34 Tips to Trim your Grocery Bills

There are a few things to keep in mind in order to save cash when shopping for food. The first one being that, ideally you want to make sure to spend the least amount of time in there. Since the longer you’re in there, the more you are likely to add items to your basket and time is money after all. The second one to keep in mind is how much a certain product should cost on average. A savvy shopper understands – from experience and knowledge – a great deal.

I know it’s sometimes hard to keep a balance between eating properly and saving money. As one of our biggest expenses (with shelter and transportation) it can be tempting to either spend carelessly on groceries or to give up on eating properly and eat out all the time.

Now, I won’t pretend that I apply all these rules myself, either for lack of time or lack of space –yes I’m talking to you tip #33–, but the following list of tips should help you save a lot of money on grocery bills without too much effort.

1. Using a shopping list and actually sticking to it is a great way to give a little bit of structure to the process. Helping you to avoid wasting time and also making impulsive purchases. There are loads of cool apps that can help you with this if you are having trouble. OurGroceries, Buy Me a Pie! and Out of Milk are some of the first ones that come to mind.

3. Going for items that are on sale is probably one of the most efficient ways to save money. It’s pretty easy to do since there is almost always a deal on a certain types of products. For example, there is usually a brand of cheese or yogurt that will most likely be on sale when you go to the grocery store, and they pretty much all taste the same.

5. Buying non-branded items or store brands makes a lot of sense since most of these products are made by the big brands themselves but are usually sold for lower prices.

7. Staying away from pre-prepared foods and coincidentally preparing your own food is another great way to not only maintain a healthy financial situation but also a healthy diet. For example, stores tend to charge ridiculous amounts for marinated meats, which are often full of sugar and/or salt and/or preservative agents.

9. Splitting quantities and expenses with friends or relatives when buying in bulk can also save you a lot of money.

11. Using a large freezer If you have the space is a great way to keep your large quantities of food. Normal ones tend to get full quite rapidly.

13. Purchasing in-season fruits and vegetables will generally be cheaper than buying imported ones. As transportation costs are a lot smaller. Plus, it’s better for the environment.

15. Planning meals ahead will reduce the number of trips to the corner store (which tend to charge more). I also find that planning meals ahead is a great way to try new meals. Looking at recipe books, or online, it’s easy to get inspired.

17. Having an approximate budget simply makes sense if you want to keep track of your expenses.

19. Keeping your receipts and checking right after leaving the grocery store for errors can save you money pretty often. Plus, by entering the amounts in a spreadsheet you will be able to better keep track of your monthly expenses.

21. Avoid going at peak times. This way you won’t rush as much and make impulsive purchases. This is pretty much the equivalent of doing your grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

23. Avoiding junk food and sweets is another great way to stop spending on empty calories. Plus, one of the best ways to stop eating these is not to have them easily accessible at home.

25. Subscribing to a loyalty program like a store’s savings card or simply being a loyal customer has its advantages like cash back policies.

27. Drinking water is a bit of a boring one, I know, but the fact that it’s free and good for you makes it a great go-to beverage. I’m not saying eliminate everything else, it’s just that we drink all sorts of other stuff out of habit, when water could definitely do the job.

29. Asking for a rain check whenever there’s an awesome deal that’s sold out simply makes sense. Sure, it can take a few minutes to do, but if you consider that the rebate is good enough, go for it.

31. Ignoring items located at the checkout counter can sometimes be tough, but these are the incarnation of impulsive purchases.

33. Setting up a vegetable garden and growing your own – if you have the space that is. This way, on top of saving money, you will also have a fun and relaxing hobby.

How about you? Do you have any tips to suggest? The 34th spot is all yours if you can come up with a tip for this list. Just leave a comment in the section located below or email us at contact ‘@’ promotionalcode.ca.