Family Chow Hall

Saving money at the Grocery

February 10th, 2009

Here it is, the long-awaited post that could potentially help you save hundreds of dollars on your annual grocery costs.

Now, I could tell you to eat beans for 4 meals each week, or tell you to fast three days per month, or try to convince you to make all of your meals from scratch… but that’s not going to be the main idea of this post. (I’ll probably get to those other things in a future message.)

No, today I’m going to give you some basic tips for simply spending less at the grocery, without going into the nitty-gritty of what makes the cheapest meals, the most bang-for-your-buck, or where to buy scratch-and-dent canned vegetables.

G — Goal. Look at your past spending and set a reasonable goal for reducing it. For example, you can review your receipts, your checkbook register, or your credit card statement to see how much you are spending at the grocery. If you look at the last three months and see that you are spending an average of $550 per month, at first try to reduce that number to $500, or maybe $475. Don’t try to cut your grocery bill in half right away, let’s just ease into it.

R — Review. Hopefully you have some old grocery receipts. If not, you can at least look into your pantry, fridge, and freezer to see what’s “left behind”. Try to determine what items are getting a lot of your grocery money and if you really need those items.

P — Plan, plan, plan. This is probably the most important step. You must take a list, a comprehensive list, to the grocery store. A well-thought-out list can take anywhere from one evening to two days to complete. Plan your meals, your breakfasts, your snacks, on-the-go foods, everything.

K — Know when to go. There are a few simple rules for when to go to the grocery. If possible, go when the store is not crowded. Frustration leads to quick purchases, which are usually wasteful. Also try to go when you are not in a hurry, for the same reason. Never go to the store when you are hungry. Bring a snack to munch on while you shop if you have to. Finally, go alone. Get your groceries without the hubby and kids, if possible. The more opinions you bring into the store, the more unnecessary items you will buy.

S — Stop saying “it’s only…”. These are the worst two words to say when you are in the grocery. (Or any other store, for that matter. Or while shopping online.) “It’s only” is a real budget-killer. Don’t believe me? - check an old grocery receipt and see how many “It’s only…”s there were… How much can be saved if we stop saying those two little words?

E — Eliminate other purchases. I imagine that a lot of folks do this, especially in the large mass-marketing stores that are everywhere now. By the time we get to the grocery side of the store, we already have $20 or more in the cart — the newest DVD, a package of socks, a new color of eyeshadow, 2 new Hot Wheels cars, etc. If they are planned purchases, fine, but don’t consider them groceries just because you were getting groceries at the same time. In my mind, a regularly consumed and necessary product, such as shampoo or dog food, is a grocery item.

C — Compare. Compare the cost-per-ounce of everything you buy. Even if you’ve checked before. I was surprised one week to discover that the largest tub of peanut butter was more per ounce than a smaller size. Three weeks later, this had reversed. Most of the time, store brands are less than name brands, but you can’t always bank on that, you should compare.

Now, I would like to make a really cool acronym with my tips, but nothing amazing comes to my mind, so maybe you can think of one yourself! In the meantime, let’s work on lowering that grocery bill!

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