How to save money on groceries

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 £60/$100 a week.

That’s MORE THAN £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 😉

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 £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 🙂

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. 

Don’t forget to check out our other saving money on grocery shopping posts – 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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