Shopping Tips to Save on Goceries

May 29, 2009 by Monica
Filed under Family Food

Spending in good healthy and fresh food is one of the expenses I don’t usually want to cut. However, there are ways we could save on groceries without scarifying the quality of what goes into our bodies. Here a couple of suggestions:

1. Clip coupons. Depending on what and where you buy, collecting coupons could represent a good saving. I don’t use them frequently but don’t miss the opportunity to use one of them if I come across a coupon for a product I want to buy.

2. Buy more staples than prepared foods. The next time you go shopping and pick up a box or bag of an already prepared item, ask yourself if you can make that at home for less. Cooking from scratch is not only less expensive but also way more healthy for our family.

3. Buy in bulk. Consider the food items that you use most often. Cereals, meats, vegetables, condiments, and paper products can be bought in bulk usually at a lower price at food warehouses. If you have a coupon, you’ll save even more money.

4. Don’t shop when you’re hungry. Shopping on an empty stomach means that you will pick up more things than you need.
5. Take a grocery list with you. This is another protection against picking up things that are too costly. Check your cabinets and the fridge to see what you need and write them down. Now that you know what you need, you don’t need to wonder around looking for “something else that could be missing”.

6. Shop at the same stores. In a new store, you spend most of your time looking for things and walking up and down every aisle, which oftentimes leads to forgetting an item and coming across another you didn’t really need. Going to the same store each time makes you more familiar with the prices so you can estimate your bill as you write your grocery list.

Do you have your own grocery money saving tips? I’d love to hear what works for other families.

photo credit: rosemarie_mckeon