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With the cost of groceries rising, you may be taking a closer look at your grocery budget! Dave Ramsey suggests spending just 10-15% of your take home pay on food. Here are some ways to make some cuts in that area of your budget.
Buy Less, Use More
Check your pantry on a monthly basis to see what items are close to expiration. Find a way to incorporate those into your meal plan for the next month. Use your freezer to prevent food waste using these tips from All Mom Does. By using more of what you buy, you won’t need to spend as much next time!
Cook from scratch when you have time. Buying processed or prepared foods is almost always more expensive than preparing them yourself. Find out which foods you should make from scratch from My Joy In Chaos.
Consider starting a backyard garden in the summer if your weather allows. If you’re really feeling adventurous, you could even get a few backyard chickens to eliminate the cost of eggs!
Meal Plan, Make a List and Stick to It!
If you’re not meal planning, you should be! Here are some meal planning resources from other bloggers:
Meal Planning Guides with Free Printables
– Your Easy Guide to Creating a Family Meal Plan from Fab Working Mom Life
– How and Why to Start Meal Planning from Just a Simple Home
– Meal Planning 101 from Aileen Cooks
– Meal Plan and Prep for Busy Moms from Imperfectly Perfect Mama
– How to Simplify Meal Planning from The House of Plaidfuzz
Other Meal Planning Guides
– Your Ultimate Guide to Meal Planning from Big Tiny Steps (with free ebook: How to Save Money When Eating Healthy)
– Meal Planning 101: Meal Planning Made Easy from Chaos & Quiet (a simple guide for beginners)
– Meal Planning from Nuggetlands (includes web resources and a sample menu with recipes)
Go to the store with a specific grocery budget in mind and don’t exceed it. Supermarkets will get you to spend on impulse buys. By the way, try to avoid grocery shopping when you’re hungry!
Change your Buying Habits
Try the Store Brand
I’m brand loyal on a few items, but I find that store brands are usually similar to what you’d get from a name brand. A lot of stores are also releasing their own organic brands, so you can save that way also.
Stock Up on Sale Items
Buy frequently used staples when they’re on sale. But, don’t overbuy. Only buy as much as you will reasonably use before the expiration date. Getting a great deal is not a great deal if you end up tossing an expired product.
Buy Meat in Bulk
We have an extra freezer in our garage, which really allows us to stock up on meat when we can get a good deal. This can make a huge difference in a grocery budget. Check out these other ways a deep freeze can save you money from Big Tiny Steps!
We recently purchased a quarter of a cow, and this filled about one-third of our freezer. By buying meat this way, we were able to get a good deal on higher quality meat. It has forced me to find new recipes to use up the lesser-known cuts of beef.
Go Digital
Most stores offer digital coupons through their website and app. Even if you already use paper coupons, you can find additional savings by putting the digital coupons on your loyalty card and using it at checkout.
There are also money saving grocery apps that can get you some additional savings on specific products. They will usually apply to name brand items.
If you really want to maximize your savings, see if your grocery store has a fuel points program where your grocery purchases can reduce your fuel costs.
Reducing your Grocery Budget with Special Dietary Restrictions
You can reduce your grocery spending, even if you have dietary restrictions. If you like to purchase organic foods, learn the dirty dozen, which are the most important produce items to purchase organic.
In particular, gluten-free and dairy-free diets have certain dedicated brands. Check the brand websites or get on their mailing list for savings on what you need.
Also, check out this post from Rooted & Relishing about saving on groceries while on a Paleo AIP diet.
Thanks for sharing my meal planning post! You have a wealth of information here!
Thanks for sharing your meal planning skills with my readers Terryn!
This is VERY helpful!!! I am totally doing this!
My biggest problem is I don’t plan so end up visiting the grocery store multiple times. I love all these tips and need to start implementing some to save more!
Having a plan and a list is the best way to go! It saves money and TIME! 🙂
People don’t often realize the store brand is sometimes name brand items repackaged – sam’s club for instance…did you know their Member’s mark (I think its called) brand of vodka is Grey Goose? Not quite a good example, but it’s one reason we buy store brand all the time! and you really can’t taste an y difference!
I was shocked how many store brand items are actually the same item in different packaging.
This is so informative. I love the meal planning tips. I tend to buy store brands too and find coupons to use.
We do most of this except for the mobile coupons. I don’t have that kind of phone!
I didn’t either until recently, but I have found the apps to be useful.
Great tips! I really, really want to buy a chest freezer as it would help me to be able to stock up on bulk/sale items. I’d also like to learn to freezer cook but don’t have the space. This tax season, I might just go for it and buy one!!
I need to be a lot better about planning and menus. I do feel like we waste a lot of money when we go grocery shopping, and I am always running back to the store for things I forgot.
Geat tools. We spend a lot in groceries because we have growing boys. Thanks for sharing
These tips will be helpful to many families right now. Thank you for sharing.