The Best Grocery Shopping Tips to Save You the Most Money

The one tip I use is calculating how much this food is going to cost me. We have a weekly budget of $100. So when I make my grocery list, I look through them and the tip that I have is to round up the prices of the ingredients you’re going to buy.

So for example, if milk is typically $2.85, then round it up to $3.00. Sometimes the price does go up from week to week and you don’t realize it until you go shopping.

Or, take for example canned vegetables. If a can is .70 cents, round it up to $1.00. That little bit adds up so when you get to the store and buy your items, you may end up with a $5 or $10 surplus. You can save that money for the next week or give you more money to buy things that are marked down.

I’ll tell you about some markdown items I bought with a $5 surplus. But let me get into one of my hauls now so I can show you what I bought.

Mr. Mac’s Grocery Outlet haul: $22.35 (estimate)

• Nabisco Veggie Toasted Chips 4 bags at .75 cents each (an amazing deal!)
• A big bag of individual bags of Toasted Chips $2.35
• Barilla Chickpea pasta $1.75 (another great deal for a high-protein dish)
• Big pack of 20 Larabars $8.50
• 2 boxes of Jimmy Dean sausages $1.75 each
• Bottle of sugar free vanilla syrup $1.75
• Container of Mio Energy black cherry drops $1.60

Aldi haul: $64.01 (estimate)

• Flour tortillas $1.95
• Whole wheat bread $2.09
• Carrots .95 cents
• Broccoli $2.50
• Bananas $1.13
• Sweet potatoes $2.49
• Stevia packets $3.69
• Flour $2.12
• Vegetable broth $1.89
• Rolled oats (typically $3.49) on sale for $2.49
• Sandwich bags $2.19
• Peanuts $2.19
• Can of mushrooms $1.09
• Brown sugar $1.69
• Pork sausage roll $1.99
• Chili seasoning packet .48 cents
• Lunchable $2.69
• Danimals smoothies $3.18
• Gallon of milk $2.83
• Gallon of white vinegar $2.99
• Greek yogurt .99 cents (a deal because the best buy date was coming up)
• Can of black beans .71 cents
• Package of sliced cheddar cheese $1.89
• Chocolate chips $1.99
• Cauliflower Buffalo Style Dip $1.99 (another deal!)
• 2 containers sour cream $1.79 each
• 2 containers cottage cheese $2.49 each
• Jar of salsa $2.19
• Frozen hash browns $2.99

Meijer haul: $12.88 (estimate)

• Raspberries 4 boxes .50 cents each
• Provolone cheese $2.29
• Black bean and corn salsa $1.79
• Enchilada sauce $1.49
• Gatorade $1.49
• Deli mini sub buns $2.79

By the way, that cauliflower dip from Aldi is delicious–a little spicy but that’s okay for me.

So my total for the week was about $99.24. I have another $50 set aside in my budget thanks to that tip I told you about that saved me money on every run. We’ll need it because this coming month, I’ll use that excess money on shampoos and household goods.

Another tip for saving money on groceries? Use recipes that use five ingredients or less. Sometimes I just don’t have time to look at or follow recipes that are too involved.

For example, I’m making an enchilada casserole with ground beef or turkey, enchilada sauce, cheese, and bake it in the oven for a great dinner. Here are some other ideas I’m making for dinner that don’t involve many ingredients:

• Philly cheese steak sandwiches
• Sweet potato chili
• Biscuits and gravy with eggs and spinach on the side
• Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches

Grocery shopping tips

I hope these hauls clearly showed you how to save money on groceries. Let me know if you round up your grocery bill in order to save on your budget.

I’m also curious to know if you’re like me and don’t mind buying items marked down because of the best buy dates. Let me know in the comments!