10 ways to cut your grocery bill
Inspired by The Simple Dollar's article on Trimming the Average Budget: Food at Home, I put together my own list of 10 ways we keep our bill at roughly half the national average.
1. Cook from scratch - consistently. Convenience foods may be tempting and some may even seem affordable, but the habit of cooking from scratch will save you money over the long run - and the results are nearly always better for your budget and your family.
2. Buy in bulk when it's cheaper, but always check unit prices. Don't be fooled into assuming that the biggest container is the best deal. Do the math.
3. Try store brands. Some may be plainly inferior. Some may be different from the national brands, but satisfactory. Some are better. How will you know if you don't try them?
4. Drink milk or water. Tap water, that is. If your tap water tastes a little funny, get used to it. If your tap water raises health concerns, then at least refill jugs for 30 cents/gallon rather than paying for a new bottle every time you're thirsty.
5. Buy produce in season - then purchase in abundance. We often get case lots from a wholesaler. If I find a great deal at the grocery store, I buy as much as we can eat before it goes bad.
6. Shop the sales and plan your menu accordingly. When we find a really great deal on meat, we often buy 50-100 lbs.
7. Maintain a healthy diet without going overboard on expensive health foods. Eat beans and bananas, not boneless skinless chicken breasts and organic strawberries. Buy the special treats when they are in season and on sale, and then buy them sparingly.
8. Learn a new kitchen skill regularly. Make bread, yogurt or kefir, grow sprouts, roll your own tortillas.
9. Do the math and be aware of the costs of your favorite dishes and meals. Sometimes meals aren't as cheap as you think - or something you think is expensive turns out to be cheaper than you thought. We did this on our blog more than once: Menu Math.
10. My biggest and best tip: Use what you buy. There's nothing frugal about waste, even if you got a great deal up front.
How do you save on groceries?
17 Responses to “10 ways to cut your grocery bill”
January 9th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
I want to add to your #5: with what is in season, I make soups or other dishes and freeze; blanch and freeze; can; and store winter root veggies in cool, dry places in paper bags or whatever is appropriate. It takes some time to cook in bulk but the results can save you money in the long haul (and by tasty, to boot).
I look forward to the day I have some room for a deep freezer.
January 9th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
Re: #2…you don’t even always have to do math! Even if you don’t have time for shopping multiple stores, you can still look at the labels on the shelf to see which box has the lowest price per unit. This works consistently for food but the stores drive me crazy with non-food items like detergent. Why, oh, WHY can they not give you a price per ounce or a price per load on every brand? Do they hate me??
And #9- if you have an eating out budget and eating out is mostly about the food for you (instead of about the break from the kitchen) figure out what your favorite restaurant meal would cost to make at home, then add your eating out budget to your grocery budget and make it yourself. Chances are anything you like to eat at a restaurant is still much cheaper to make at home. We love Chinese but we like it even better when I make it at home and we can eat it 3 or 4 times at home for the cost of one trip to the local Chinese buffet.
January 9th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Don’t use ready mixed spice packets. Invest the separate herbs and spices and you have far greater control over how mild or spicy you want something. Many herbs and spices are used in many different cuisines for instance chilli – used by almost every one but the north western Europeans so it is unlikely to go stale before being used up.
Be savvy about use by dates dried herbs and spices don’t go off but they do loose their potency.
You can freeze grated/chopped garlic, cilantro, chillis, ginger if I find some in the supermarket marked down because it’s close to going out of date I buy it, chop it and then freeze it in ziplock bags.
You can use porridge oats to stretch out ground beef just at it early in the cooking stage. I also use bean, pulse and in season vegetables to make meat go further (meat is particularly expensive in the UK)
Make your own cookies, cakes and pastry, far cheaper and nicer than shop bought but do it from first principals, flour, butter, eggs, milk etc rather than a packet of mix.
Control portion sizes serve smaller portions than the family would help themselves to. If they really are hungry they can always have seconds. Less like to have wasted meat and vegetables on the family’s plates at the end of the meal.
My mum always saved left over vegetables to make soup.
Make your own chicken/meat stocks from the left over bones, you can make vegetable stock from the limp and tired veggies that are hiding at the back of the crisper.
Remember a bargain is only a bargain if you are going to use it, this is something I am always having to remind myself.
Re #2 I don’t know if American stores do it but here in the UK most of the stores do not use standard units in the price per unit for like items. The price of the branded bag of rice will be given a price per kilo but the store’s brand will be quoted in price per 100 grms and even though it’s just a matter of multiplying or dividing by 10 it is disconcerting and an attempt to make comparison harder.
January 9th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
#4. If you don’t like the taste of your tap water, use a brita pitcher or an on-faucet filter to get rid of the chlorine taste. Water is the healthiest thing you can drink, and not drinking enough of it because you’re trying to save a few bucks is not smart. For many people the off putting taste of their tap water would be enough to make them open a can of pop instead.
I used to use a brita pitcher, but found that when it got empty I would drink juice or pop rather than refill it. Now I have upgraded to a standing water cooler, and it was a great purchase. It costs 2.50 for a 5 gallon jug, but it is worth it for me always have cold water on hand. I drink more of it, and rarely buy pop anymore.
January 9th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Great tips…I use all these and also practice “stacking” – so for instance, if corn flakes are on sale 2 for one, and I have coupons I use two coupons and they get take off the one price. I use my loyalty card and I use a credit card that gives me cash back. by the time I am through, I have saved alot. So, plan your shopping around discounts, etc. I recently bought 45.00 worth of food and saved $15.00 between sales and couppons, and had another 4.00 in rebates and got 2% back. All in all, it was a great shopping day! Would like to reiterate the last comment through; no savings is enough if the food spoils and you dont use it!
January 10th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
What is the national average you talk about. I have looked at the government figures and I am in the thrifty zone but others seem to spend much less. I wondered what you thought 2 aging adults (55+) should be spending a week.
January 10th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I’ll second the Brita pitcher idea, I drink so much more water now that I have simply stopped buying pop and make sure to keep the pitcher filled and in the fridge. My tap water tastes so off-putting that I can’t even drink it in iced tea, so having the pitcher really makes a difference. I look for coupons for the filters, and use them longer than suggested, until I can taste the tap water again, and it’s really very economical considering the health benefits and the other beverages I’m drinking less of.
January 10th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I actually have 3 brita pitchers…one in fridge for cold water, one near coffee pot for coffee and tea and one near cat’s water for them. Works well!
January 11th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
[...] 10 ways to cut your grocery bill [...]
January 12th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
These are great tips! I actually just wrote a post today with 10 tips for reducing food waste which could definitely help people follow #10 on your list! http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/2010/01/10-tips-for-reducing-food-waste-in-2010.html
January 12th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
By the way, I should note that when it comes to organic, there are many things you can skip, but strawberries and spinach are widely regarded as the ones you really shouldn’t since they are the MOST contaminated. I would recommend instead to go with other fruits that are OK to eat conventionally (like citrus or blueberries), to buy in bulk at farmer’s markets, to “pick your own” from local farms who offer this…or to grow your own!
March 10th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Tap water is actually a very good, frugal idea. Small children are not technically supposed to drink bottled water, since tap water is fortified with minerals. By serving toddlers bottled water, you are actually doing them a disservice!
March 31st, 2010 at 10:25 pm
[...] shared 10 basic tips to cut your grocery bill over on Frugal Hacks, but will give you the more chatty and less formal version here and [...]
May 14th, 2012 at 10:34 am
I saw reference to your website on Daily Worth….thought I’d check it out. Glad I did!
May 15th, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Thanks, Kari! Hope you find lots of helpful ideas, and feel free to share your own as well.
May 19th, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Like your 10 list. Thanks!
May 23rd, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Stop eating meat! Eating lower on the food chain really lowers your bills. I spend about $100/month on groceries and we eat really, really well. We just don’t eat meat.
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