5 min
Updated: Jan 31, 2023
One of our biggest expenses every month is undoubtedly groceries.
We noticed, that many people spend a big portion of their salary on groceries and then they might be short in different areas.
Learning how to save on groceries each month can be hard for many reasons, such as a growing family, hosting a holiday meal, or building/refilling your stockpile. But it is possible for sure.
If you want to know more, then continue reading ...
One of the easiest ways to save money grocery shopping is by meal planning. The only problem is coming up with different meals week after week is time-consuming and difficult.
We certainly do not want you to live on a bread and water and sacrifice healthy eating habits!
Plan your food for couple days
Try to sit down for couple minutes and either search on pinterest, google or in the good old recipe books of what you could cook for the upcoming days and leave this list on your fridge or some memo board in your household.
And then ...
Make a Grocery List
If you are headed to the grocery store, make sure you make out a list. And stick to it! You created the list in the first place for things that you NEED. There is always going to be items that you want, but you throw in a few of those items and you are raising your bill for no reason.
Follow your list unless it is a deal that you can’t pass up or if you have a coupon expiring for something you need.
Don’t Go Hungry!
This tip is one that helps tremendously with reducing grocery spending cost, because when you are hungry, anything looks like you need it. We try to go grocery shopping after a big meal. Not only do I stick to my list better because I am so full, but I also get the extra benefit of working off my meal.
Shop Your Pantry First
You’ll absolutely save the most money by not even spending any in the first place! Take your time and make an audit to your pantry. you might be surprised, how much you can actually create what you already have. This is my specialty, i have a look at it and either come up with something on spot or just go to get a thing or two to add up to a bigger meal.
Make sure to check that you’re storing your food properly, to avoid food waste!
Have a Freezer
Make sure you use your freezer for something more than just ice-cream as it is a great way to store pre-cooked meals or for deals that can be used in the future. You can pretty much freeze anything from meat, to dairy, veggies and even breads.
Put More Meatless Meals Into Your Plan
If you’ve done really any grocery shopping in your life, you probably know that meat is just about the highest unit price of any non-processed food you’ll be buying. By finding ways to either replace meats in a dish with things like beans and other produce or simply learning to do without it in certain dishes, this is a great way to save a ton of money each month!
Don’t Bring Others like Hungry Hungry Husbands or kids!
This is a HUGE money saver in our household! If i want to save i cannot take Mathew with me, because it is flavored water, chips and other things that we can for sure live without.
Skip Pre-Cut/Pre-Washed Produce
If you do buy your produce from a grocery store, nowadays it seems like just about everything comes in “whole” or “sliced/washed/cleaned and cut” form. You’ll often find yourself paying nearly twice the price, making it a convenience charge that really isn’t worth it!
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Avoid Convenience Foods
What I mean by this is buying a block of cheese and grating it instead of buying pre-shredded cheese. Or choosing the pudding mix over the ready-to-eat pudding cups.
Similar to pre-washed and pre-cut produce, you’ll spend a lot of extra money for someone else to do simple work that you honestly can do so easily yourself (for free)!
Grow Your Own Foods
It might not be for everybody, sadly neither for us. How we would love to have our own tomatoes, paprika and others. But if you have the opportunity, have a few container garden plants or even start a small square-foot garden in your backyard, you can eliminate a large portion of your grocery spending each month during the growing season! Not to mention if you’ve got the room for a larger garden, you’ll be able to grow extra to store for the off-season, stretching your summer savings even farther.
Use Coupons
We are club member to pretty much every grocery store we go to, i store all of my cards in my phone and so it is easier to use. BUT sometimes they do have discounts only for club members, or we then get coupons to our address and can do grocery list with these in mind.
Skip Brand Names and Buy Generic
Here’s a little secret, brand name items are more expensive than their generic or store brand counterparts. Imagine Nutella spread and Tesco spread .. pretty much the same ingredients, but almost half the price. These brands do not put money into their fancy packaging nor marketing and so they can be cheaper.
Add Meal Prep Time Into Your Routine
Meal planning is the first step, but if you can meal prep as well, you go for gold! Even if you were to prepare breakfast or snacks .. you know how much time you save later, when you need to grab something quickly before leaving the house?
Eliminate Eating out at Restaurants
And don’t order take-out, either. You’re not only adding a tip for the waiter onto the cost of your meal, but you’re paying someone else to cook it for you. Have you ever thought about your meals in terms of “people cost” before?
Sure, every so often for a special occasion we enjoy a night of not having to wash dishes, but for the most part I’d rather not pay someone to do something I’m perfectly capable doing myself! If you include restaurant spending in your overall “monthly food budget,” you’ll save a huge amount of cash if you start cooking more.
Get Invited to your Friends House
I know, this one is a bit sneaky, but some people actually love to cook and host for others, so if you have such friends or family members, make sure they count you in.
Shop With Cash
Swiping a credit card is a lot easier than handing over cash. Call it efficiency or call psychology, but when you can actually see the amount of money in your hand, it makes a difference.
Set a budget for a month and try to stick to it. Have a grocery wallet with this designated cash amount.
Use a Cashback
One way to cut grocery spending is to pay yourself back with cashback. It depends where you are from or where you shop, but there are either apps or in account cashback opportunities. The amount might be small, but put it together for the entire year and it makes a huge difference.
Within the Czech republic you can check TWISTO and get 150,- with this registration link.
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