How to Save Money on Groceries Without Using Coupons or Sales

Today I want to teach you how to save money on groceries. You can reduce your grocery bill by 50% or more without using coupons or chasing the latest grocery store sales, just by following these 9 steps. If you are struggling with finding ways to save money on groceries, this article is definitely for you.

1. Develop a budget

This is the most important thing and the best way to save money on groceries. I suggest taking $100 per person in your household per month. Of course, if you have certain dietary needs or a teenage boy that eats a lot, you might need to adjust that by $50 or $75.

Organizing the pantry

2. Be effortlessly organized

I am not an organized person by nature, so I have developed systems that make the organization of grocery shopping effortless, timeless, and super easy. 


I divide my organization into pantry, actual grocery shopping, and meal plan. To be organized in your pantry, use a pantry checklist. We will get to tips for organizing your grocery shopping and your meal plans later on in this article.


3. Reuse

When it comes to your pantry and refrigerator, you want to reuse as many things as possible. Think about all the stuff that you were going to throw away and how you can reuse it.


Think about the salt at the bottom of your pretzel bag - most people throw that away, but you can actually save that and reuse that in other recipes. 


Another great example is the tops of strawberries that most people throw away: you can reuse that to make a strawberry vinaigrette.

Extending the life of food

4. Extend the life of your food

The easiest thing is to stretch the life of your fruits and vegetables. To do this, you can prepare vinegar wash: submerge your fruits and vegetables into a cup of white vinegar, soak for 15 minutes and then rinse.


Alternatively, you can buy a special gadget that you place in your fridge to increase the life of your fruits and vegetables for up to 14 days. 


Another great way is to freeze as many things as you can. A lot of people don't even know that you can freeze milk or lunchmeat. You can look up freezer charts online to help you find out what you can and cannot freeze.

Planning meals based on a theme

5. Simplify your meal planning

This also goes hand in hand with organizing your grocery list. Do not spend $17.99 on that one spice that you are never going to use ever again. Here is how you effortlessly simplify your meal plan: have every single day of the week have a predetermined theme. 


For example, on Monday we have Mexican. If you think about it, Mexican food is all based on the same ingredients, which turn into different dishes by adding a little bit of a twist. So I have a list of things I need to have at home every week for that Monday meal, and I plan my grocery shopping accordingly. 


Making a theme for every single day of the week means that my grocery list is extremely simple because it does not change much from week to week. I can just look at my pantry and just fill in the blanks for the stuff that we have used up. 


6. Cook as many things as you can at home

Bread, for example, is so much cheaper to bake at home, compared to buying it at the grocery store. And there are many, many examples like that. You just have to take into consideration what your time and place in life is like.


For me, for example, I just do not have the time and space in my life to make homemade bread, but I still do make 90% of what we eat at home. 

Buying groceries

7. Always remember that you pay for convenience

This includes (but is not limited to) bagging your own produce and cutting your own cheese.


If you ever go to the grocery store and see a bag of onions, it is always less expensive to go to the individual onions, put the onions in your bag yourself and buy it that way, as opposed to buying the prepackaged onions.


8. Cut your meat cost

Meat is becoming more and more expensive, so we have to find ways to pay less. 


One way is not making meat the center of the meal. For example, instead of making a chicken cordon bleu for every single person in the family, make a chicken cordon bleu casserole. That way, you will only be using one or two chickens instead of four for a family of four. 


Another option is having a meatless meal or two a week. I particularly like breakfast for dinner. That is a really cheap, easy meal that the entire family loves. 


9. Grocery apps

Be sure to have these grocery store apps on your phone: Fetch Rewards, Ibotta, and Checkout 51. Why not save money on money you are spending anyways?  


Cashback Apps

Learn more about cashback apps with these tutorials on how to use Fetch Rewards and Ibotta.


How to save money on groceries

These were my 9 great tips to save money on groceries without using coupons or chasing store sales. In my experience, by following these steps you can cut your grocery bill by half.


Have any other suggestions on how to save on groceries and want to share them with your fellow readers? You are very welcome to share your experience and life hacks in the comments.

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 9 comments
  • DM Wilson DM Wilson on Dec 09, 2022

    Reading about the salt in pretzel bags, I used the 'left over' crumbs in the bottom of cereal bags. There is a little sugar which we use on our puddings and ice cream desserts at night (or any time). It's cheap (cause it's free left overs) and adds the 'special' something to a dessert!

  • Dawn Merila Dawn Merila on Dec 10, 2022

    If you burn wood Iake my own fire starters. You take the toilet paper tube you would recycle and put dryer lint in it. Don't pack it too tight or it won't burn. This way you have a firestarter for a camp fire or a wood stove. This way it saves on recycling. You can also use a paper towel tube just cut it in half.

Next