Are you looking for ways to slash the amount you spend for groceries? Here are four simple, conventional steps to cut the amount spent for groceries without compromising on nutrition or health:
- Plan Your Meals. Always go to the grocery store with a plan. Begin by planning meals for a week and grow that to a month. The website, http://moneysmartfamily.com/recipes/ is a good place to start with this venture offering recipes and tips. A shopping list is a must. Consider using frozen fruit and vegetables as opposed to fresh and adding occasional meat-less meals in your plan. Moneysmartfamily.com also offers a preprinted list of all the things to buy which also serves as a mental cue to check stock items making sure the amount needed is in your stock. Use your leftovers wisely.
- Shop the Deals. Watch the weekly sales ads. Buy in a larger quantities if it makes sense to keep it on your shelf or in your freezer when you spot a deal. Be aware of expiration dates and rotate your stock so that it is used in a timely fashion. Be savvy with coupons and buy only items that fit your plan. Consider discounted “must-go” food items; grocery stores usually mark down products, produce, and meat when they get close to their sell-by-date. These discounted items are still perfectly safe for you to purchase.
- Minimize Grocery Store Visits. Frequent trips to the grocery store usually result in impulsive purchases. Attempt to cut your visits to once a week or longer; with a plan this usually is not hard to do.
- Pay with Cash. With cash in hand, you know exactly how much you can spend. This will force one to seek out the necessities or only the items on the planned list. The little extras are okay as long as they are part of the plan.
From PennyHoarders.com comes some not-so-conventional means of lowering your food bill. All of these options are available for free.
- Become a Nielsen Consumer Panel member. The Nielsen company will pay you to scan your groceries weekly.
- Inbox.com pays 10 cents for every coupon you print from their website.
- Buy common meats and meat cuts in bulk from Zaycon Fresh.
- Sign up for Pillsbury and Betty Crocker emails to received $250 in coupons and access to free product samples.
- Register with Kelloggs for $150 in coupons plus points for buying Kellogg products that can be turned into grocery money.
So regardless of whether you choose conventional or non-conventional options or some combination, you will save grocery dollars that can be turned into cash for saving, paying down debt, or for something fun.
