5 Wallet Friendly Tips for Grocery Shopping

I have a confession to make, I spend way too much money on food. A few weeks ago, the hubby and I sat down and crunched the numbers. It was not pretty. We both gasped and looked at each other in shock. Is that right? What surprised us the most was that we were spending equal amounts of money on groceries as we were on eating out. That’s not good! One should be at least drastically lower than the other. To make it worse a lot of the groceries we were buying weren’t being used up. We needed to change something.

One of the biggest lessons I learned in my 20’s was that just because you have money doesn’t mean you need to spend it. I am naturally a frugal person. It is very rare that I will spend money or pay full price for anything. But for my husband and I, food is something we both love. We enjoy eating a delicious meal at our favorite restaurants, trying new ones, and making home cooked meals at home. So, we have no problem spending money on GOOD food. This doesn’t mean we go out to bougie restaurants or we are cooking steak and lobster at home. However, like anything else in life, things should be done in moderation.

We agreed that we needed to set a food budget and eat more of our meals at home. We basically cut the amount we were spending on food in half. Could we do it? And would we be able to have meals that were satisfying. Where would I begin? I announced my food budget on Instagram stories and I was flooded with responses on how all of you stay on budget when it comes to grocery shopping.

One of the responses was from an Instagram friend, Ashley, who I have been following for years. She used to have a couponing Instagram and for a brief period, I was addicted to couponing because of her. Ashley is also a fellow foodie/home cook and certified nutritionist. She is always making unique and fun dishes. Because why should food be boring on a budget? I asked her if she could share her tips and tricks for staying on budget when it comes to grocery shopping.

So here are her tips below…

Hello! My name is Ashley, I am a registered nutrition diet technician and teaching nutrition education was something I love to teach. With healthy eating, having a wallet friendly shopping budget goes in hand with that and hopefully here to help you save some money whilst shopping. We know food isn’t necessarily cheap, but it can definitely be affordable as well. Within that same tone, healthy can be affordable too! These are just a few tips I use all the time!

Meal plan

The meal planning I’m talking about isn’t about eating the same thing over and over for a single meal. Rather what are you going to have for meals daily. Planning meals are especially important to help stay on budget because you’re not going in blind or shopping freely. It helps you stick to the list and buy only what you need. Granted this can be a given for most, it still helps me every time. As I can seriously spend some time in the grocery store just browsing products, that the nutrition expert in me.

Another benefit of having a list, you wont forget items you need for your planned meals, no more wasted time and energy to the store to pick up that single item. Meal planning also helps you figure out if you may have excess of foods, which can be later used for another meal (i.e. cooking a value pack of chicken to use later to make salads, wraps, chicken fried rice, etc).

Shop weekly ads & store discounts

Every Wednesday for most stores is when the new weekly sales cycles starts. You may get the ads in the mail, papers and even see them online! So chose your stores and make a game plan for the week. Usually the front of the ads are the best deals and decent sales within the rest of the pages. If you are a Sprouts Farmers Market shopper, you are even luckier because only on Wednesdays you have the opportunity to shop both sales weeks.

Don’t forget your store membership card or phone number linked as well, it can be a real money saver like at Safeway for commonly bought products. Also check if the store has an app for you to download additional coupons, you may get lucky for like $5 off $20 order. They also have the added convenience of you able to scan the product to check for a coupon is available.

Buy in bulk and less convenience foods

Do you buy rice or oats often? Then is may benefit you buy in bigger options than the convenience packs. Being so it you have to start paying attention to “price per unit” to get more bang for your buck, really key for determining cheaper cuts of meat. For instance, soda is cheaper in the $0.88 2L bottles than small cans of soda that are about 8oz for $3, in the bottle it costs under $0.02 per ounce versus around $0.07 per ounce in the can.

Remember that convenience does add up in your grocery budget. I recall once at a Walmart trip the family in front of me had a cart full of prepackaged/processed food that cost them around $200!

Buy in-season

Its summertime! Melons, peaches, cherries and much more are in season! I was able to score a mini watermelon for $0.88 a few weeks ago. As much as I love pomegranates, they are a winter fruit. You may see them on the shelf, but its going to cost you a pretty penny for the tune around $4+! Simply just google “____ season produce,” for many resources because it can vary by region if you are in another part of the country.

Make use of leftovers and go meatless for a day!

Leftovers are the unsung heroes in my house lately. I don’t always have the luxury to make the lunch I want at the snap of fingers anymore, so the days they are leftovers I’m excited. As with any meal I try to keep it balanced, a protein, carb and vegetable. So if there is leftover chicken and rice, fried rice could be ready in less than 10 minutes. Either have the leftover as is or make it into some other meal.

Another option to help with budgeting is considering a meatless day, as well all know animal proteins are costly. Whereas a pack of tofu can run you about $2 and can make a meal for two or save some to use later. One of my favorite recipes for tofu is crispy tofu tacos, seriously so tasty. Beans are another great meatless protein option, throw them in the slow cooker for some pork & beans or chili.

There are many tips to help save with your grocery bill, but these are my favorite ones. I didn’t mention coupons because for the most part they are for convenience or prepackaged/processed foods. You can definitely keep an eye out on them for your favorite products, but as for foods I usually didn’t bother too much when I couponed years ago. If you have a few stores near you, compare prices on your staple products. For me Safeway is the closest and is great to find meat on clearance due to close sell by dates, but pantry staples I prefer to go to Winco. Find what works best for you!

BONUS tip!

There are a few grocery apps I use time to time to get cash back too, ibotta and Checkout 51.

With both apps you find offers you may use and add them to your app list, go shopping, then upload your receipt with matching offers! Overtime you will accumulate cash to a point where you can cash out to a bank account or PayPal, and even redeem for gift cards. Offers can be as low as $0.25 to a few dollars, it all adds up and you get money back eventually!

For ibotta, use this link to sign up!.

I hope I was able to help you out or even remind you how to pinch those pennies! Visit me on my new blog, Happy Healthy Navajo or on Instagram @HappyHealthyNavajo!

Happy eating!

Ashley N, NDTR

So far, my journey in food budgeting has been successful. I have implemented everything mentioned above. I wish I would have started doing this sooner. Thank you for contributing to this post Ashley! Give her a follow on Instagram!

Also, a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you for taking the time to read this. If you don’t already give me a follow on Instagram and Facebook.

Have a great day!

Alana Yazzie