9 Steps to Save Money on Groceries
Not everyone wants to be a grocery guru or coupon queen. The following list will help you save money on your grocery bill without cutting coupons and watching for the latest & greatest sale prices. While this works and it is a great way to save money, not everyone has the time or interest. This article will show you ways you can make the best use of resources so you are not wasting food, and how to cut down on trips to the grocery store.
- Start by making a list of dishes you like to eat. Think back on what you have eaten the past couple of month, or meals that you really like that you haven’t had in a while.
- For each meal, make a list of ingredients you will need to make the meal.
- For each ingredient, put a number between 1-4 representing how long the ingredient generally lasts. For example, if the menu calls for fresh vegetables, put a one next to the vegetables. If the menu item is something like spaghetti, noodles and spaghetti sauce can store much longer so you can put a 4 next to these ingredients. Based on the numbers in your ingredients, use the lowest number and write that next to your meal. This number will help in planning later.
- Determine how often you want to go to the store. This will vary by family. Some families can manage to go to the store once per month. Others go every other day. It will depend on your circumstances. For example, if your family goes through 4 gallons of milk in a week, and that is all the milk you can store in your refrigerator, you will need to go each week. I would guess that most families can get by going to the store every two weeks. The less trips you plan to make, the less likely you are to overspend.
- Raid the fridge. Go through items you currently have. Make note of items that may go bad or expire soon so you can be sure to use them in your meal plans.
- Plan your meals. Print out a blank calendar. CalendarsThatWork.com has many calendars you can print out for free. Using your list of meals and make a plan for the time period you have specified in the previous step. So, if you have planned to go to the grocery store every two weeks, plan two weeks worth of meals. Us the numbers from step 3 above to help you plan. So, if you have a meal that contains ingredients that go bad after only one week, put that meal in the first week of your plan.
- Create your shopping list. Using your meal plan, determine the ingredients you are lacking in order to make each meal. Get the adequate amount of ingredients for each meal.
- Buy your groceries.
- Stick to the plan! You may not feel like eating something you have planned. If this is the case, try swapping out meal days. Avoid the temptation to eat out. If you want to eat out, put that in your meal planning before you go shopping.
Other useful tips:
- Never go shopping on an empty stomach. This is when you will tend to splurge. Eat a hearty meal before doing your grocery shopping.
- Stay within a budget. Set a limit on how much you want to spend on food each grocery trip. Plan you meals according to the amount you have budgeted to spend. Put a set amount of cash in an envelope each pay-check you get in order to prevent overspending on your groceries. You may also make use of envelope budgeting software for more convenience.
- Buy non-perishables in bulk. As you continue to follow this plan, you will find some meals are cheaper than others. If you eat a particular meal on a regular basis, you may find it cheaper to buy the non-perishable ingredients in bulk.
Remember, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. A little bit of planning ahead of time can stretch your dollar a great deal and help you save money on groceries and eliminating the need to through out expired food.
