15 Simple Ways to save on Food and Groceries

You’ve heard all the ways before. Clip coupons, shop sales, go on Sunday nights, don’t go when you’re hungry/tired, use a list….. The lists abound about how to save on groceries, but really, how realistic are they?   I mean, what if your store doesn’t double coupons? Or doesn’t have a “triple coupon day?” or you can’t theoretically afford 100 Sunday papers so that you can have deodorant until 2023?  I mean,  let’s get real. If you’re looking for ways to lower your grocery bill, it’s not because you can’t afford deodorant. So here are some tips and tricks that might at first seem daunting, but really in the end, are so worth it.

 

1. Buy in bulk. Now, in case you live in a town like mine and don’t have a Costco or a Sam’s or the like, then buying in bulk can be difficult. Also, membership fees to bulk stores like that are ridiculous! It makes no sense to me, to pay a member fee to save money. It seems counterintuitive. So. Amazon.com has bulk items. 25lbs of sugar/flour, cereals, rice, snacks, baby food, all of these items, you can get cheap on the site, and even get cheaper if you have it delivered every so often. As it stands, I have 25lbs of flour delivered every month. It costs me less than if I were to buy in the store, and it comes to my house, free shipping. How can you beat this? You can’t. Buying in bulk just got taken to a whole new level.

2. Eat meatless 3-4 nights a week. Meat is the main course of the average American’s dinner 7 nights a week. There are many many  meatless dishes that are delicious, simple and healthy.If you have four in your family, and buy 1lb of lean meat every night, you’ll spend on average $3-$4 per night just on meat. Cut that out four nights a week and you’ve shaved $12-$16 off your grocery bill each week. Doesn’t sound like much? Well it translates to about $50-$60 a month, and who wouldn’t like to save $50 a month?

3. Grow a garden. Now before you smite me into oblivion, let me expound. Some of you, probably live in very small lots in the city, and you think “I don’t have room for a garden!”. Sure you do. It’s called container gardening, and it’s simple, easy and efficient. You just need to buy containers (or recycle large plastic bins you can find!) and fill them with dirt, and compost (everyone should compost, it’s easy!) and buy some seeds. Now will this take work? Yes, of course. However, once you start getting things like tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, peppers and peas, you’ll be glad you did. We have a larger garden and save about $100 bucks a month on average from not buying produce. If you only saved $50, well that’s another $50 bucks you can save.

4. Only buy in season produce. Some things, like lettuce, tomatoes, and mushroom and cukes stay “in season” all year, because of green houses. However other things like melons, corn, plums, pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, eggplant, parsnips, broccoli etc, those are “in season” or not. If you see  a “good price”, try to eat more of that veggie/fruit for a while, till you see the price go up. When peaches are 25¢ a lb, it’s because they’re in season right now and the stores have more than they can sell. When they’re $2.00 a lb it’s because they’re not in season.

5. Stop buying boxed items. You’re paying for packaging, advertising and nine times of ten, it’s not even a nutritionally sound item. Instead slice up some carrots and peppers for a snack or have some apples and PB. This is doubly good as it also saves on recycling and packaging.

6. Keep your pantry stocked with cheaper items like whole wheat pastas, rice and beans, canned tomatoes and sauces, and then if you’re feeling blah one night, you can simply whip up something out of those items instead of going for take out.

7. Check the bakery of your local place, either early in the morning or at night. They’ll have discounted breads and rolls that need to go. Who says you can’t have a turkey sandwich on a rye roll? Or a ciabatta? I regularly am able to get huge French and Italian loves for under a dollar, which is cheaper than what I can make them at home.

8. Plan your meals. I can’t say this enough. We have a 2 week rotating schedule and every few months, I change a few of the things aren’t hubby’s or my kids fav foods and add in new items. Planning your meals makes it not only easier to stick to them, and eat out less, but also, you don’t go in and think “what should we have for dinner tonight?” Only to buy things on a whim. If you know that every 2 weeks you’ll have rice four times, that’s ~8times a month, and you can buy rice in bulk instead of buying a small bag for each dinner.

9. Make your own cleaners. I realize this sounds daunting, but it’s really not. Laundry detergent is something used by us all, every single one of us, and shoot its darned expensive! Tide, which is what I liked to use, cause it got the kids clothing clean, runs $19 at Walmart for 150oz. This equals out to about 13¢ an ounce. Most loads, that are medium will use an ounce and you’ll use more for larger loads. Now, I’ve got a recipe on here for laundry detergent and I can tell you, and I have friends that can tell you, IT WORKS. I was actually really surprised, which is one reason I put off doing it so long. I figured it would never clean clothing as well as chemical laden products like Tide would. However at 2¢ a load, I was willing to give it a whirl. It even gets dirty diapers clean. And if you use bleach? A solution of water, hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice works just as well without the crappy smell or bleaching out stuff you don’t want to, cause that always seems to happen right? Right. If you have to, make a deal with a neighbor that you’ll make XYZ cleaners if she/he makes ABC cleaners, and make enough for both of you. This way, you make larger batches of one thing, and just trade.

10. Stop buying bottled water and sodas. These items are expensive, use tons of plastic and some of them not good for your waistline. Instead, invest $30 bucks in an easy to install under your sink filter for your cold water, and use it. We have one, and change the $14 filter every six months. We get “unlimited” filtered water for $28 bucks a year. How much do you spend on soda and bottled water a month? Start drinking more water. Your body will thank you as will your wallet.

11. Watch the unit price. Stores have been sneaky I’ve noticed lately in that the larger items, that you would think would be cheaper per ounce, aren’t, and sometimes are almost 50% more per ounce. If you have to, take a calculator with you, as some stores don’t post the unit price on the shelf. I promise you’ll only have to do it a few times before it becomes ingrained which items you buy and then you’ll only need to recalculate when the prices change.

12. Stop wasting food. Did your next door neighbor give you 5lbs of zucchini and now you don’t know what to do with it? Shred it. And put it in everything. From sauces, to meatloaves, to pastas. Put it in everything. I even shred it onto our homemade pizzas. And it’s not even noticeable in taste, but it sure is when it comes to my belly getting fully on less money, and the nutritional content of my foods.

13. Visit your Farmer’s Market late in the day. Why? Well, the vendors are going to be wanting to pack up and go soon, and the less they truck back, the better for them, and for you. You can score some serious deals if you wait. Of course, you’ll be limited to what’s available at that time, but that’s where food creativity comes in :)

14. Join a local food co-op. ‘They have seriously reduced prices, and everyone gets a share. It’s a wonderful way to stay local, mostly organic and cheap.

15. Shop somewhere that price matches and then simply bring in the ads from local competitors. I just place all the “priced matched foods” in the front of the cart, so they get on the belt first, and that way we just do them all at once, and it’s done, in a few minutes. It usually saves me at least $10-$30 bucks a week.