Trimming your grocery bill is the most accessible way to save money – After all, since everybody eats, anyone can find ways to spend less doing so!
The foundation of how to save money on groceries consists of taking advantage of sales, buying fewer junk foods, more home cooking, and less wasting of food.
If prices seem higher every time you go to the supermarket, it may not be just your imagination – When the price of fuel goes up, grocery prices follow, and not just due to higher transport costs – The equipment that harvests and processes the food needs gas, too. The vegetables often use a petro-based fertilizer to grow. The meat animals are fed with grain that’s grown with that fertilizer, too. All these extra expenses end up on your grocery bill; so if you’re tired of getting nickled and dimed to death, read on!
prices are climbing because of ‘the government printing more money, more people cooking at home, and higher wages paid to coax workers back to their jobs in food industries.’ There’s nothing you can do to fix these causes, but you can use the following strategies to keep more money in your wallet:
Perdue University
There’s nothing you can do to fix these causes, but you can use the following strategies to keep more money in your wallet:
Name Brands Cost you a Lot of Extra Money
I almost titled this section, “Buy Store Brands,” but you will not always save money by using store brand products. There are several reasons for this:
- The store brand’s price difference may be so slight, that it’s not worth sacrificing enjoyment of the product.
- You may get good quality and the best price on a lesser-known, local, or regional brand.
- You may have to use so much more of the product to get the same result, that you may actually get less for your money.
- If you dislike the flavor or texture of the cheaper brand, you’d be more inclined to actually throw it away without finishing it!
That said, store brands have improved a lot over the years; while it is often said of name brands that they are “not what they used to be.” There also seems to be greater availability of alternative brands than in the past.
My Favorite Money-Saving Brands
Make it habit to try the cheaper brands, so you’ll find what works for you. Here are a few from my personal experience:
Pastene canned tomatoes (also Cento) – these are priced in-between the store brand and the name brand, but they are the best buy, because they don’t contain added water. The store brands do.
Suave Naturals deoderant – although Suave’s shampoo is too watery, this deoderant works great, and has the bonus of not containing aluminum.
Royal pudding and gelatin mixes – I can’t tell the difference between these and the Jell-O brand. They are so much cheaper, the store doesn’t even try to compete with its own brand.
Goya – I cannot say enough positive things about this company and their high-quality products (beans, flour, and many other assorted packaged goods). I have never been disappointed by a Goya product – They are consistantly cheaper than name brands and often beat all comers for quality and freshness. As a plus, the company is very civic-minded. For example, they train all of their employees to spot victims of human trafficking.
Cooking from Scratch – When Planned Right – Saves Money
Cooking from scratch is, probably, the best way to save money on groceries. As with store brands, however, not everything cooked from scratch is a money-saver. Here are a few good reasons for this:
- It may cost more to buy the ingredients than to buy the already-made food item.
- It may involve buying ingredients that you will never use up, like a recipe that uses a dab of some exotic spice – Like the teriyaki steak recipe I saw recently. It needed just a splash of three different sauces, which would’ve cost more than the meat!
- You may only require a small amount of something; but making it from scratch would produce much more than you can possibly use.
- Some foods from scratch require a huge block of time. There are only 24 hours in a day. Even if home economy is your career, your time is still money, and must be factored into every decision.
A perfect example of this is homemade pasta. I love making pasta as an occasional special meal, but it’s simply not cost-effective to make all of the pasta I use. It takes a long time, and costs more to create from scratch than to buy at the store. Also, I often use pasta as a shortcut, enabling me to make a quick dinner, and free up that block of time to make something else from scratch.
Know When to Cook for Scratch
So, when should we cook from scratch? Pretty much the rest of the time, when the above exclusions do not apply! Here are a few of the items on which I save huge money, by making them from scratch:
- Pizza
- Sandwich Bread
- Rolls
- Flatbreads, such as pita and tortillas
- Pancakes and waffles
- Pancake syrup
- Coffee
- Cookies
- Soup
- Oatmeal
Junk Food: empty calories that empty your wallet
Junk food is a massive waste of money – “Empty calories,” my mother used to call it; meaning zero nutritional value for your money. This is such a no-brainer, but often hard to enforce! When I quit buying junk food, my husband rebelled and bought it himself, so we’ve never saved much money there.
There are some good junk food compromises, though, such as:
- Cupcakes made from a mix, instead of buying them.
- Popping popcorn at home, using a microwave popper, instead of overpriced pouches of microwave popcorn.
- Kool-Aid, adding your own sweetener, instead of soda and other bottled soft drinks (more on that further down the page).
Get your Fruits and Vegetables Nutrition for a Better Price
There is a wide range of prices within this food group. The way to save money here is to be flexible about buying whichever fruits and vegetables are the cheapest that week. Generally speaking, the cheapest way to check the f. and v. box is with store-brand, frozen vegetables, large jars of applesauce, raisins, and whatever fresh fruit is in season.
You may feel that getting your family to eat their fruits and vegetables takes enough compromise, without complicating matters further by trying to cut costs on them. Here are some ideas that work well in my home:
- Pack applesauce into small, reusable containers. Kids often enjoy the novelty of these at home, as well as at school. Just be sure they bring the containers back, or you’re not saving any money.
- Thaw frozen broccoli in a paper-towel-lined container (in the fridge) and serve with Ranch dressing (making your own Ranch, using the bulk-sized Hidden Valley mix, also saves money).
- Microwaved vegetables can be tough, watery, and unappealing. Cook them the old-fashioned way – Place in a pan, almost cover with water, add a little salt, cover, and simmer gently, while your putting together the rest of your meal. They come out buttery-tender with a mild flavor that many people prefer.
Know When You’re Getting a Good Price
This is easier than ever, now that you can look up your store’s weekly flier on the internet. My “then and now” chart shows you sale prices from grocery fliers in 2022, 2020, 1972, and 1922. As you can see from the way prices have exploded, especially recently, smart shopping is more important than ever. Gone are the days of 85 cents for a ‘sizzling steak dinner with three different vegetables, potatoes, and apple pie with cheese’ (according to a 1947 A&P ad from Monmouth University’s Food Advertisements Through the Decades database).
There are two main ways to save money by shopping the specials – First, by knowing what is a great price for each of the things you buy the most often; and by focusing on “loss leaders.”
A loss leader is a sale item, which is priced so low by the store, that they actually lose money on it. Sounds too good to be true? It is true! The catch is that the store hopes that when you come in for the loss leaders, you’ll pick up other items on impulse, or even do your shopping there, instead of your regular market.
Getting the Most Out of Your Loss Leaders
Be careful when you buy that loss leader that you don’t get hooked into buying overpriced accompaniments. If peanut butter is the loss leader, for example, the price of grape jelly might suddenly be higher to make up for it. One trap I see all summer is graham crackers and marshmallows at giveaway prices, right next to overpriced packages of Hershey bars…all placed where the kids can see them the best. Hey, Mom, wanna spend s’more money?
Another example is the rotisserie chicken. I checked into why this is so cheap, because I nervously suspected that it’s how they use up any chicken that’s past its sell-by date. It turns out that the chicken is actually quite fresh, and is a loss leader! Says Ron Matt, a Quora user:
“Some foods that are ‘ready to eat’ and sold at the deli section are cheaper than their restaurant equivalent because they ‘lost leaders’. Meaning, they have a low profit margin and depend on volume sales. You pay an inflated price for the ‘Vermont style potato salad and a lesser price for the chicken to go with it. Plus chances are you’ll be picking up a few more items. I go to a store in my area to get ‘Chinese Orange Chicken’. I get a good amount of it at the deli for a really good price. If I add chow mein noodles or something I pay a substantial amount more. And there’s usually other stuff I’ll grab while in the market. There’s method to their madness…”
Ron Matt (Quora)
Skip the Soft Drinks and Water Bottles
As I mentioned earlier, if you can’t get the kids away from soda, try buying drink mixes, like Kool-Aid, Tang (store brand), or iced tea. There are also super-concentrated mix-ins that only need a few drops in a glass. these can be good, because you can keep a few different kinds on hand, and the kids can enjoy the novelty of choosing what kind they want every time.
Those plastic water bottles are such a grift, P. J. Barnum would be green with envy! If your tap water doesn’t taste good, invest in a Brita pitcher.
Use Up Everything you Buy, Avoid Waste
The best way to save money on groceries is to not throw them in the trash!
Cook thoughtfully – Plan ahead on how you are going to use up any leftovers, as well as any leftover ingredients. While this may sound like too much trouble, you will be surprised to find that in doing so, your next dish sort of plans itself! Here are a few examples:
- Leftover rolls make insanely good garlic bread.
- The other half of a 28 oz. can of tomatoes + 1 qt. of chicken broth makes a delicious soup base – It’s a good way to use up leftover meat and vegetables, too.
- If you have a scoop of macaroni and cheese left, spread it in a pita, top with more cheese, and broil until browned. Makes a filling lunch for one or two.
One surprising way waste happens is buying those huge “club” sizes. You’ll eventually use up the laundry detergent, but how about that case of yogurt cups that has one flavor that nobody likes? Or that quart of cottage cheese (come on, you’re not really going to eat it every day for lunch)? The worst one is the big bag of salad. Once it’s opened, it only lasts a few days, and you can’t use it up in a recipe or freeze it. If you figure the loss of what you threw out, the “value” size may end up being more expensive than a smaller size might have been.
Better Ways to Store your Produce Bargains
Speaking of salad, fresh produce tends to be the most easily-wasted food. Every fruit/vegetable has a different shelf life, which is often short; as well as special storage needs. If you can’t get to the store often, it can be tempting to stock up on a lot of produce, only to have much of it spoil before you can get back to the store. Frozen vegetables are a great solution to this problem. You can also cut fresh produce into big chunks, give them a few seconds in boiling water, rinse quickly in cold water, drain, and freeze.
Check out the below infographic for more suggestions – You’ll be surprised at some of the foods you can freeze!
