10 Easy Ways to Reduce Your Grocery Budget

10 ways to save money on groceries

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We all have to buy groceries. And while some of us rush in, get what we came for, and head to the cashier, we often tend to leave money on the table. 

A lot of money. 

Groceries are the third largest expense after housing and transportation costs. Surprisingly, it’s also one of the easiest areas to reduce your expenses. 

When I was working on paying off my debt, the first place I started making changes was my grocery budget. 

I researched and tried so many strategies to reduce my grocery budget

Some things worked really well, while others, even though they worked, were more time consuming. 

Being a busy wife and mom of two, I needed to find ways to save money on groceries without having to sacrifice additional time each week. 

These 10 strategies helped me cut my grocery bill without using coupons, and some I still use today.

1- Organize Your Fridge

Have you ever purchased an item you thought you needed, only to go home and find that you have that item in your fridge already?

I’ve been there. I bought a pound of limes only to go home and find that I still had a half-pound bag of limes in my fridge. 

Spending just a few minutes re-organizing your fridge before your shopping trip will eliminate duplicate purchases. 

You can see exactly what you have one hand, and you can make room for the groceries you’re going to buy. 

Takes a few minutes but can save you a lot of money and minimize your food waste. 

2- Check out your local ads

I am a huge advocate for checking out your ads before you decide which store you’ll visit. 

At one point, I stuck to the same store week in and week out. But, I found that by checking the ads, I had a better chance at saving more money if I shopped at the store that had more deals that week on things I needed. 

Being loyal to one store doesn’t help you find the best deals on your groceries. Instead, be loyal to your budget and check out your local ads so you know what’s on sale so you save as much money as possible.

3- Stock up on staple items

stock up on sale items

Along with browsing your local ads, look for the lowest prices on the items you use the most. 

Items like bread, butter, flour, rice, pasta can be purchased in multiples, which helps you cut down on the number of times you shop for those items and allows you to buy them when they are at the lowest price.

Have a stockpile of your staple items so that you only have to shop for fresh veggies and dairy. 

This not only reduces your shopping time, it also eliminates the need to buy your staple items at higher prices. 

I usually buy my rice from Costco. That 25-pound bag lasts me about 6 months and I always have rice on hand to add as a side to any meal. 

4- Limit your shopping trips to once a week

The less you shop, the more you save. 

Shopping for groceries just once per week does several things. 

It keeps you mindful of what you really need. It also forces you to use what you have on hand until your next shopping day. And lastly, it saves you from impulse purchases. 

If you’re shopping for tonight’s dinner, you’re standing in a long line full of people doing the same. You waste more time and energy than if you planned a little ahead and shopped for everything you needed at once.

5- Meal plan AFTER you shop

Many people create their menu, then go shopping for their ingredients. I do the exact opposite and I think you should as well. 

Remember, you have a lot of staple items on hand (if you followed tip 3) so you should easily be able to look in your pantry and fridge and create great meals. 

meal plan after you shop

Have main ingredients on hand like rice, pasta, lettuce, chicken and steak can make numerous meals. 

Keeping your meals simple will help you come up with several meal options based on what you have in your pantry and fridge. 

And it saves you from scrambling from store to store looking for special ingredients you’ll probably only use once. 

6- Use what you have first

This has the same idea as tip 5. Using what you currently have in the fridge, freezer, and pantry will not only save you money on having to buy new ingredients, but it also effectively rotates your good stock. 

7- Have a leftover day

How often does your fridge get cluttered with leftovers that eventually go bad? In my house, if I’m not careful, I’d be throwing away leftovers every single week. 

That’s my hard earned money right in the trash. 

I designate a day to eating our leftovers. That dinner tends to be a hodgepodge of food, but each person chooses their favs to eat and before you know it, my leftovers are gone. 

Not to mention my energy cooking the food and cleaning up afterward, all for it to be tossed in the trash later?

In our tummies and nowhere near the trash. 

eat your leftovers

What’s even better is that it saves me time and energy because I don’t have to cook a meal that day. 

Double win!

If you’re not currently eating up your leftovers, try taking them as lunch the next day. You’ll save on your work lunch too. 

Another double win!

I’m just full of ‘em today, aren’t I?

8- Shop when you’re full

Shopping when you’re hungry just ends badly…for your wallet and most of the time your health. 

When we’re hungry, we’re prone to impulse buys like the bag of chips at the end cap of the aisle. We’re susceptible to the chocolate bar at the payout counter. And we’re more likely to buy some items that weren’t on our list at all. 

Shopping when you’re full keeps you in control and better able to stick to your list that you prepared for this week.  

9- Learn your price points

know your grocery prices

Keeping a price list, like the one Super Savers members use, can assure that you’re always buying that item at its lower price. When I first started grocery shopping on my own as a newlywed, I would call my mom to tell her all the prices I paid for my groceries.

With her experience, she’d let me know whether I got a good price or not. More often, it was the latter. 

It took time for me to learn my price points, but each time I went to the store, I made a mental note of the sale prices, and kept a tally of the lowest price for an item. 

Now, it’s become second nature. 

If you’re not familiar with your prices yet, that’s okay. You’ll learn this and my top-rated grocery saving methods inside the Grocery Game Changer course.

10- Have a list

This is a crucial component to saving money on your groceries. If you have a list, it’s easier to stay focused and get only the items you actually need. 

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It also helps you remember all the items you need despite the distractions you find at the store. 

Making a list is a great way to stay organized and sticking to your list means you’re not buying items you don’t need. 

I show you in detail how to create a list that helps you save money inside the Grocery Game Changer class. Join the next class here to cut your grocery bill this week!

Tell me, what’s your favorite way to save money on groceries?

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