With the cost of living continually on the rise, many households are feeling the strain when it comes to affording their monthly expenses. Food bills in particular continue to rise as consumers demand more healthy and specialty products. Fortunately, there are several ways you can lower your grocery bill and still feed your family well.
Keeping a close eye on what you spend, planning meals and taking advantage of special offers are just a few tips that can help you save money on your grocery bill each month. If you’re looking for some great advice about lowering your grocery bill, keep reading for useful tips and tricks that will help save you money over time.
Organize your plans
Before you start shopping, sit down and make a meal plan for the week. Having a meal plan in place will help you reduce your grocery bill by helping you avoid making impulse purchases. You’ll also be able to avoid any unnecessary waste by using up the ingredients in your pantry. You can organize your meal plan in several ways.
You can choose one day of the week to plan your meals for the whole week or make a new plan each day. You can also choose to plan your meals for the whole month. Whichever method you choose, make sure that your plan is flexible enough to account for last-minute changes in your schedule or unexpected guests.
Be picky with your produce
As the cost of fresh produce continues to rise, it’s important to learn how to be picky with the products that you buy. When produce is in season, it’s usually at its cheapest. You can usually find a wide variety of fruits and vegetables at a lower cost when they’re in season.
While it’s important to be picky with produce, you also need to be careful not to pass up on too many good deals. It can be tempting to go out for fresh produce whenever you see a sale. But, you don’t want to overspend on produce that you’ll only be able to use for a short period.
Check for sales
Before you head to the store, make sure that you’re looking for sales and discounts. By checking for sales, you can make sure that you purchase your groceries at the cheapest possible price. Some grocers even offer digital coupons that you can use while you shop. You can also use online tools to help you find out when certain products are on sale.
Skimlinks is a free tool that can help you find out when certain products are on sale. You can then use this information to create a shopping list with sales items and non-sale items.
Check unit prices
While checking for sales is important, you also need to make sure that you’re checking the unit price of each item. The unit price is the price per unit, including the weight, volume or number of items in the package. You can usually find the unit price on the sticker on the bottom of the product packaging.
By checking for the unit price, you can make sure that you’re buying the item that is the cheapest. While two products might be on sale, the item with the lowest unit price is the better buy.
Rethink your protein
Meat and fish are some of the most expensive items on most grocery lists. You can save money on these items by purchasing ground meat, chicken breasts, dried beans, frozen fish fillets and eggs. These items are much cheaper than their cuts and fresh counterparts, but they can be just as nutritious and tasty.
You can also save money by cooking larger portions of meat and using leftovers in different ways throughout the week.
Always check the expiration date
While some items are cheaper when they’re on sale, others are cheaper when they are close to or past their expiration date. Grocery stores sell these items at a discounted price, but you need to be careful to check the expiration date.
Many of these items can be frozen or stored in the fridge and used later. You also want to make sure that you’re storing these items properly to make sure that they stay safe to eat.
Shop your pantry and freezer
One way to save money is to shop your pantry and freezer for items that you can use in new recipes. By going through your pantry and freezer and checking for items that are getting close to their expiration date, you can avoid throwing away food and money. You might find a bag of dried beans in your pantry that you bought last year.
Or, you might discover a frozen bag of chopped onions in your freezer that you forgot about. These items can be used as ingredients in new recipes to reduce food waste and save you money.
Switch to the new store
If you’ve been shopping at the same grocery store for years but are noticing that your bill is getting higher and higher, it might be time to switch to a new store. New grocers are opening their doors every day, and many of them offer lower prices than their competitors.
You can find out which grocers are offering the best prices by doing a quick Google search. You can also ask friends and family members which grocery store they shop at and why they choose that store.
Rethink “convenience”
As the cost of living continues to rise, many households are increasingly opting for “convenient” single-serve products over the more traditional full-sized items. While some of these items can help reduce waste, they can also be very expensive.
You can save money on these items by purchasing larger quantities of them. You can also buy in-store coupons and use them when you’re shopping.
Conclusion
With the cost of living continually on the rise, many households are feeling the strain when it comes to affording their monthly expenses. Food bills in particular continue to rise as consumers demand more healthy and specialty products. Fortunately, there are several ways you can lower your grocery bill and still feed your family well.
