12 Ways To Save Money On Groceries

I have 12 ideas to help you save money on groceries! I’m sure you have noticed an increase in food prices which seems to continuously be going up. Next to paying rent or a mortgage food is the 2nd highest cost.

I feed my family of 5 a healthy mostly organic diet for about $200 a week.

Finding ways to reduce the cost and save more money can be extremely helpful during these times. I want to share with you as many helpful tips as I can so you can reduce your family’s food bill and save extra money too.

1. Never Shop When You Are Hungry!

This might seem obvious but it’s so true! When you are hungry everything smells extra good and looks extra good. Your mind is not focused on getting ingredients it wants a quick snack.

Normally convenience foods include packets of chips, chocolate bar and foods that won’t nourish you will leave you still hungry again in the next hour or so.

I can pretty much guarantee you will be grabbing quick convenient snacks and more things you don’t need just if you shop when you are hungry! Always try and eat before heading to shops you’ll be surprised how much money you can save on groceries.

2. Always Right A Grocery List

Have a notebook or something you can write down your weekly shopping list on. If you have a list you won’t be buying extra of things you already have, you will ensure you have the ingredients needed for the meals you have planned out and will reduce the random impulse buys.

Having a list also helps so you won’t be making multiple trips a week to the grocery store where it can quickly add up! I have found writing a shopping list to be very helpful!

Keep it somewhere easy so you can add to it throughout the week whenever you find out you are low on something.

3. Buy Foods In Their Whole Forms

If you want to save some money on groceries buy foods in their whole form tend to be a lot cheaper than their precut form.

Mushrooms, halves of cabbages and cauliflower are all examples of produce that is generally a lot cheaper to buy whole than precut when looking at weight per dollar.

You get more bang for your buck buying the whole product as they charge for the convenience of it being sliced for you.

While it might seem more convenient to buy those prechopped mushrooms remember you are paying for it. Also, foods that are already pre chopped and cut tend to go off faster than when they are in their whole form.

4. Look At Unit Prices

You might be surprised to find out the price difference when looking at the unit price. Even when things are on special, I sometimes find another brand of that similar item to be cheaper per weight. Generally, a larger amount of a product will be cheaper than its smaller counterpart.

The unit price tells you how much something cost per grams or litres and is a great way to compare prices of similar items to get the most for your money.

5. Choose Cheaper Cuts Of Meat

Meat can be pretty expensive to buy. But you can stock up your freezer with chicken wings, drumsticks, beef brisket and chuck steak which are great for stews for less than $10 a kg. Mince in bulk can work out to be a great price too and is super versatile.

Generally, you will find at the shops they reduce the prices of meat when they get close to their expiration date. I will stock up on certain meats and put them straight into my freezer to cook for another day.

I’ve also found the pre roast chickens to be cheaper than buying the ones not already cooked. Even the free-range precooked ones are cheaper and then after wards you can use the bones to make a simple nourishing Broth.

We also enjoy buying and eating large cans of tuna and salmon. They work out a lot cheaper than buying the whole fish, go on special regularly, taste good and store well.

6. Buy More Frozen Fruit And Veg

Did you know that frozen produce can be healthier and is cheaper than “fresh produce” on shelf?

Frozen produce is picked at peak and then frozen, while the produce on the shelves are picked early and generally sprayed to stop them from ripening and stored for a while before hitting the shelves.

I find frozen fruit specifically to be a lot cheaper to buy than fresh fruit. Definitely if that fruit is not currently in season. This is a great way to save money on groceries easily.

So, if you haven’t already start considering more frozen fruit and vegetables.

7. Grow Some Food

Even if all you have is a windowsill grow a little bunch of greens, some herbs and sprouts! These are very expensive by weight in the shops but are extremely easy to grow and don’t take up a lot of space!

They also produce quite a bit of food as well. The more you pick them the better and more prolific they grow. If you have a balcony and a bit more space grow some things in containers that give you a lot per weight.

Things that are pretty easy to grow in a container with or without a little trellis and give a lot of food include tomatoes (indeterminate varieties), okra, cucumbers, capsicum (bell peppers) and eggplants.

You can seriously save some good money on groceries doing this alone!

8. Make More Food From Scratch

If you really want to save big start making more foods from scratch. Great switches to make are Homemade Mayo, salad dressings, your own mixed spices and bone broths.

They are super easy and cheap to make compared to store bought versions. After you master those add more from scratch cooking like Sourdough Sandwich breads, wraps, yoghurt, spreadable butter, homemade drinks like water kefir soda the list can go on!

This is how you really save! The hardest part is learning something new once you have mastered it will become second nature and you can go on with the next!

9. Find Or Start A Local Crop Swap

Crop swaps are a great way to save money. The idea is to either bring extra produce, eggs and or honey you have from home. Or you can bring home-baked or homemade good to swap!

No money exchanged at all! You can end up with so much fresh beautiful locally grown food for virtually free! They are easy to set up, set a date, time, location like a park and advertise in your local area will people come!

10. Join A Local Community Garden

Community gardens are a great way to bring home some extra food for free, all it requires is a bit of your time. Generally, you go once a week or so and do some work in the garden like planting, watering and weeding.

A lot of times kids are welcome to join along as well. Then you are allowed to take home some of the produce the garden produces. The produce is shared amongst members who participate in the gardens work and maintenance.

A community garden is also a great way to meet other locals, learn about plants and generally they have extra workshops their members can attend. It’s a great way to bring some extra food home and learn some new skills as well.

11. Buy Bulk Staple Items

I am big on buying in bulk staple products we use regularly. You can start small buy a larger bag of sea salt, flour or sugar and slowly add to your stash.

This has definitely been a big saver for us. You will find normally the larger amount of an item you buy the cheaper it goes by weight.

You can also join up for wholesale accounts with different companies like Honest2Goodness in Australia or I have heard of Azure standards in America and stock up on products.

Another idea it to split with friends and families. Maybe you don’t want a 20kg bag of flour but you want the price it’s at. See if anyone will want to take half, you’ll be surprised how many people will jump at the opportunity. This for sure has saved us hundreds of dollars on groceries.

12. Store Your Food Properly

Why buy food just to have it go bad? Storing food properly is an easy way to make your food last longer, which helps you save money on groceries. Everything you throw out is essentially wasted money. There are many tips out there on how to store food properly. Here are just a few tips.

1. Use your fridge drawers to store fruit and vegetables.
2. The bottom shelf is the coldest in the fridge so store any raw meat on the bottom.
3. Middle Shelves are a good place to put your dairy products such as cheese, cream and yoghurt.
4. Top Shelf is a good place to store food that has been already cooked so leftovers, packaged food and cooked meats.
5. The door of the fridge changes in temperature the most so placing condiments, juices, jams and jellies are ideal in these spots.
6. Moisture makes food rot faster so make sure to dry your produce. I also like to add baking soda in a little cup which I place in the back of the fridge to help collect extra moisture.

Conclusion

There are many ways you can cut down your grocery bills and save more money. I hope you found these tips helpful and let me know down in the comments what other tips you use to help you save money on groceries!