Looking to Trim Your Budget? 9 Ways to Save on Groceries

If you’ve found yourself struggling financially recently or worried about spending, one way to start saving right now is by cutting back on reoccurring expenses - like grocery costs. 

Food is, of course, a necessity. The problem is, it’s easy to spend more on groceries than you have to - especially if you’re purchasing without a plan. Below are nine tips to help you save more on groceries every month.

Tip #1: Plan Your Meals

When you’re already juggling a job and taking care of your family, cooking meals every night can be overwhelming. Pre-planning your meals for the week can help you better stick to only buying what you need and take the mystery out of “what’s for dinner?” every night. Other added benefits could include preparing healthy meals, avoiding food waste, and resisting the urge to order takeout instead.

Tip #2: Use a Shopping List (And Stick To It)

Making a shopping list is pretty easy. Sticking to it, however, can be a different story. Try to only include the essentials when creating your list - and be mindful about diverting away from it once you’re in the store.

Passing up on the small stuff - ice cream, chips, candy, etc. - can equate to big savings over time. Saving just $10 on your weekly grocery run can equate to $520 over a year. 

Tip #3: Stock Up on Basic Supplies

Having a few basic items on hand at all times can be a time and money saver at mealtimes. These common food items are inexpensive, will last for a while, and can serve as the base of any meal:

• Pasta
• Pasta Sauces
• Rice or quinoa
• Eggs
• Beans
• Frozen vegetables

Creating dishes out of these ingredients are not only simple and low-cost, but they are filling and healthy to make for your family. 

Tip #4: Cook At Home More

It's almost always more cost-effective to cook your own meals at home. If you still want to support local restaurants and enjoy a night or two away from the kitchen, just be mindful of how often you’re choosing to eat out and how that’s affecting your monthly budget.

Tip #5: Organize Your Pantry

Nearly everyone has canned goods in their pantry that have sat on the shelf for months. Take an hour or two and inventory your pantry from top to bottom. Dispose of expired goods and take stock of what is still good to use. It’s likely you’ll rediscover a few useful items you can use for meals. 

If you find items you know you’ll never use (and they have not yet expired), consider donating to your local food bank.

Organizing your pantry can make it easier to assess what you already have, meaning you can plan meals that require less food from the store. One way to do this is to organize your pantry so that more perishable foods or foods that will expire sooner are more visible and easier to access. This can help you avoid needing to throw food away before you can eat it.

Tip #6: Make Leftovers

If you’re cooking dinner for your family at home, it’s likely you’ll have leftovers to put away at the end of the night. Repurpose them for breakfast or lunch the next day. Leftover meat, vegetables, and grains can be used to create whole new meals. This is especially easy to do if you’re working from home during the week. 

Tip #7: Shop Smarter

Pay attention to what you are buying. Even though you may be paying less for something, you’ll want to do a unit comparison to similar products. For example, say you’re choosing between one box of pasta that’s $4.00 for 16 ounces and another that’s $2.50 for eight ounces. Yes, $2.50 is cheaper, but you’ll want to look at the price per ounce to be able to accurately compare the two. The first box equates to 25 cents an ounce, and the second comes in at 31 cents an ounce. Purchasing the first box will give you more bang for your buck since you’ll eventually use the entire 16 ounces.

Store cards and coupons can be an important part of saving on groceries every week. Most grocery store cards are free and can offer you deeper discounts on everyday items.

Other smart shopping tips include:

• Frozen vegetables are often cheaper than fresh, and they still pack in important nutrients.
• Opt for generic or store brands when you can. Frequently they are simply relabeled name brands or nearly the same.
• Check on upcoming sales either online or in-mail or in-store flyers.
• Items nearing their expiration date (especially meat and perishables) will often be cheaper – just make sure you eat them before they expire.

Tip #8: Try Doing “Meatless” Mondays

If you prepare a vegetarian meal even once a week, you can save money since meat tends to be more expensive.

Tip #9: Take Advantage of Credit Card Rewards

Certain credit cards offer cash back rewards for grocery shopping that could range from 1% to 5% back on your grocery purchases. In fact, there are multiple credit cards that offer 2% back on all purchases, so that could be a great place to start. If you spend $100 per week on groceries, that's $5,200 per year. A credit card with 2% cash back rewards will give you $104 back per year. At 5%, that would be $520 per year. With $200 weekly grocery spending, the 2% card would give $208 back per year and the 5% card would give back $1,040 per year.

As you try to approach your finances more strategically, every little bit of savings can help, so give these tips and tricks for savvy food shopping a try. If you're still feeling financially stressed. Escient Financial can help you establish a financial plan that will get you on track to a financially prosperous future and relieve you of that stress. Feel free to...