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5 Ways to Save Money On Groceries

Posted By Don On In Frugal | Comments Disabled

If you shop for groceries you know that prices never seem to stop going up. I feel like every few months I need to re-evaluate our grocery budget as the monthly total continues to climb. I’ve been doing some research on how to save more money on groceries [1] and have come up with 5 solutions that seem to be working for us, at least for the time being. I’m sharing these tricks to save you a few dollars on your next shopping trip.

(Photo Credit: Ambro [2]/FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

5 Tips to Save Money On Groceries

  1. Shop Around.
    Most likely you have more than one grocery store in your area. Make it a point to shop at each and note the prices of the items you regularly buy. Once you have the prices, compare the lists to see which store tends to be cheaper.

    For us, I found a store that has some items close to $1 less than the other grocery store that is closer and I usually buy from. In the few weeks I started shopping at this grocery store, I’ve noticed that my bill is a little less than usual.

  2. Buy On Sale.
    Another no-brainer to save money on groceries is to buy what is on sale. Don’t just make a list, but read through the weekly flyer and see what is on sale. Once you have this information, start meal planning based on sale items.

    On top of this, you might even consider going without some items if they are not on sale. Many stores will advertise sweet treats just to get you to spend more money. If you can learn to limit your consumption of these items or even go without, you can save a lot of money.

    This trick has helped us to save money on meat. We sometimes go without meat for a meal if nothing is on sale that we like.

  3. Plant A Garden.
    If you love to eat veggies, then planting your own garden could make sense for you. Take inventory of what veggies you like best and then see if the climate you live in would accommodate growing them.

    In the event you can’t grow your favorites, then try to find local food stands or farmers markets. You may even want to check out community supported agriculture [3] (CSA). The upfront price might make you take pause but in the end, you may come out ahead. Just be sure to do the math!

    We just planted a garden and while it does take some time to maintain it, the tomatoes taste so much better!

  4. Buy In Bulk.
    I personally love to buy in bulk [4]. Find some non-perishables that you buy and see if the local warehouse club sells them. When you buy in bulk, you can save quite a bit of money. The key word here is “can”. In some cases, it will be better to still buy from the grocery store as not everything is a deal at a warehouse club.

    In some cases, you might even find other food at a steep discount. My wife and I love to eat eggs for breakfast and have Greek yogurt as well. We buy these in bulk since we go through them so quickly and the price is less than the grocery store.

    We’ve also started to buy some meat at a warehouse club as well. The price is much less and we freeze it until we decide to cook with it.

    If Costco is your warehouse club, see the new Best Credit Cards to Maximize Cash Back at Costco [5].

  5. Take Advantage Of Sharing.
    Lastly, if you are close friends with neighbors, you might go in together on bulk items. Maybe you don’t eat a ton of eggs, but between the two of you, you do. In this case, you can share the eggs and split the cost.

    In fact, you can do this for a lot of foods, especially since a bunch of things at warehouse clubs come in two packs. It makes the sharing much easier (assuming you both like the item in question).

    We were doing this before we moved earlier this year. It was great saving money and sharing at the same time. In some cases, it even encouraged us to try new things as we bought a couple things our neighbors loved and we had never tried.

Final Thoughts

Overall, there are many ways for you to save money on groceries. By taking some time and thinking of new ways to buy groceries, you can combat the seemingly never ending rise in food prices. These strategies have helped us to reel in our grocery bill lately and I feel they can help you too.

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