Grocery shopping is a chore to have to perform in order to survive, literally, and although it seems boring and like a ton of work, it does not have to be that bad. A lot of people grow to like and enjoy their weekly restocking grocery trips, as well as daily runs to the local shop for everyday necessities.
Now, while it may be fun and something you can really end up loving to do, the fact is that grocery shopping requires a seemingly never-ending supply of money. Buying things requires planning, sacrificing, calculating, and putting the needs of the general well-being of the family in front of your own. Once all of this comes into the equation, shopping for groceries becomes way less interesting.
Do not worry as in this article you will learn tips and tricks on how best to save money during shopping for your favorite supermarket goods. By adopting a certain practice you will never again spend too much on things you do not really need.
Contents
1. Smarter Choices
There are several smart and witty ways how you can save on your grocery shopping by changing your whole approach. For example, try shopping only on a full stomach. By doing this, you will be less inclined to purchase snacks, comfort food, or extra food you do not need then and there. Furthermore, sticking to a shopping list you premade will always prevent you from overspending.
If you like planning ahead, try to plan meals for the whole week and do the shopping for those only. For example, you can do the shopping on Monday for everything you plan to prepare until the end of the week. By doing this you will also only grocery shop once a week, further limiting your chances of overbuying. Depending on where you live, you can return your bottles and cans for some extra deposit.
Lastly, scour your wider neighborhood area for stores with the best prices and deals and stick to them, especially when in a hurry. People do not realize how much prices can differ between shops, and it often falls down to the part of town or the time they are open.
2. Planning and Portioning are Key
We mentioned planning ahead already but we are going to dissect it further in this section. When home cooking is concerned, prepare food in a way that you have leftovers for dinner or for another lunch tomorrow. Freezing is also great for preserving favorite meals for another day when you do not feel like cooking or if you have no time.
Buying larger packages is always cheaper than smaller packets of food, so make sure you think about what you spend the most and star buying family sizes for more value for the buck. Pre-cut and pre-shredded food items are convenient, but they are often more expensive simply because they are ready to use. If you start cutting your own portions, you will save money and prevent wasting food. Speaking of throwing away food, it is one of the worst things you could do.
Most foods can be used in a wide range of recipes. Once you start over buying, you will see how long certain items can last. If they approach their expiration date, you could always freeze them. Washing, cutting, and packing veggies and fruit in advance will help with portioning for the whole family, as it is easy to divide into lunchboxes, set aside for planned recipes, and freeze for specific purposes.
3. Keep a Certain Budget on your Mind
You should know what you and your family like the most and what most of your grocery shopping budget is spent on. You could also make an educated guess about what you never eat as well as what you should start eating. If you carefully calculate how much of what products you go through on average per week, you will have an almost exact amount of money you could spend without under-buying or overbuying.
If you end up with some extra cash, you should still not buy what you do not need but actually something new and be creative with it. When creativity is in question, remember that everything you know about a certain food item is not all you can do with it. There might be a more budget-friendly way to prepare that favorite chicken recipe, so why not try it? It could provide more leftovers! When you can, buy things that are not groceries at discount and hardware stores, as they could be much cheaper at specialized stores than regular supermarkets.
Moreover, deals like 3 for 1 are only good if you can actually go through all 3 without wasting any. The same goes for sale items. Finally, remember that store brands are not always of lower than poor quality. More often, these products are made by the very same brand companies you know and trust but they pack it differently for the store. If you are not sure about this, just read the label and check who produces and packs the products.
Conclusion and Takeaways
As you can see from this, grocery shopping could be a very pleasurable experience if you know how to approach it the right way. More importantly, it is a practice and a weekly chore that if done correctly could be the very thing to save you enough money for that thing you want or need.
If we were to conclude on some straightforward advice, it would be to use common sense, think about what you need and what you can and should go out with, calculate the budget and stick to it, and plan and calculate in advance. If you have never done this in your life, it could be challenging but only until you get into it. Once you hit that groove you will never again be afraid of spending too much on your grocery shopping.
It is when you will also learn to enjoy your newfound responsibility as an adult and when you will start noticing more money at the end of the month!