Groceries are an absolute must buy each time a paycheck comes around, which is why shopping for them shouldn’t break the bank. Many people tend to buy more than is needed and therefore causing more waste and money going straight down the drain. You should always head to the grocery store with a plan and a list. If you leave the house without either one, you will most definitely buy more than needed and save next to nothing. If you follow these tips, within one month of implementing them you will be able to see the savings! Why not try it?
Make A Menu: The menu should take you from paycheck to paycheck. This will be a helpful tool for a family but even if you’re single this will help too. Write each day of the week down and make a set plan for lunch and dinner (you can include breakfast if you want, but majority of money is usually spent on lunch or dinner foods). List the food you want for each meal and include everything you will need. This will help you make a list for the store and prevent you from spending money on something you don’t really need.
Make A List: This will come from the menu you have just written out. It helps to try and use things more than once in a pay period, so you can buy bigger portions (bigger portions are often cheaper). Also make sure you are sticking to the menu when making the list. Be sure to look through your cabinets and fridge to see what you may have to avoid buying something you have already.
Use Coupons: This should be a no brainer! Some people don’t want to take the time to clip coupons from ads in the newspaper or print them out from online, which is silly. It takes all of about ten minutes to print the ones you can find online and only a few minutes more to clip them from the newspaper. If you do this at least one day a week, you can start saving some decent money. If you use the coupons you can build your menu around some of those and really put them to good use! Also, when shopping at the store if you see a manufacturer coupon offered with certain items, make sure you grab it and use it at check out! It will be a double bonus if you have clipped a coupon or printed one offline.
Shop Around: This is an important one a lot of people don’t do. Make sure you are checking all the stores in your area for sales and prices. Often it is worth it to go to more than one store to do your shopping. If you check around you can be sure that you are indeed getting the best price on what you are buying. Sometimes stores even offer coupons in their sales ads, which will entice shoppers to come in.
Buy The Off Brands: Off brands? Many people will not buy the store brand on anything, which is ridiculous when you are trying to save money! Somethings you will prefer to have brand names on, which is normal. Things like milk, canned vegetables, chunk cheese, and pasta are some of the things you should check off brands on. The vegetables are pretty much all the same tasting whether they are brand name or not and the same goes for the others mentioned. If you try it once and absolutely don’t like them, you can always go back to the “norm” next time you go shopping.
