5 Ways to Save Money at the Grocery Store
Written by SMC for www.mysocialmedia.network
Everyone buys food but the high cost of groceries can leave some people frustrated. With some simple planning ahead, you can save money and save yourself the frustration of yet another trip to the grocery store that ends with a cart full of food that does not make a meal.
Check the Sales
Prioritize Cooking
Cooking is key to saving money on food. A lot of people claim they don’t have the time, but there are simple ways around that so you can save time and money.
Meal prep is something that has really taken off lately. You spend a few hours on the weekend cooking, portion out meals for the rest of the week, and don’t have to worry about what to eat. This is especially great if you’re not at home for long periods of time, and it will save you money if you take lunch to work.
Another invaluable way to cook when you’re pressed for time is slow cooking. Place all of the ingredients for dinner inside a slow cooker before work and come home to a delicious aroma and dinner prepared.
Plan Ahead
Take the list of food you made from the sale paper and decide how you can use each item. If chicken thighs are on sale, figure out how many meals you can make out of them and pick a recipe to use. Pay close attention to the produce and meat sales, as those are the best things to plan your meals around and can often be the most expensive items when not on sale. Produce is often on sale when it’s in season, so take advantage of this to eat the freshest fruits and vegetables.
If you focus on what dinners you can make, you can cook enough for leftovers to cover lunch as well. Do not forget to buy food for breakfast and snacks too, as getting hungry throughout the day usually results in eating out often, which is more money in the long run.
The best part about planning ahead? You always have plans when your family starts asking what is for dinner.
Stock UpAs mentioned above, take advantage of special promotions in order to purchase more things you and your family use often. This is great for canned foods, dry goods like pasta and rice, frozen foods (as well as household items such as toilet paper and shampoo).
If you fill your cabinets with extra items like this, you always have something to make for dinner. Use ground meat and leftover vegetables from the fridge with some canned tomatoes and rice, and you have an easy and delicious casserole.
Coupons
You do not need to be an extreme “couponer” to save money. If you want to save a lot of money at the grocery store, coupons are not the way to go unless you have a lot of extra time to look for them. Spend a couple of minutes as you’re browsing the sale papers to clip any coupons that are for items you will use.
The idea behind coupons is to entice people to purchase something they might not have otherwise bought by offering a discount. Take advantage of this if it’s for a new product you’d like to try or it’s a product you already use only. Otherwise, you’re not saving money: you’re spending more than you would have despite the discount.
If you’re lucky, you can find coupons for free products, which is an even better way to try new things. So use coupons, but don’t spend too much time tracking them down. Extreme couponing is extremely unrealistic and requires way too much of an investment.
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