8 Ways To Save Money On Groceries

I don’t know about you, but I tend to get all fired up after finding ways to save money on groceries, and for a while, I apply them.

But then old habits creep back in, and it’s just so much easier not to think about it, ya know?

Motivation fades. It’s kind of like bathing. You have to keep taking baths in order to keep clean. In the same way, you have to keep finding ways to continuously motivate yourself, or you’ll lose your momentum.

That’s why I read (and write) a lot about grocery shopping.

It keeps me motivated.

And, it introduces me to new tips and strategies that I’d never thought of before (of which there seems to be an infinite supply!), allowing me to save even more money!

So I hope some of these will help motivate you, and maybe introduce you to a few new ideas.

So outside of going extreme and trying the $20 shopping plan, these are my current favorite ways to save money on groceries:

8 Ways To Save Money On Groceries

Buy Produce In the Freezer Isle. Veggies are so much cheaper, and often much more healthy when they’re frozen!

Stock up after holidays. Turkey and canned pumpkin after thanksgiving, chocolate after Valentine’s day, hot dogs after summer holidays – you get the idea. This can save you so much – especially if you have a large freezer where you can stock up!

Forage. This may sound weird to some, but foraging can actually be a fun family activity. Balckberry picking as kids was a lot of fun! We also enjoyed watercress from a local creek when we lived in Tennessee, and even here in Texas, we have chickweed in our yard, and don’t forget the never-ending supply of prickly pear! (yes, it’s edible underneath the prickly part) There’s something in every area.

Try store brands. I’ve found that many store brand varieties of canned or packaged food is just as good as big name brands, and so much cheaper. Branch out and try them!

Buy cheaper meat and cut it down yourself. Meat is so expensive! We stick entirely to the cheapest cuts we can find, because you know what? They taste just as good, and we do own a set of kitchen knives, so cutting it into our desired shape isn’t a problem. As an example, I found a roast on sale recently, but I really wanted steak, so we cut it. Problem solved! Also, if you’re okay with pork, we’ve found ground pork to be significantly cheaper than ground beef. Pork burgers FTW! Read our five favorite ways to save on meat.

Know what you use a lot of, and keep your eyes open. Even if you don’t need it right now, you’ll need it eventually, so stock up when you see a good sale! For instance, if I see ketchup on sale, I get it!

Take a calculator. Many stores have the price per ounce or unit displayed right on the sticker, but others don’t, and you need an easy way to decide which size is going to be the best deal. Back to the ketchup example, not long ago, I was shopping, and was surprised to find that the price per ounce on the smaller bottle was actually cheaper than the larger bottle that we normally buy. Maybe grocery stores switch things up now and then to keep up on our toes! 😉 

Learn shopping strategies from the experts. Something that can be highly motivating is taking a class, and getting to learn directly from an expert. Shannon from Growing Slower, has put together the Grocery Savings Made Simple eCourse which includes one on one support, and has helped over 1,200 people save an average of almost $1,800 per year!

The grocery Savings Made Simple e-course is inexpensive. I highly recommend looking into it, and you can read all the details here (affiliate link).

There are endless ways to save money on groceries, and really, pretty much anything else, but none of us will ever be able to implement all of them – and that’s okay! The trick is to pick the few that you can use most effectively for yourself and your family, and not stress about the rest.

Do what you can with what you have.

What are your best tips fro saving money on groceries?