Save on Groceries: 10 Ways to Save Real Money Every Trip to the Store

You have examined your expenses from the past. Your budget has been built and now is the time to put it in action. But awaiting you on this mission is your mortal enemy. The grocery store! How can you save on groceries every time you enter the store? Let’s explore 10 ways to keep more money into your wallet!

For many, the weekly grocery bill is a budget killer. I know, it used to be for us. We would spend over $150 a week on groceries just for two people! After years of taking that abuse, we decided to rethink our grocery habits and start finding ways to save money on groceries. Each of tips below will help you save real dollars, which compounded over time, will help lead you to the life of your dreams!

1. Rethink Where You Shop

The single greatest way we found to save on groceries is when we switched where we shopped. Here is a fun fact: No one cares where you buy your food! Does it matter if you bought your food from Whole Foods and paid 5 times the price for it or went to Aldi on the cheap? Guess what!?! It tastes the same!

Ever since changing from Price Chopper to Aldi, we spend slightly more than half on our groceries each week than we used to, between $60-$80 a week. That adds up to thousands of dollars over a year! That savings help us destroy our debt and build our life of riches!

My advice, shop around for the store that carries most of what you buy each week and has the best deals. Our Aldi store doesn’t carry every single item we need each week, but we can do 90% of our grocery shopping there and pick up the rest with a quick stop on the way home.

2. Buy in Bulk

Are there items that you use a ton of all the time? Look at what you use each week. Is it something you could stock up on and save your valuable money on? Sure, it may cost more up front to buy in bulk, but the savings you will see over the life of the product will be well worth it.

You do need to be careful to not buy items in bulk that will spoil before you use them. That would just be a waste of money and the opposite of what you are looking to accomplish. Also avoid the overuse of an item that you have a lot of just because you have it. You don’t need to use 10 sheets of paper towels because you have 20 rolls of it in the basement.

Some of our favorite products to stock up on are grains. Quinoa and farro are personal favorites of ours and keep for a long time. Do you consistently use rice in your cooking? Buy it in bulk! As long as the product will last in your pantry or fridge, it is something you could possibly save money on by purchasing in bulk.

3. Healthy Shopping

A few years ago, my wife and I transitioned into a whole food, plant based diet. Along with this, we had preconceived notions that our grocery expense would be going up. Many people believe that healthy, fresh foods are far more expensive than the alternative.

Well were we surprised when we found out the opposite is true! It turns out, the more healthy, plant based foods you buy, which would lower meat and other processed food purchases, the more you will save! We were thrilled! Each week, we stock up on all kinds of berries, legumes, and vegetables and have a much lower grocery bill than when we were buying beef, chicken, and fish for each meal.

Along with saving on groceries, your health will improve considerably! Just by switching to a whole food, plant based diet, I was able to shed off over 30 pounds while barely exercising! Save money on groceries and save your body? Sign me up!

4. Create Your Shopping List…And Stick to it!

The more you plan before you leave your home to go shopping, the heavier your wallet will feel when you return home from your errands. Each weekend, my wife and I sit at our dining room table and draw up a plan for the week. What meals will we have? What are the ingredients needed? Do we already have items that we can use instead of buying something new?

Once you have your list down pat, the only thing left to do is hit the store! But that is where the danger awaits! You must be careful, those stores are out to get your money! They will do everything in their power to get you to buy anything and everything they have to offer. They aren’t worried about the list you brought with you. And if you let them win, you budget will be ruined. So stick to your handy dandy list and start saving!

5. Is that Hunger? Impulse Buying Here We Come!

Have you ever gone to the store hungry? That, my friends, is a big no-no. Hunger and grocery shopping combined will destroy even the best laid plans. You are just asking to blow your budget on that bag of chips that looks oh so tasty.

Try this. Get your plan together in the morning and get ready to go. Then sit down and have a nice breakfast that will keep you full for your shopping trip. Once you are done, get out to try to beat the mid-day crowds and get your shopping done. You will feel much better not being hangry and saving money by avoiding those impulse buys to quickly stem your hunger. Don’t forget you water bottle to make sure you avoid those expensive drink purchases!

6. Make Your Own Food

This tip relates to the Healthy Shopping tip up above. Buying ingredients in their most raw form and making a meal from scratch will help you save big time. It comes with the added bonus of knowing exactly what you are putting into your food, avoiding things like excess salt that is used to help preserve items.

Don’t know how to cook or what you could make? That’s the easy part! Just start googling things like “quick and easy dinners” and you will find just what you are looking for! Every week we use this strategy to find new ideas and wow are they delicious. Nothing beats cooking a meal for your special someone and watch them enjoy it to the last bite!

A passion that I recently found is the baking of bread. The scent that fills the house when the bread is in the oven is to die for. My wife gave me a Oster Bread Maker for Christmas and we haven’t looked back! Heck, I made two loaves today! The best part is, the ingredients to make bread are significantly cheaper than buying a loaf in the store! So you have more delicious bread for a fraction of the cost? Sign me up!

7. Ignore the Brand Names

One of the best ways to save on groceries is to ignore those brand name items. Sure, they are probably right at eye level and the easiest thing to grab. But just look down! I bet there is the same product under a generic name right under your nose and its going to be far cheaper. If you are afraid to buy those fake fruit loops, I promise, they will be just as good. But if you are buying fruit loops, see step number 3. Go healthy and save!

8. What’s for Lunch?

Almost every day, my wife and I have leftovers for our lunches. We don’t only do this because of the delicious food that consistently comes out of the kitchen, but also because of the huge savings it presents.

Each week, we develop our plan and put it into action. We buy enough food that will make 7 dinners and enough leftovers for our lunches. Thanks to economies of scale, this is much cheaper than buying the food to make 21 different meals each week, thus cutting the cost of our groceries and gives the added benefit or reducing the waste we have.

Do you remember the lunch example in the article about compounding? If not, click on the link and go take a look. Making enough food for the following days lunch can go a long way to helping you find the money you need to pay down your debts. While you may spend more on groceries, you will more than offset these costs with your decrease in restaurant spending.

9. Quantity Review

While this is similar to bulk buying above, reviewing the cost per quantity on an item is a great way to save on groceries! Do you ever look at the small print on the price tags that stores have on their shelves? These contain the cost per a certain quantity, such as an ounce or per 100 sheets, that you can use to compare different items.

The next time you are in the store, look at a common item, say peanut butter. The same brand will come in a multitude of sizes and perhaps even a two pack. Each one of these will have separate per unit costs. If one is cheaper than the other, go for it! Of course, if the cheaper cost per quantity item has the largest quantity, make sure it is something you will use. The last thing you want is to create unnecessary waste.

10. Over Purchasing

How often are you going through your fridge and see the horrors or moldy, rotten food? It is a scary sight and one that happens far too often.

When walking around the store, look around. How many people have their carts piled to the ceiling with all the food you could ever need? Do you think they really go through that much food? Or does a lot of it go to waste? Your fridge and cabinets do not need to be filled to the brim if its just going to be thrown in the trash at the end of the week. Save yourself tons of money and help the environment by buying only what you will use in a week.

Bonus Tip! Reusable Products

Think of the items you use every day. Are they one and done products? Is there any alternative that could be used over and over again, saving you money and the environment for more garbage in landfills?

These kitchen towels on amazon can be bought for $30 and be used over and over again. Sure, they are more expensive than paper towels, but are they really? Paper products are ridiculously expensive and finding any way to cut them out of your budget will help tremendously. How about using dryer balls instead of dryer sheets? Check these dryer balls out! They are similar in cost to a box of dryer sheets but can be used for 1,000 loads! Now that is money saved and again reduces your environmental impact.

So Many Ways to Save on Groceries!

Above are 10 ways, plus a bonus tip, that my family uses to successfully save money on groceries each and every week but there are so many more ways to save! Using the same ingredients for multiple meals a week can keep your spending down. Buying unpackaged produce instead of the stuff that is wrapped right next to it can cut down costs. Do one shopping trip per week instead of shopping every day for that days meal. There is no saying how many different ways you can save!

I promise, by following the steps above, you will conquer your enemy and keep more money in your pocket to tackle your debt and start your dream life! Let me know in the comments below of any additional tips and strategies you use at the grocery store in order to save on your grocery bill each week!