How to Save Money on Grocery Shopping in 2022 in 3 Simple Steps

Disclaimer: my grocery prices are as of September 2022 at Walmart in Pennsylvania.

1. Know your budget

If you go onto the USDA website under the Food and Nutrition Services section, you can find monthly reports that provide guidelines for thrifty food plans all the way up to liberal food plans. They will tell you what your weekly and monthly cost of food is supposed to be, depending on your sex and age.

For me, as a woman between the ages of 20 and 50, it suggested $54.60 a week this month. Today, I went to Walmart and spent $25 for 28 meals, which is down to 50% of the average cost according to the report.

This of course did not account for my own essentials, which are coffee and cream, and any other special products that you specifically might need. It only accounted for breakfast, lunch, and dinner - and then I still had the other $25 for anything else I needed for the week.

Personally, I would not even need an extra $25 for that. So I am still way under the thrifty food range that the USDA is suggesting.  

2. Plan meals in advance

Make sure you plan all of your meals in advance. Have a grocery shopping list with price points on each item you want to buy.

I mainly use Pinterest for my meal inspiration. I type in keywords like “budget meals”, “extreme meals”, and “meatless meals”, and get ideas for meals from there.

Try to find ingredients that you can use across a few meals, such as rice. That way, you can buy a bigger bag, which is more economical, but you do not have to eat the same dish multiple times.

Next, write down your meal plan and grocery list. I also utilize Walmart.com when figuring out how much items cost. Walmart seems to be the best place in my area when it comes to selection, although it is not always the best price.

I search for the item, sort by the price, and make sure that it is in store, then add it to my cart so I can see my total. This is a great way to get an idea of what you are going to pay if you are trying to stay on budget.

3. Compare as you shop

When you are shopping, you should also be comparing prices on items. You never know if items are on sale or out of stock.

For example, today I wanted to get some frozen veggies that were out of stock. Therefore, I had to change my plan and figure out if I wanted to switch the veggies from onions and peppers to canned veggies or go and see what the prices of the fresh onions and peppers were.

I also noticed I had a dollar more to spend, so I decided on getting some cornbread mix. I did not want to get any more eggs and milk, as it would have put me way over my budget, so I opted for the cornbread mix that does not require any added ingredients other than water.

Even though that one was a bit more expensive, the difference was way smaller than the price of eggs and milk. So be creative and open-minded, and be ready to switch things up if needed.

So here is my grocery haul. All of this was only $25, which is pretty extreme. For that price, I got four bags full of groceries, and these ingredients made 28 meals in total. 

How to save money on grocery shopping in 2022

That's how I go about grocery shopping in 2022 to combat inflation. What about you? Do you have any life hacks on frugal grocery shopping and meal prepping you can share? I would love to see your ideas in the comments, and let me know if mine helped!