20 Simple Ways to Save at the Grocery Store

The last couple of years, groceries have gone way up! There are a few things you can do to keep you cost down.  Here are a few of my ideas:

1. Plan your menu around the sales– Look through the sale ads for your favorite stores and try to match your coupons and then plan your menu using those items and things you already have on hand in your pantry.

2. Only buy items on sale- Buying when things are on sale is a great way to start stockpiling.  Research shows that this is how you save the most money.  You really need to create a price book to know if something is really on sale and at a rock bottom price.

3. Don’t buy prepared meals- Frozen meals may save you time, but you get charged more for that item because it saves you time.  Try to find recipes that you can put together easily.  The food will also be lots healthier for your family.

4. Shop seasonally-Foods are cheaper when they are in season.  So, know what’s in season and buy them. This is a great chart to show you what’s in season.

5. Be willing to substitute- If you want to make a recipe and you don’t have an ingredient on hand, see if there is a substitute you might have. For example, I wanted to make something at Thanksgiving, but I had no pumpkin pie spice.  So, I made my own with spices I already had on hand.  Here is a list of common substitutions.

6. Switch to generic- You can save 25% or more by buying generic.  I buy a lot of products from Save a Lot.  I have not found a Lite Ranch that taste as good for the price that they have it. Many other generics don’t taste bad either.  Save a Lot also has some great meal ideas through there Fuel Your Family for Less program.  Every meal idea will feed a family of 4 for $5.00 or less. Aldi is another place that I hear a lot of people talking about that save them lots of money.  I don’t have one, so I can’t comment on the store.  If you have one, you might want to go check out the website and see if it might be a good way for you to save money.

7. Buy reduced price items- By looking around your grocery store, you can find a lot of stuff that has been reduced.  I find meat in the clearance meat section and I seem to check that before buying any other meat on my list.  I also like to buy reduced produce like bananas.  There a lot of things you can still do with almost rotten bananas, like banana bread that freezes well too.

8. Shop at drug stores- Drug stores seem to be the last place people think to shop for groceries, but there are a lot of savings to be had at the drug store.  Milk is used as a loss leader.  A loss leader is an item that gets you into the store in hopes that you will buy other things.  So, milk is usually cheaper at the drug stores.  I like to use my store rewards to buy items like milk and it is almost like getting it for free.  I have also gotten a lot of really cheap cereal at drug stores by matching sales and coupons.

9. Look for loss leader items- Most stores have loss leader items.  These items are lowered to get you in the store in hopes that you will buy a more expensive item.  Look for these items and save lots.

10. Stack discounts- A lot of times you can find things on sale and then use a coupon.  I have also found clearance stuff, like Christmas candy and used a coupon and gotten the item for almost free.  Also, find out if your store stacks coupons.  That means that they will take a manufacturer’s coupon in addition to a store coupon saving you even more money.

11. Ditch the cart- If you are just running in for a few items don’t get a cart, instead get a small carry basket if those are available.  Research shows that if you get a large basket, you will try to fill it up.

12. Make a list and stick to it- This is really important.  If you go without a list you will end up buying items you think you need, when you might already have it at home.  You will also probably forget something and have to make a return trip to the grocery.

13. Don’t take your kids- Kids usually make comparison shopping harder and you will usually by “bribe” items to keep them quite and happy.  Try to leave your kids with a “free” sitter or your husband.

14. Shop on a full stomach- If you go to the grocery hungry, you will end up spending more money, so try to find a time you can go after you have eaten.

15. Buy from the bulk bins- I do not have any stores to shop at that have bulk bins, but you really should comparison shop.  There are a lot of great deals to be had at the bulk bins.

16. Log onto your supermarket’s webpage- Not only can you find the sales ad there, but lots of them now can download coupons to your store card.  I wish I had some around here that did that.  Kroger’s is one store I know that has this service.

17. Only buy groceries at the grocery store- You will find that a lot of items like medicines and health and beauty products will be more at the grocery store.  Try to limit your grocery store trip to groceries.

18. Seek out grocery stores that double coupons- Many grocery stores will double, some even triple, coupons.  Shopping at those stores will save you a ton of money.  Lately, Super Kmarts have been having double coupon days and I have found some great items, even free stuff after coupons, at those stores. In fact, Jan 4-9, they will be doing double coupons again.

19. Shop early- There are many benefit to this idea.  First, the store will be less crowded and you can get through the store with your list quicker.  This is also the best time to find lots of marked down items, especially meats and produce.  So, plan to shop early for even more savings.

20. Menu Plan- If you are new to menu planning, you will want to get familiar with it.  Planning your menu makes you go to the grocery for those items and prevents repeat visits to the grocery later in the week.  In the blog world, I found Menu Plan Monday to help me in planning my menus.  People blog about what they are planning for the week and you can even blog about your menu.  Seeing other people’s menus has given me ideas to fix for my family so things don’t get old.  Menu planning also helps me to know what I am going to make each night and have my meat or whatever else laid out to defrost.

What do you do to save money at the grocery store?