5 Easy Tips to Save Money on Groceries

1. Shop once a week

A lot of my clients tell me they shop two or three times a week, or whenever they run out of food. What you may not realize is that this is dangerous because the supermarket uses psychology to have you spend more.

Have you ever gone into the grocery store wanting to buy a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread and ended up spending $50 or more? This is not your mistake, but their well thought out strategies. Therefore, it is best to enter the supermarket as rarely as possible.

By shopping smart and shopping once a week, you can save money on grocery shopping and go against what they are trying to have you do.

2. Stick to your list

This may sound easy, but again, those stores do their best to have you spend more. If you get ten diced tomato cans because they are on sale, you are not actually saving money – the tomatoes were not on your list, you are going above the budget that you had intended to spend.

Those little tricks are all around your local supermarket. Making a list ahead of time and sticking to it no matter what else is on sale is probably the easiest way to save money on groceries.

3. Do not shop hungry

Always have a snack before you go shopping. I know that all of us are busy and on the run, especially on the weekends, and we want to get into the store and leave, but this really does make a difference.

Have something at home before you leave, and make sure you do not enter the store hungry. They pump smells into the air, you are going to walk in and see fresh fruit, or see things on sale, and if your body is hungry, your cart is going to end up with things that you did not expect.

For me, rotisserie chicken and Oreo cookies are the two things that I always had in my cart at checkout if I went in hungry, even if I had a list. I was not even thinking about rotisserie chicken, but that smell that you smell way before you see the rotisserie chicken, made it just walk into my cart.

So always get something in your system, even if it is just a banana, before you go shopping, so you can fight the temptations waiting for you in the store.

4. Do an inventory of your fridge at least twice a week

I do it every three days and it just takes me a minute. My fridge is not that huge, but I check it to make sure that nothing is going to waste. If I see that fruit only has a few days, I will freeze it and make a smoothie or ice cream out of it. If any vegetables are about to go bad, like limp carrots or celery, I make soup from it.

As long as there is no mold, you can use it. And if you do not want to use it right now, but you do not want it to go to waste either, you can still chop it up, put it in a freezer bag, label it, freeze it flat to stack it like a book and just stick it in the freezer.

Doing that inventory will also help you find the leftovers that have gotten pushed to the back and give you an extra meal. Even if you only have one portion of something, do not throw it out. Stick it in a freezer bag, label it and put it in the freezer.

You now have a TV dinner, a lunch to take to work or just something you can have when you are by yourself or are running late. This way, you have a microwavable meal that you can vouch for the quality of the ingredients, and you are saving money by not throwing out food.

5. Stock up on meats for 6 weeks

I saved the best for last, and this is the biggest money saver. I do not know about you, but the most expensive items on my grocery shopping lists are always chicken and meats. So how do you save money grocery shopping for meat and chicken?

You have to change the way you think about the supermarket. If you see something on sale, you do not have to buy it in bulk. Supermarket sale cycles are every six weeks. Therefore, if you see something at a rock bottom price, like the meat, you only need to stock up for the next six weeks, and not buy extra that you will not use in that time.

You are not going to eat chicken every day for the next six weeks, so do not stock up your entire freezer with chicken because it is on sale. Calculate how much you need based on how often your family has it and how much of it gets used each time, and only buy that amount.

Another important step is that once you get home, you pack your meats into portions before freezing them, instead of just sticking the package in the freezer. It only takes a few minutes and saves tons of money.

If you have a vacuum sealer, that is your best friend, but freezer bags are just fine as well. Open the package up and portion out the chicken that you are going to use per each meal. If you are a family of four, take out four chicken breasts, vacuum seal them or stick them in a freezer bag and squeeze the air out.

Do not forget to double bag and double seal to avoid frostbite. Make sure to label it so you do not have to guess what it was, and then freeze.

How to save money on groceries

This is how you save money on grocery shopping. I hope you have learned something new today. Share your favorite money saving tips in the comments!

Next, check out these 5 Important Budgeting Tips & Tricks For Beginners.