How many times have you gone grocery shopping and spent way more than anticipated? I think we have all done that! Today I want to share 10 tips on how you can save money on your groceries.
Save Money on Groceries
1. Meal Plan
This is my number one tip for you to save money on groceries. If you go to the store without a plan in place, you will end up buying a bunch of random stuff you don’t need and end up going back to the grocery store because you are missing ingredients. And when we have to go back to the store a second time you are not only wasting gas but usually end up buying extra things.
That’s why we all need to make a meal plan of what you are planning on eating for the week. That brings me to the second point.
2. Grocery List
After you are done meal planning, you can write down your grocery list. You can have a meal plan but if you don’t have a list you may forget some essential items for your meals and once again have to go back to the store.
Make a list of all that you need whether it is on your phone, or on paper, whichever is easier for you. When you go to the store, try to stick to only items on your list.
3. Home Inventory
Keeping an inventory of what you have at home can really save you from buying extra items you don’t need! I keep a freezer inventory list right beside my freezer. Every time I put something in the freezer, I write it down. Every time I take something out, I write it down! This will save you money on groceries and time. You can do this by printing out your own premade list or just use a dry erase board. If you use paper you can place a plastic paper cover and use dry erase markers on it as well.
You can also use apps such as Out of Milk, which is an easy-to-use app with shopping lists, pantry lists, and to-do lists.
4. Make a Budget
Make a budget and stick to it! Figure out exactly how much you need on a monthly basis and set aside money specifically for your groceries. Dave Ramsey recommends spending 10-15% of your take-home pay on food which includes both groceries and eating out. If you have a hard time staying under budget, use the envelope system. Simply place the cash you budgeted in an envelope. Once you run out, you can’t spend anymore.
I always write down the cost of each item on my calculator on my phone. Once I hit my budgeted amount I stop shopping. If I realize I never got something which I needed I will sub it out for something I don’t need in my cart. I encourage you to also bring a calculator so you don’t end up with more food than you can afford at the till and have to put food back!
5. Coupons and Flyers
Now this one you may have to do a little work and research. First, check the coupons at your local grocery store for deals. Second, you can search online for coupons for the specific products you want. P&G has a lot of coupons available for example.
Also, check your local flyers for deals. Flipp is another great app where you can make a grocery list and it will let you know of any deals found on that item. You can also just look at the flyers right on the app. If you shop somewhere with price match you can bring your flyer in or show the teller on your phone if there is a better deal somewhere else and they will price match it for you. That way you don’t have to go to three different stores just to get the best deals, you may end up paying more anyway because of the cost of gas.
Be careful, however, that you are not buying unnecessary things just because it is on sale. Checkout 51 also has cashback offers when you buy certain products, I have received about $40 back so far from using this app. But again, use with caution as you don’t want to buy things only because they are on sale.
Canadian Coupons is also a great site that lets you know of deals, coupons, and free samples. If you have time I encourage you to do a little research to save money, however, I realize we are all very busy people and that may not be an option.
6. Grocery Pick Up
Many stores now do something call grocery pickup. It is where you make your order online and pick a time to pick it up. A personal shopper from the grocery store will gather all the items on the list for you and all you have to do is pick it up and pay. It is very convenient for people who want to save some extra time in their day. I have used Superstore pick up a few times now and I love the convenience of it.
Now you may be wondering how does this save you money? Well, it can save you money if you have a tendency to “overshop” while in the store. Again you end up buying things you don’t need and going over budget.
However, you may have to pay a small extra fee to pay for pickup. With Superstore if you are a PC Insider the cost of pickup is completely free. Of course, there is a cost to being a PC insider though, but with it comes many perks. I have the PC credit card and Superstore is the main grocery store I shop at so I find it benefits me. It also comes with a free surprise box of their premium pc products once a year which I love opening! So you just need to do some research- is PC Insider worth it for me or will it be just an extra cost I don’t benefit from?
I also receive emails for discounts on grocery pickup sometimes when you order a certain amount in a certain time frame. Again, don’t get caught up in the moment thinking how much money you can save if you dot actually need groceries! Remember you are saving anything if you are spending over your budget.
Maybe you don’t have a Superstore in your area but maybe there are other stores that do pickup? Again it just takes a little research and the savings will be worth it in the end. I know Walmart has started doing grocery pick up as well and I know Walmart is everywhere! And the pickup cost is free if you purchase over $30, which most of us do anyway.
7. Loyalty Programs
Find out what kind of loyalty programs your local stores have. Again, I will use Superstore as an example here. Superstore has the PC Optimum program. All you have to do is receive a PC Optimum card(which is completely free) and use it every time you go shopping. You will receive points for certain products you buy. They have in-store offers and online offers tailored just for you. Download the app to load the special online offers. I love this program because you actually get a decent amount of points and I have received over $200 worth of free groceries!
8. Healthy Eating
Many people like to shop for “healthy foods” and end up spending way more money on these “types of food”. So, first of all, you need to answer this question “What does eating healthy look like to you?”. Because everyone’s definition of “healthy” varies.
For me, it is simply following Canada’s Food Guide and only buying organic fruits and vegetables from the “dirty dozen”. Sometimes if the price is way more for organic I will still buy the regular produce and wash it really well, because the cost of organic food really adds up! In my opinion, if you are not eating the skin you don’t need to buy organic.
Tidbit: You can make your own fruit and veggie wash at home by mixing equal parts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle.
9. Buy Store Brand
You can save quite a bit of money by simply buying no name or store brand products. Most of the food that is store brand taste exactly the same anyway. There may be a few things that taste better from a brand name product but most taste the same.
I always buy store brand unless the brand name is the same price or lower which isn’t very often. I will also buy brand name if I feel it is worth the purchase.
10. Eat Simple Meals
There are no rules saying you have to eat a big meal with meat and dessert every night. It’s perfectly fine to have a meatless meal sometimes, a lot of people will do meatless Mondays. Try having breakfast for dinner once a week. Also when you make meals try making enough for leftovers, that way you can stretch it out. There are tons of fo resources on the internet about cheap, easy, and yet delicious meals.
Here are a few of my Frugal and Easy Dinners
I also have my “20 Easy Dinner Ideas” PDF in my free resource library. Be sure to sign up on my email list to receive your free download, have access to all future free content, and be notified of new posts.
