I am so excited to be teaming up with my friend and neighbor, MC, to bring you all some AMAZING tips about saving money at the grocery store. MC really opened my eyes to how much I was unnecessarily spending at the grocery store. I am not perfect about following these every week, but I save around $100 each week that I do! I hope you enjoy this post!
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Has anyone else out there realized during social distancing that you spend way more money than you thought you did? My name is MC, and I have the pleasure of being Loren’s downstairs neighbor. We have been quarantine buddies these past few months and have been keeping ourselves occupied with Barre3 online classes, Wes Anderson movie marathons, and plenty of baking. One thing we have also done in quarantine, as most people have, is grocery shopping. While Loren and I once enjoyed long walks down the grocery store aisle, lately the store is filled with people in masks trying to quickly get in and out six feet apart.
Before quarantine happened, I had been making it a personal goal to budget my grocery shopping. As a newlywed in graduate school, sticking to a budget is important for us as a couple. Plus, being tight with our grocery shopping can allow for us to save money to see family and go on those postponed vacations. When the stay at home order was in place and going to the grocery store became about as fun as going to the dentist, the tips and tricks we had been using to budget also helped with minimal trips to the grocery store. Loren and I shared some of these tips and if you are looking to stick to a budget and wait until it is fun to go to the grocery store again, then hopefully the following can help you out.
- Plan meals with similar ingredients.
My husband and I aim to spend less than $200 a month on groceries for the two of us, and planning out meals really helps. Before you decide the specific ingredients you need, writing out the meals you plan to have on which days can not only get you on a schedule, but also avoids certain foods spoiling before you use them. For example, if you have a dinner that involves using spinach, you may want to plan to use spinach in a salad for lunch the next couple of days since it can spoil more quickly than other items.
- Make A List
As silly and simple as this sounds, making and sticking to a list is one of the biggest things that can help you stay within your budget. When making a list, you take inventory of the items that you already have in your pantry or fridge and prevents you from overbuying items. If you have some items in your pantry or fridge that are about to go out of date, you can plan your meals to incorporate them so you don’t waste money or food. If sticking to a list is difficult for you because there are so many enticing treats at the store, try to limit yourself to three “fun” items per visit. That is a good way to treat yourself without breaking the bank, and over time you can reduce it to two or one “fun” item(s).
- Categorize the List
After you have planned out your meals and taken an inventory list of what you need for your grocery store visit, categorize the items you need based on where they are located in the store. Whenever I make my list, I usually have my items categorized by fresh produce, refrigerated items, frozen foods, and pantry. You can categorize your list even more specific if you know your grocery store well. This will not only help you have minimal contact with the store since you won’t have to consistently go up and down the same aisle, but you will also be less likely to impulse buy.
- Educate yourself on store deals
Multiple stores across town have daily deals, and knowing the deals where you shop and planning your meals and shopping days accordingly can cut those grocery store costs. I know Loren personally likes to shop at Fresh Market because it tends to be less crowded than other grocery stores. She plans her shopping for Tuesdays because they have chicken breasts for $2.99/pound. I personally like to shop at Aldi’s where they send out a magazine for weekly deals. When I shop, I tend to look for deals on items like meat, eggs, non-dairy milk, and produce.
- Shop for produce in season.
In season produce can cut your shopping costs because grocery stores do not have to increase the price due to shipping costs. During the winter, kale was less than $1 at Kroger and Aldi’s— let’s just say we got really creative eating kale. During the summer look for produce such as avocados, citrus, berries, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, and leafy greens. These products will not only be cheaper, but taste sweeter and make your meals taste even more delicious.
**Bonus Pro Tip: When you are shopping in the grocery store the most expensive items are on the middle shelves. This is because brands pay to have eye level shelves so people are most likely to purchase their products. The cheaper items are on the top and bottom shelves, and opting for a few store brand items over name brand can really save you money over time.
I hope you found these tips helpful for your next grocery shop outing. If you have any more questions or comments feel free to reach out Loren on Instagram. Happy shopping!
