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Here are ten easy to do tips on how to save money on groceries. Simple changes you can make and habits you can create to make savings each time you shop.
TIPS TO SLASH YOUR GROCERY BILL
Ever feel like your grocery bill is growing out of control?
You have, well you’re in the right place to do something about it. Why? Because I’ve been there.
But I’m not there any more. I went on a mission to slash our grocery bill.
And guess what? It worked.
GROCERY BILL OVERWHELM
A few years back our grocery bill got huge.
And I mean massive!
And then it grew. And it grew.
Until we were spending crazy amounts BUT threw out loads of food and had packets and products festering in the cupboards unused.
Seriously CRAZY!
In my defence, I was a new mum, beyond tired and felt like I had no time at all to spare.
But it was out of hand, we just couldn’t afford it!
So I did something about it and totally SLASHED our grocery bill by following some simple tips I researched.
With these tips, I cut down on our grocery costs and I reckon I save over Β£60/$100 a week.
That’s MORE THAN Β£3,000/$5,000 a year that can go on the mortgage, a holiday, into savings or just staying out of the red!
So here’s how to save money on your groceries each week.
How to save money on groceries
1. Make a List AND Only Buy What You Need
Now, you all know I love a list or 10 π
But shopping lists do save you money. I promise.
I have two main lists, one essential food items list and one household products shopping list. I use these to track what we actually need so we don’t end up double and triple stocking on things for no reason.
They also keep me on the straight & narrow. I’m not tempted by expensive stuff or things we won’t actually eat because I just shop the list.
If you struggle to keep on top of your shopping lists I recommend you try Cozi … a fab FREE app specifically designed for busy mums juggling too much.
It lets you load up shopping lists & even organise them by shopping aisle!
I use it every day and love it … if you’ve not come across do check it out here.
2. Cut Down on Cleaning Products
This one is so massive!
I forked out a small fortune on cleaning stuff but slashed my spend by using 7 natural cleaning ingredients and stopped buying 25 different products!
If you do nothing else, buy some microfibre cloths … I am in love with my e-Cloths… that clean hygienically with just water.
Most of your cleaning products you will never need again.
Read more: Save Money By Using Less – follow this simple ideology to save BIG
3. Know your unit prices
If you’re going to find real bargains you MUST know your unit prices.
I write down my target unit price … the best price I know I can get by shopping the sales … per oz, wash, roll or whatever’s relevant for each item.
I can then easily compare prices between different sized products.
And it means I know what’s really a great sale price and what’s not.
4. Shop the sales – smartly
Look for offers on your whole list but particularly pricey stuff like detergent.
If you’re brand flexible, you can find most items on sale every time you shop.
But don’t get sucked in by big “on offer” stickers … if you check the unit price you may find the offer is not quick as good as it seems … hmmm!
And don’t be tempted by sales on things you will never eat or use!!!
5. Bulk buy – carefully
Most of the time buying the biggest packet you can will save you money.
I buy big bags of penne as we eat loads and save Β£40 a year just on that!
BUT you have to do the maths comparing the unit price on smaller packets on offer with the big packets. Sometimes you’ll find smaller packets on offer going cheaper than the bulk packets for the same brand … crazy I know!
6. Meal plan around your list
I meal plan around core ingredients on my grocery list … I use Cozi to store recipes & add ingredients automatically to my list.
Every month our meals will feature a zillion different ways with a great tomato sauce, hidden veg cheese sauce, curry sauce, bread dough, mashed potato and shortcrust pastry all of which have been bulk prepared and frozen to be easily incorporated into 20-minute meals.
I totally avoid recipes involving “special” ingredients I know will just sit & fester in the cupboard.
Read more: Save BIG Money on Family Food – employ these simple tips to make big savings weekly
7. Prepare and freeze vegetables once a week
Prepping veg takes way longer than you think … all that washing & chopping!
We too easily end up with uneaten soggy veg in the fridge and vegetable basket.
I try hard to wash and chop the veg when I get it home. We save cash by buying less BUT eat more as it’s so much quicker to get it on the table.
8. Freeze spare milk, bread, butter, eggs, juice etc
It’s so easy to waste food.
You have a few days away and suddenly you have a glut of stuff about to go off.
Getting any extra in the freezer whilst still fresh really does save money. All sorts of stuff like milk, eggs and juice you might not think can be frozen, can be.
It might only be a couple of $s a week saved but that’s a $100 a year.
9. Shop online
First off I should say this doesn’t work for everyone. But I buy our pantry, freezer and household items online and it saves me time AND money!
At least here in London, the online supermarkets have more and bigger bulk packets the local supermarkets don’t stock, and I find:
- It’s much easier to find offers … one click … and compare unit prices
- I don’t get tempted by “oooh looks lovely” impulse buys … I shop the list
- It only takes 10 to 15 minutes
- And I don’t just grab stuff to get out the store because of meltdowns!
10. Be a regular but go late
I then buy fruit, veg, meat, fish & bread from our local stores and markets … they’re not fancy shops, just old fashioned, great value stores run by people who “look after” regulars.
And if you go late you can usually get amazing deals as they pack up π
So there you go, those are my tips for how to cut down your grocery bill.
I challenge you to start using them from today and see how much you can slash the cost of your family grocery bill.
Donβt forget to check out our other saving money on grocery shopping posts β How to Save BIG Money on Family Food and How to QUICKLY Save Money on Groceries and Save Money by Using Less
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Great tips and reminders! Thanks for sharing!
I find it can just so easily get out of control Melanie x
You are so right about the costs of cleaning products. It is ridiculous how much they costs! If you haven’t tried making your own laundry detergent, you should. It is super easy and beyond cheap. π
Ashley @ 3 Little Greenwoods
It’s definitely on my aims for the year especially now there are lots of great borax free recipes out there
I need to get a lot better at budget shopping but I do buy offers in bulk when they’re on – especially things like washing up powder. Some great tips here!
The thing that really surprised me was how much we could save on the cheaper stuff like pasta and oats that we just buy lots of … when I totted it up you could easily save £30-£50 on each item and that really adds up
I loved all your suggestions, all of which I do, EXCEPT, cutting down on cleaning products. You’re so right! They expensive and often times one product can do just about everything. Natural, homemade products are wonderful, too. Thanks for the insight!
Cutting the cleaning products makes a MASSIVE difference Lisa! And it actually makes cleaning much much quicker – most of the time I just whiz around with micro fibre cloths, a feather duster and the vaccuum and get almost everything done without any products at all.
great tips! I will be putting these to good use this weekend when I head to the market~
Hope you really see the difference Krisi
I discovered Costco here in the US! It sells quite a large range of organic or all natural food products which are much cheaper than in the shops because you have to buy in bulk.
Great tip Kriss – one thing I’ve been trying to find a cheaper supplier of is nuts and seeds which we eat loads of but which are expensive. Just checked and I can get them much cheaper in bulk at CostCo here, so just need to work out whether we would get through the bulk quick enough x
Thanks for these helpful tips. I feel like I’m spending way too much at the grocery and it’s hurting my wallet!
So glad you found them helpful Louida xx
Love, love, love it! At the moment I managed to get our grocery bill down to £60 but I am always looking for ways to bring it down even more. I fault at “deals”, thank s for the reminder! #PoCoLO
Like you I am going to keep chipping away at our spend to see if we can get it down further – I am sure we can x
Great tips!!! Thank you so much for sharing these at Best of the Weekend – pinned! Hope you have a wonderful weekend and a fabulous week!
Thanks so much for the pin Cindy – really appreciated x
What a great post – definitely one I need π Thank you for linking to PoCoLo π x
So glad you liked Vic … I am just hoping I can cut our spend even further xx
Great tips, I also use the store’s reward card to save money on food and gasoline. Thanks for sharing and linking up with us at the #WWDParty. Have a wonderful weekend.
Great tip Antionette – thanks for being such a wonderful host
These are great tips! I already use a lot of these tips already! Would love for to come share at our link party http://mommyondemand.com/happiness-homemade-link-party-8/
So glad you liked them Brittany – I have linked up and also added the party to my Link Party Calendar
I have been working on cutting out bill down and have made some progress. But I will be using some of your tips to make even more. Love the one about freezing vegetables. We run into the same issue! Thanks for sharing.
Maybe it’s just me but it’s always the veggies that take so long when I am trying to get food on the table .. if I don’t get on top of them in advance Sarah, they just don’t get eaten x
Great tips! Thanks for sharing this over at That’s Fresh Friday
So glad you liked – thanks so much for the party Chene
Thanks for sharing your tips. I try and go to the store only once a week and that really helps save. I have also been trying to go to Sams only every other week. I need to start using coupons again, though.
Totally agree Kimberlee that doing the shop in one load helps a lot
Thanks for the awesome tips! I am always looking to save money on groceries!
Thanks so much Raquel
I agree household products really are expensive. I’m amazed at the few I now use and how much healthier it is for our family too. Another way I say money is in the bath. We use a huge bottle of gentle shampoo for shower gel as well. It’s also great having only one container in the shower. I’ve been amazed at how much money we’ve saved with that one item.
Thanks for linking up at Project Inspire{d}!
Hope your week is extraordinary!!
The bathroom is next on my hit list … we cut down on the products but I still need to go through and declutter all the old stuff that is is never, never going to be used and it’s ridiculous to keep. Thanks so much for the party, have a wonderful week.
Great tips! I started to shop every other week or so and that helped me save significantly. I also stopped buying things we were not eating fast enough and bought them in the smaller/cheaper quantities.
Thanks Ang. We have some things like cream cheese that everyone likes lots but we were never finishing the packet so I’m trying to get much much better at whipping up something with the leftovers so we’re not wasting food
Great tips. I could be better at most of these! Thanks so much for sharing! π