Food for Thought

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American household spent $7729 on food in 2017 (the latest information available as of April 2019). The only items we spent more money on were housing and transportation. We have a little control over how much we pay for housing and transportation, but we have a lot of control over how much we spend on food. Here are five strategies I use to save money at the grocery.

Prep – I plan meals for the following week before my husband and I go to the grocery. I use our grocer’s weekly circular on their app, find out what’s on sale, look up recipes online featuring those ingredients, make a list of them, and buy only them. I avoid the dazzling displays tempting me to buy impulsively. Many groceries have a Manager’s Special section where the food whose sell-by date is imminent. We shop those and if the price is right and we can either eat it in the next few days or freeze it before the sell-by date, we buy it. This prep means all lunches and dinners for the following week are made, so it’s super easy to pull leftovers out of the fridge instead of hitting the drive-thru for lunch at work.
 
Convenience – Pre-cut mixed fruit bowls cost more than buying the fruits, cleaning them, cutting them up, and mixing them myself, so I don’t buy them. The same thing goes for meal kits, frozen dinners, and pre-washed salad. You have to decide if the convenience is worth your time and money.
 
Coupons – I look for paper and electronic coupons for the items on my grocery list. I don’t use coupons to try a new brand name product. If I can buy a sale item with a coupon, that’s a win. My research turned up other apps that save money on groceries and I’m anxious to try one.
 
Generics – Did you know groceries are strategically laid out so popular items like produce and dairy are on opposite sides of the store; forcing us to walk through the entire grocery and be tempted to buy what we didn’t go there for? Grocery shelves are organized so the most expensive brand name products are at eye level. There are very few brand-named items we think are worth the extra cost. Generics are usually on shelves higher or lower than eye level. I have to remember to look at the shelves above and below what’s right in front of me to find cheaper brands.
 
Budget – I’ve calculated a realistic amount of money to spend weekly at the grocery based on what products we buy and how many people we’re buying for. As we put items in the cart, I ballpark a running total in my head to make sure we’re sticking close to that number.
 
Does this sound like work? It is, initially. But once it became a habit, these processes got faster. Is it worth my T.E.A.M.? It definitely is for me. What about you? Please share some of your money saving grocery tips in the comments section.