You won’t believe how much people overspend at a grocery store. Only a handful, strict people successfully stop themselves from overspending. Supermarkets know this and they will purposefully store those products at your eye level so that you fall into compulsion and buy what you don’t want to.
Hence, in thist post I will list down the 10 best ways to save money at a grocery store. You can believe me because I have personally followed them and have got great results. Make sure to read the last point as it’s the one secret that only a few know about…
(1) Meal Planning
Plan your meal. Yes, please do it! I have recommended this one super-simple tip to everyone who asks me about saving money. Meal planning will indirectly help your save money. How? When you plan your meals beforehand, you know what you’re going to cook, and how much you have to spend on grocery.
Though you might not see the positive results quick, but I’m sure if you continue planning your meals before, you’ll at least decrease wastage, which in turn help you save more money in grocery. Wasting food is also a way of flushing your hard-earned money down the drain.
(2) Buying Bulk
Choose Costco and Aldi for shopping. I won’t recommend you to shop anything else other than grocery though. The cheapest Costco subscription plan would cost you not more than $5 per month. But the value you will receive from Costco in money saving will easily outweigh the yearly subscription fee.
Aldi is another discount supermarket where you can buy at bulk. Walmart is good too, but for some reason Aldi and Costco seem to have better deals. The prices are on the lower side too. Wholesale stores also have a brand discount card which you apply if you’re shop regulary.
Of course, there are other alternatives as well, but whether you’ll get the same discount rate like Aldi and Costco is questionable. What’s their secret? Costco, for example make most of their money from subscriptions. And, to retain customers they keep their profit margin absymally low. And, in these times of financial recession, shopping wholsale seems more attractive.
(3) Clearance Shopping
Go for shopping when there is some sale going on. You can get some insane discounts. When supermarkets fail to sell some products, they run clearance sale and try to get rid of the excess inventory as soon as possible. This is nothing new as you’ll see this happening in most supermarkets. You will also see this happening when a grocery store is going bankrupt.
One good thing is that you’ll automatically know before a clearance sale starts. Supermarkets WANT you to know that they are running a clearance sale. That’s your chance. Look for things you really need and see whether they are included in the clearance sale.
But here’s a catch – most supermarkets won’t decrease the price but double the items. So, if you want to buy something that usually costs $10, during a clearance sale two of the same items will cost $15. So, unless you really need it, don’t jump the wagon just because you’re getting something at a discount.
(4) Stick To The List
Before going for shopping, you should create a grocery list and stick to it. No matter what. Most supermarket stores are designed is such a way that you’ll be compelled to buy the things you seldom need. That’s when a strict grocery list comes it. If saving money at a grocery store is your top priority, then you MUST create a grocery list.
Just remember one thing though… Only creating a grocery list won’t do it. You’ll have to follow it, and stick to it whenever you go for shopping. If you have little control over grocery expenses, then you can keep an accountability partner who will stop your from overspending. Trust me, if you don’t follow the grocery list and just go all guns blazing, you’ll immediately regret after you’re outside the grocery store.
(5) Never Go Shopping When You’re Hungry
You’ll be surprised to know how much role psychology has when you’re off to shopping. I discovered this the hard way. One day I was hungry and thought to go shop for grocery. Guess what did I end-up shopping? Snacks. I had a grocery list, yet I chose what my stomach asked. I shrugged it off, but I learned a nice lesson that day. NEVER SHOP WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY.
In you keep this one simple thing in mind, you’ll have a better chance at saving money at a grocery store than others. Surprisingly, I have seen some of my friends doing to same mistake while going for grocery shopping. And, every time I find a connection between snacks, and credit card spends.
(6) Cook At Home
Cooking food at home is nothing special. Before Subway existed, people all over the world mostly cooked food at home. It’s actually cheap. Even today, in some countries, eating out regularly is considered a poor habit, and also a bad financial decision.
Unfortunately, some people don’t like cooking at home because it’s a hassle. It’s actually is, but if you consider the good nutrition, and money saving aspect, then you’ll know how beneficial it is to save money. Unlike all the other tips I have listed until now, this is the only one tip that you can choose not to practice. I know cooking food is hard. So, if you’re adamant about saving money you can learn cooking and try.
(7) Choose Frozen Food
Frozen foods have longer lifespan. You can freeze them for week before consuming them. You can buy meat at bulk and keep it in your freezer to avoid rot. Unfortunately, you cannot do the same with vegetables. So, if meat is a common food on your plate daily, then go for it.
As I previously mentioned, Costco and Aldi are the two best places to buy your grocery at bulk. It’s that simple, nothing more. I know this thing works because it has worked for me. Though I have quit eating meat, I haven’t left freezing food and using them for over a period of few days.
(8) Avoid Impulsive Shopping
By now you pretty much know how grocery stores are designed to make you shop for more products. More than you actually need. Hence, it’s absolutely necessary to follow a grocery list, and to make sure you keep following it.
Impulsive shopping is one another thing most of us should get rid of. If I had one tip to give you before visiting a grocery store, it would be this one. Impulsive behavior can cause a lot of trouble, even while grocery shopping. If you’re impulsive about credit card spending, you’ll end-up in a huge credit card debt.
On the other hand if you’re impulsive about grocery shopping then you’ll end-up with things you don’t need, AND a credit card debt you never wanted. I hope you get the idea now… Having an impulsive grocery shopping is more of habit issue. So, if you’re impulsive, try to get rid of this one habit and change your life eventually.
(9) Use Discount Coupons
Discount coupons are a lifesaver for many people who want to do frugal grocery shopping. In fact, I have seen some of my friends who are super-excited to go for shopping just to use discount coupons. While shopping nothing saves the most money than shopping at a discount, using discount coupons can actually save quite a lot of money.
The highest I have saved is an extra 30% from using a special discount coupon. So, how much did I buy the product? The actual price of the product was $100, and I bought it, after all discounts, at $25. Which is an insane 75% discount after using the coupon code.
It was hard to find unique discount coupons before, but today it’s pretty easy. Just search for “discount coupons” and Google will recommend you countless websites from where you can get discounts coupons.
(10) Grocery Discount Credit Card
I’ve purposefully not listed credit card usage because managing a credit card is tricky. Especially if you have a hard time controlling your expenses. But, there are credit cards that are actually good. Like the American Express BCE (Blue Cash Everyday). The American Express BCE is arguably one of the best credit card out there.
What makes this American Express card unique is that unlike other American Express credit cards, the Blue Cash Card does not have a hefty annual fee. It’s FREE! Plus, this card has a 3% discount on grocery shopping, online purchase, and also, the sweetest of all – gas expenses too. While 3% might seem too little, but for a $200 shopping you can easily save $6.
Surprising, but I found out this card while doing some hard research on money savings. While there are other credit cards from Visa and Mastercard as well, but this time American Express tops the list. You can check this card and apply for it if you want to save some good money on grocery and gas expense.
