What are the easiest ways for saving money on groceries?
Searching for new ways to make saving money on groceries easy? It’s not surprising, especially once you realize the cost of food grows faster than the rate of inflation. Certain types of food cost more than others too, but it might not be the ones you expect. There are a number of coupon and discount sites you can use to trim your bills too.
The following three tips focus specifically on saving money without making huge changes or buying poor-quality food.
3 Ways to Save on Groceries without Sacrifice
#1: Make a Shopping List
It’s basic advice, but it works. When you make a list, you make conscious buying decisions and aren’t at the mercy of grocery store advertisements. The industry invests millions of dollars to trick you into buying more items. Make your list at home before you hit the store to stave off wasteful purchases.
Unplanned shopping sessions lead to a massive amount of tossed out food. The average U.S. household throws out 40 percent of what they buy at the grocery store. Nearly half of your food budget could be going to waste. So, make your list and stick to it!
You can save additional money with thrifty shopping in mind. What types of foods will cost you the most? When is a convenience not worth the cost?
A surprising grocery trend over the past 10 years has followed the Baby Boomer generation. It demonstrates perfectly the creep of convenience costs. As this generation aged, canned vegetables have shot up in demand. It’s created a surprising surge in price, despite many consumers knowing canned goods offer decreased nutritional value compared to fresh or frozen options.
#2: Find a Favorite Store
Some crazy couponers insist you stalk your local grocery stores writing down how prices change day-by-day. While interesting, it sure takes a lot of effort. Your time is better spent finding a store you can rely on for selling high-quality products. Opening a package of oranges once you’re home only to find out they’re moldy represents a big waste of money and time.
You save money going back and forth to one store too, versus running all around town hunting up the best deals. Gas is expensive. Instead of investigating individual prices, investigate your shopping experience. Which stores have bread, milk, and meat well within their use dates? Which stores offer a healthy selection of fresh fruits and vegetables?
The biggest benefit of having a favorite store? It doesn’t take much effort to figure out their coupon and sales days, any apps they might have, or customer loyalty programs.
#3: Create Weekly Meal Plans Based on Current Deals
Making a weekly plan sounds work and time intensive, but there are ways to make it quick, easy and even kind of fun. Look online for recipes using just a few ingredients. Once you find one you like, write it down. Try it out. If it’s a keeper, save it in a file for later. Next week, you’ll already have most of the work done.
As your recipe list grows, you’ll have groups of foods based on certain ingredients. Beef recipes, chicken recipes, salmon or squash. Include those recipes in your meal plan when the ingredients are on sale.
Don’t worry about overwhelming your family with one type of food. You don’t have to use those ingredients in every meal. Just make sure you’re taking advantage of low costs in a way that you’ll really use. Too many people buy in bulk at cheap prices only to toss out the extra food.
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