Easy Ways to Decrease your Grocery Spending

I had always thought I kept a good account of my finances and knew how much I was spending.  When I started to manually write down my spending in my planner, that is when I realized how much money I was wasting on groceries!  The following changes I have made were easy to do and have made a large impact in decreasing my grocery costs.

Plan your meals ahead of time

Are you planning on going on a date or a weekend trip where you won’t be needing as many homemade meals?  Take that into account so you don’t end up buying more food than you need.  There isn’t any sense in buying food for 7 breakfasts, lunches and dinners if you plan on going on a couple of lunch dates and ordering pizza on Friday!

When I was trying to cut down on eating out, I noticed that if I made 5 lunches for the work week, I would only end up eating 4 at the maximum.  I realized that since I usually went out to eat with my coworkers once a week there was no point in making a 5th lunch just to have it thrown away.  In my opinion, it’s better to spend that $15 at lunch with my coworkers (because I almost always know I am going to do this every week), than to spend $5 on the lunch I brought from home, only to throw it away AND spend the same $15!

Buy ingredients that you can use for more than one meal

Most of the ingredients I buy – specifically vegetables – are used for two or more meals.  Most of the vegetables I buy don’t seem to last longer than a week and I don’t like wasting food.  For example, when I buy cilantro I never use the whole bunch for one meal.  If I plan on using it to make chicken tacos, I’ll also plan on using it as a topping to my tortilla soup another night.

Likewise, if there is an ingredient that a recipe calls for but doesn’t necessarily require it, I won’t buy it.  I often skip on buying fresh basil for pasta, tomatoes for my salad, and other perishable items for this reason.

Write down your grocery list (and stick to it!)

Writing down your grocery list is critical when sticking to a budget.  Not only could you forget a key ingredient for one of your pre-planned meals, but you could also stray from your original plan.  Between store samples and sales, there is a good chance of that happening!

After writing down your grocery list make sure you double check your refrigerator and cupboards to see if you already have some of the items!  If you want to try a new product, there’s no harm to that.  Just try to limit your extra items to 1 or 2 each trip, especially if they are something that won’t keep well.  I love walking down every aisle, but this can get dangerous!  If I am trying to eat healthier I skip most of the frozen sections, the chip aisle and the bakery.  Not on my list, so I don’t waste my time!

Don’t shop hungry

Going grocery shopping when hungry is never a good idea.  Often times you will end up buying more because in that moment, everything sounds delicious!  In this instance, don’t stick to your gut.  Stick to your list!

Don’t buy items just because there is a sale

I know, those “Buy 2 for $5 or 1 for $3” sales are very tempting.  If you buy two, you feel like you’re saving money.  But in reality, do you think you can finish 2 before they go bad?  If not, it isn’t a good deal because you’re still spending more than you would have if you just purchased 1.

I used to buy pre-cut broccoli in a bag at one grocery store because a large bag was $5.  I was noticing that every week I couldn’t even finish half of the bag!  Although another store was $2.50 for a much smaller bag, it was the perfect amount of broccoli for the week.  It may be more expensive per pound, but in the long run it saves me money.

Even if you only save $5-$10 each week compared to what you were spending before, that money can really add up over a year!