Mar 13 | Frugal Living, Grocery Saving Tips | 5 comments
Strategies to save money on groceries without using coupons:
I’m a coupon user. I’ve gotten many great deals thanks to my coupon use. But, there are many grocery shopping trips where I don’t use one single coupon and still manage to keep my grocery bill quite low! I also realize there are many people who don’t really care for the time that couponing requires.
Here is how I save money on groceries:
Meal Plan
I credit a big portion of my low grocery bill mostly to the 1/2 hour I spend each weekend planning our dinners. I choose meals based on what I have in the pantry/freezer already and sales the stores are running that particular week. You can take a look at my meal planning method here.
Make a Grocery List
I don’t leave the house without my list! Not only do I find it easier to buy only what I need, it also saves me an extra trip to the store for an ingredient I’ve forgotten.
Shop Only Once a Week
The less you shop, the less you spend. I find this to be so very true for me. I like to go grocery shopping on Mondays, (because that works for me) and only buy what will get us through the week.
If, on occasion, I go to the store a second time for something, I usually end up buying a few things that I don’t need which just boosts my total unnecessarily!
Prepare Easy, Inexpensive Meals
Simple is a favourite word of mine. Simple meals save time and hard earned dollars. Of course there are times when a fancier meal is required for special occasions, but generally I like to make one-dish meals (spaghetti) or prepare an easy meat dish served with vegetables and either rice or potatoes. I even like to go meatless once or twice a week!
Simple meals, simple ingredients. A great way to save money on groceries!
Plan Your Meals Around Store Sales
Is chicken on sale at your local store? Then plan a few meals using chicken. Check all the flyers for the grocery stores in your city to see which store is offering the best deals. Shop at that store.
Buy Store Brand Ingredients
Okay, there are times when I can’t forgo the name brand because it just tastes way better. But for times when it doesn’t matter, I always get the store brand. There’s usually quite a substantial price difference!
Use a Grocery Pickup Service
This is one of the newest ways I like to save money on groceries! Not every week, but as often as I can, I like to do an online order through PC Express. This is a great way to avoid impulse buys altogether because I’m not actually going in the store!
I hope some of these tips will inspire and help you to save money on groceries! This is an area of your budget that you can easily change!
How do you save on the cost of groceries? Let us know in the comments below.
Lorraine Laframboise (Saving with Lorraine) -a former contributor to your blogon April 29, 2023 at 1:07 pm
I do a lot of price matching. At Superstore, they only allow four items per transaction when price matching. To get around this policy, I separate my order in two or three transactions to obtain the amount I want to buy. When I am close to having enough points to redeem, I put through enough items to claim some of the money; especially during a large order and put the rest through in a separate order to be able to claim more points and thus save more money. I buy in bulk when items come in super sale status; example: last October, the Terra Delyssa First Cold Pressed olive oil was on sale at WalMart for $6.99 instead of $10.99. I bought 12 bottles and now have enough until next fall. I bought facial tissue (6 per package for $3.99 instead of $7.99 and I now have 54 boxes of facial tissue and that should last until next fall when the facial tissues go on sale when flu season starts. Our whole family has allergies so we go through a lot of facial tissue. Typically, the sales cycles are on a three month cycle and I buy enough to keep me going until the next sale cycle. I contact companies to get coupons that I will use. Chapman’s Ice Cream allows one $4.00 off per year. I use this coupon when the frozen yogurt goes on sale for $3.99.
I also buy vegetables in season during the summer months and I cut these up, wash them and put them in freezer bags and I use these frozen vegetables during the off season; thus, saving money, encouraging the local farmers, reducing my footprint on the environment and have vegetables that are fresher as they have not travelled from the other end of the world. Vegetables that freeze well without needing to blanch them are: yellow and green zucchini, scallions, kale, swiss chard, peppers, yellow/green beans, cherry tomatoes, etc. I also freeze fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, basil, rosemary, etc. by simply washing these items well and letting them dry out in a colander and then transferring these to freezer bags as well. I also buy butter when it is on sale and freeze it. When it comes on sale at $4.44 at No Frills or Superstore, I stock up and buy 20 lbs. I also buy meat and poultry when I see the 30% off stickers as well as bread when I find some on the reduced rack. Typically, I save between $200 to $300 per month. As we need to eat gluten free and dairy free, this helps us to stretch our budget as gluten free bread is typically sold for approximately $6.99 per loaf and the loaves are half the size of regular bread. Superstore has sales on its gluten free bread on a random timeframe; therefore, I check this shelf every time II go shopping in that store. I hope that these suggestions will be helpful.
Reply
Silfon February 11, 2022 at 9:13 pm
Thank you for a(nother) great post. : )
Another idea is to set aside a small portion of the shopping money each week for a few things that you always use which are on supersale but that you don’t need right now. Over a year of doing this, you can build up a good stock of really cheap non- or semi-perishables (such as deodorants, toothpaste/brushes, shampoo, laundry products, canned goods, glass-jar products and frozen foods) – often at half-price, depending on how generous the sale prices are. Over time, you will save a small fortune, and what is more not have to purchase an item again until it is on sale.Reply
Taya | Simply Frugalon February 12, 2022 at 8:48 am
Thank you! This is a great tip! Stockpiling saves a lot of money in the long run!
Reply
Lindaon September 29, 2013 at 7:17 pm
Thanks for the tips. I really need to start making meal plans, because I usually wing it while I’m at the grocery store and only end up buying groceries for two or three meals. Then I send my husband back a few days later to buy some more food and he always buys more stuff than we need, or junk food.
Reply
Jen Gibbonson August 28, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Also, if you go to one store often, if you can figure out the days they ‘mark down’ items that are approaching their expiry, that’s a good day to shop. I find the store I go to tends to do this on Tuesdays & if you’re lucky enough to get there early in the morning you can score good deals on meat. I have stocked up on pork chops that way buy them at 50% off. Also, if you’re looking for a dessert/bakery item & you’re going to Walmart don’t forget about the REDUCED shelves they have… they don’t keep that stuff near the bakery area, at least not where I am. It’s near the milk/cheese aisles. They often have stuff for 30% or more off & if it’s something you’ll be eating right away it’s a great deal.
Reply
