There’s no doubting that shopping for one is a challenge. You also know that you don’t want to waste hours clipping coupons or endlessly comparing prices on the latest hot app. You want grocery shopping to be something on your to-do list that you can tick off with ease, without breaking your budget. These tips will help you do just that.
One of the best ways to save money on grocery shopping is to make the most of your fresh ingredients. Plan meals ahead during the week so that you don’t end having a bunch of moldy fruit and vegetables that haven’t been eaten. You might have bought with good intentions, but nothing is a waste of money like out of date fresh foods.
Let’s face it, when it comes to supermarket own brands, there is very little difference in taste and quality to some of the big commercial brands out there. When you can save so much money opting for home brands, why would you even consider the better-known but more expensive options?
You can save a tidy little sum of money by growing your own herbs! Even if you live in an apartment, you can have a lovely little herb shelf on your windowsill. It might not seem like much but over the course of a year it can be a great saving. And they’re good for you!
You’d be surprised just how much cheaper it is in the long run to buy larger packs of foods rather than single servings that will only help you on the particular day. Think ahead, buy in bulk and you can have meals for a week for much cheaper.
If you’re really committed to saving money on your grocery shop, then take the time to price check between all of your local supermarkets. Take advantage of the deals that particular stores might be implementing and you could end up saving a nice sum of cash. But don’t hop shop. Find the cheapest one overall and head there.
Though we are all taught that organic is the way to go, there are actually a list of fruits and vegetables that you can get away with buying not organic. Have a browse through the dirty dozen and clean fifteen lists to work out if you can save on some of your favorites.
When certain groceries are in season, stores tend to have an abundance of them and therefore put them on sale. Keep track of exactly what in season when you shop and you stand a good chance of picking up some real value for money.
You really should treat your freezer like your best friend and personal money saver. The freezer will stop all food you buy from going off before you get round to eating it, therefore you will never end up wasting money when fresh foods go bad before you have used them. You can also take advantage of store sales on particular ingredients, make a batch of meals and freeze them for future evenings.
You’d be surprised by just how much of your budget can go on meat, poultry and fish. Test it out and go vegetarian for a week. If you make a considerable saving then it might be worth trying again in the future or implementing a week on, week off system to save you some cash!
Grocery shopping is not the most fun activity and even more of a chore if you feel you are spending too much money. Pease give some of these tips a try and you might find it less of a bind.
What’s your best tip?