Saving Money on Groceries

We all want to spend less on groceries these days as our cost of living has increased

quite dramatically and with rents and mortgages ever increasing, food is one of the ways we

can adjust our spending without removing anything necessary.

Here are our top tips to Save Money On Groceries

Fresh is Best
Meal Planning is a Priority
Have a Shopping List
Shop Home Brand for Basics
Look for Specials
Shop When Supermarkets Have Markdowns
Stay to the Outer Rim of a Supermarket
Shop Local (if possible)
Buy in Bulk (if possible)
Try Something New

Fresh is Best

Your body loves fresh food to get all the nutrients it needs to maintain health, so it feed it fresh! Reduce dramatically the amount of processed food and beverages and your body and bank balance will thank you.

Meal Planning is a Priority

When you want to save money, being organised is key. If you have a set weekly budget for your food and can work out how much it roughly costs before you go shopping, it will help to avoid temptations and keep you within your own self boundaries of control.

Have a Shopping List

Once you’ve done your meal planning, you can create a shopping list so not only do you save time, but you save mental energy thinking about what you need. If you decide to do online shopping, then it’s quite simple to follow your list and know exactly what cost you are up for.

Shop Home Brand for Basics

When you need things like rice, pasta, flour or sugar, there is minimal differences between home brand and the more expensive brands and if the ingredients are becoming part of a larger recipe then you can adjust flavours with spices as you go. Sometimes this can save you half the cost simply by buying home brand.

Look for Specials

Be careful nowadays when looking at specials. The supermarket is constantly changing the way that put things on the tags and sometimes you need to purchase multiple items to have savings. There are still bargains to be had though, so keep a watchful eye out and scoop up the great deals if it fits in with your shopping list. If you buy something on special that you don’t actually need, you aren’t actually saving money.

Shop When Supermarkets Have Markdowns

Most Supermarkets will have certain times when meat and fresh produce gets marked down. If you are able to plan to be there at those times you can significantly reduce your grocery bill. It is not uncommon for meat to go for 25-50% off it’s original price and still be fresh enough to freeze. So next time you are at the store, you can ask staff when they have markdowns or simply keep an eye out for the little yellow stickers.

Stay to the Outer Rim of a Supermarket

The middle aisles and the ends of the supermarket are where their ‘high ticket’ items can be found, which is great for them and rarely great for you. The aisles aren’t completely off limits, but they do require a certain degree of mindfulness to tackle! If you are wanting pulses, beans, rice or pasta then that’s great, remember to say focused on what you want – it’s very easy in an aisle environment to just start grabbing extras off the shelf and before you know it you’ve spent an extra $20, $30 or $50 on your grocery shop!

Shop Local (if possible)

Local Farmers Markets and Farm Gates quite often have cheaper prices and they certainly have the freshest foods. If you have the time and the ability to get to these places it’s worth your while. Some fresh produce grocers can still be cheap if they can buy in bulk, yet others have taken a premium pricing approach, so you need to know your prices when shopping there. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to support local families and their businesses, so if you can, please do.

Buy in Bulk (if possible)

If you have a larger family, then you are probably used to grabbing the larger packets, but if you have a smaller packet and it’s produce that can stored, then it’s worth looking into the cheaper bigger packets to save you money in the long run. Only do it with ingredients that you are usually often, if you do it with only ‘sometimes’ foods, it can actually go stale and you don’t want to be wasting food, that is definitely like throwing money straight in the bin.

Try Something New

It’s easy to get stuck into eating the same foods week in, week out but it can worth looking into new recipes that actually cost less and are a flavour sensation! You may want to add a vegetarian meal weekly to your meal plan, or a dish that is full of fresh produce rather than meat heavy. There is not doubt that meat and dairy are the most expensive parts of grocery shopping these days, so if you can look for alternatives without reducing the ‘fullness’ or ‘flavour’ aspects then you are onto a winner.

I hope this has given you something to think about and help you plan your next shopping trip

and my wish for you is that you see a saving right from the very first shop. Have fun and

enjoy the process of learning to shop for less – it doesn’t usually happen immediately, but

small changes over time really add up!

Check out our Busy Parents Guide to Saving Money on Groceries

Learn How Here

CHMP (Cheap Healthy Meal Plans)