2 cups of cooked chicken, Use only 1/2 pound of chicken and add 1 cup of cooked grains such as barley.
46 – Go Vegetarian One (or more) Day a Week
Meat, whether beef, pork, chicken, or fish, is expensive. One option is to go vegetarian one day a week for all three meals. It’s not that difficult. Serve a veggie omelet for breakfast, salad for lunch, and roasted vegetables with crunchy bread for dinner. Mac and cheese, pasta, and vegetarian chili are all alternatives.
47 – Serve Salads as the Main Course
Don’t think of salads as only for lunch or right before dinner. Salads can be a satisfying main course for dinner, if you add a few ingredients such as cheese, a bit of meat, nuts or eggs. Try a spinach salad with mushrooms, hardboiled egg slices and bacon dressing. Or a salad of couscous, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, lemon juice and olive oil served on a bed of greens. A taco salad combines chopped lettuce, tomatoes, beans, cheese and corn chips with an avocado lime dressing.
48 – Shop Early
Grocery stores go through the produce, bakery, dairy, deli items, meat, and fish to cull out those packages that have a “sell by” date within the next day or so. These goods are perfectly safe to, eat and still taste great but can be marked down from 30% to 50%
49 – Shop Late
Stores start to empty after the dinner rush. Shop then for a quieter less rushed experience. You,ll be more likely to take the time to bargain hunt.
50 – Repackage Frozen Foods
How often have you taken out a big bag of frozen veggies, dumped them in a sauce pan, and then after dinner had to throw out the leftovers? Or maybe you dished out the ice cream in overly generous portions. Instead immediately portion out the veggies into dinner size bags.
For example, ½ cup of corn is a single portion. So a family of four would need 2 cups of corn for one dinner. Do the same thing with ice cream. Use an ice cream scoop. Place the scoops on a cookie sheet. Freeze, then store in zip lock bags. Divvy up chicken breasts, shrimp, and meatballs into dinner size portions.
51 – Shop Alone
No children. No hubby or significant other putting items in your grocery cart you didn’t count on. No giving in to pleading or temper tantrums. No impulse buying. No arguing about why you’re not buying that expensive bag of steaks.
52 – Leftovers Can Be Your Friend
What to do with that one leftover chicken thigh, slice of roast beef, ½ cup of strings beans, or lonely baked potato? Freeze them. Keep separate bags in the freezer for leftover vegetables, meats, and fish. Cooked rice, beans and pasta all freeze well. Use the frozen leftovers to add to soups, stews, and casseroles. In the case of the potato, peel of the skin, then freeze. The texture will be different but in a soup no one will notice.
53 – Unbag It
No. Don’t rip apart a sealed produce bag to take what you want. Many times produce is bagged by the grocery store to encourage you to pick up and buy the whole bag, which maybe way more than you need. But you don’t have to. Make sure the produce is being sold by the pound. Remove what you want into a separate bag and pay for what you need.
54 – Convenience Counts But So Does Cash
The produce department offers cleaned and cut produce — at a price. For example, red, orange and yellow sweet bell peppers are offered sliced along with onions. Yes, if you bought each item separately it would cost less than if you bought the prepared peppers for the same amount. But you might have more than twice as much as you would need. If you can put the leftovers to use, great. But if you’re just going to waste them then the prepared produce is a better buy. Another example are veggies ready to stir fry.
55 – Another Restaurant Trick – Fill the Plates
You rarely see a restaurant serving family style — bowls and platters of food on the table for people to serve themselves. Restaurants fill a plate with the entrée and sides. Once that’s gone it’s gone. Do the same. Fill each family member’s plate in the kitchen and serve at the table.
Of course, adjust the portions to the family member. A teenage boy needs a lot more food than a 12 year old girl. Another option is to serve the meat portion on the plates in the kitchen and serve the less expensive side dishes on the table.
56 – Use Smaller Plates
But fill the plates to the brim. The serving is smaller sized, which saves you money, but looks like more so your family is satisfied. Using smaller glasses and cups has the same effect.
57 – Serve a First Course
You might think that adding a first course would add to your grocery bill because it’s extra food. However, the first course fills you up so you consume less of the more expensive main entrée. Soup or salad is quick to prepare and serve. Also consider a relish tray of celery, olives, pickles and crackers. Restaurants often bring bread to the table and serve the salad first for the same reason.
58 – Sit at the Table to Eat
Even if you’re only having a snack sit at the table. You’ll be more aware of the food and enjoy it more. Meals eaten in front of the TV or on the run aren’t as satisfying. You also have the tendency to eat more because you’re preoccupied.
