Trimming excess fat from your budget isn’t as impossible as you might think. While you may have little control over your mortgage or daycare costs, you can save a lot of money on groceries, utilities, cell phone and cable bills, back-to-school supplies, transportation costs, care expenses personal, a new car, rates, prescriptions, dental and vision care, seasonal products, entertainment and much more. This article teaches you 25 easy ways to save money on groceries.
1. Agree on a weekly or monthly grocery budget and stick to it no matter what.
2. Instead of buying pre-cut fruit like watermelon or pineapple, buy the whole fruit and save money every time. Likewise, don’t buy cabbage or prepackaged salads. Why pay $2.19 for a 16-ounce package of coleslaw when you can buy a head of cabbage for as little as 49 cents a pound?
3. Don’t forget to shop at the pharmacy. You can find great deals on groceries and household items at CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid. If you sign up for SavingStar (next tip), you can link your CVS and RiteAid loyalty cards to your SavingStar account for additional savings.
We recently saved a lot of money at our neighborhood CVS by combining advertised specials with an in-store coupon. This is how it worked:
CVS reduced the price of an 8-pack of brand name paper towels from $8.79 to $5.00. We bought two packages. They also reduced the price of a 5.5-ounce can of solid white albacore tuna from $2.19 to 88 cents. We bought 10 cans. We also used a $5 in-store coupon that was good on any qualifying purchase of $10 or more.
We ended up paying $14.15 for the paper towels and the tuna. If we had bought everything at regular prices, we would have paid $40.71. The difference is a whopping $26.56 or 65%.
4. Join the more than 3 million people who use SavingStar eCoupons at more than 25,000 grocery stores and pharmacies nationwide. Is that how it works:
Membership is free and there are no coupons to clip or print.
Find participating stores near you by entering your zip code in the search box on the SavingStar home page. For example, we entered the ZIP code 43952, Steubenville, Ohio, and found 4 participating grocery and pharmacy chains (CVS, Giant Eagle, Kroger, and RiteAid). We also entered the 19148 Philadelphia zip code and found six participating chains (Acme, CVS, Pathmark, RiteAid, ShopRite, and SuperFresh).
Link all of your qualifying grocery and pharmacy loyalty cards to your SavingStar account.
On the SavingStar website, select the e-coupons you want and link them to the supermarket and pharmacy loyalty cards you have registered with SavingStar.
Use your loyalty card at checkout. Your receipt total does not change at checkout and savings are not printed on the receipt. Your money is added to your SavingStar account within 2-22 days, depending on which store you shop at. Saving Star notifies you by email when your account has been credited.
Once your savings reach $5.00, you can choose from these payment options:
– A deposit in your bank account or PayPal
– An Amazon gift card
– A donation to charity.
SavingStar adds new eCoupons every week on the brands you love. These are some of the participating labels:
Classico®, Green Giant®, Pillsbury®, Betty Crocker®, Old El Paso™, Progresso®, Chex®, Cheerios®, Mountain High®, Wheaties®, Right Guard®, Little Debbie®, Purex®, Smart Ones®, BUSH’S®, Truvia® and Diamond Crystal®.
Here are some of the participating grocery stores and pharmacies:
A&P, ACME Markets, Albertsons, BI-LO, Buehlers, Copps, Country Mart, Country Market, CVS, Dollar General*, Farm Fresh, Food City, Fred Meyer, Giant Eagle, Giant Food Stores, Hy-Vee, Ingles, JustSave , Kennies, King Kullen, King Soopers, Kings Super Markets, K-Mart, Kroger, Nob Hill Foods, Owen’s, Pathmark, Pick n Save, Piggly Wiggly in SC or GA, Piggly Wiggly in WI or IL, Price Chopper (KS and MO), Price Chopper (Northeast), QFC, Rainbow, Ralphs, Rite Aid, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Super Fresh, Target*, The Food Emporium, Tops Markets, Village Market, Waldbaums, Walmart*, Wegmans, and Winn-Kettle .
*This is a receipt scanning store that requires the SavingStar mobile app for iPhone or Android.
5. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less meat. For example, you can buy oranges for as little as 20¢ each when they are in season. Compare that to $4.99 for a pound of 85% lean ground beef.
6. Instead of making an unnecessary trip to the grocery store, use what you have on hand.
7. You don’t need to buy the $12.99 bottle of shampoo your hairstylist recommends. Expensive doesn’t always mean better. You can buy a 15 oz. bottle of name-brand shampoo for just 79¢ when it goes on sale.
8. Before you go to the supermarket, be sure to read your supermarket’s advertising circular. Plan your purchases around what’s on sale. Always take advantage of “buy one, get one free” deals, especially on big-ticket items like vitamins and meat.
9. Find out how your supermarket calculates “buy one, get one free” offers. Some supermarkets and pharmacies require you to purchase both items to get them at “buy one, get one free” pricing. If you buy just one, you automatically pay the regular price instead of the 50% discount.
For example, if you purchase a unit from a BOGO promotion at Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle®, you’ll pay 50% of the regular retail price. On the other hand, if you buy a unit from a BOGO sale at CVS, you’ll automatically pay the regular retail price.
10. Shop at supermarkets that have fuel benefit programs. You can save 10-20 cents on a gallon of gas for every $50 you spend on qualifying groceries, prescriptions and gift cards. You can learn more about fuel advantages here: How to Get Free Gas at the Grocery Store.
11. Buy generic or store brands instead of brand names. For example, the price of a 42 oz. box of generic oatmeal costs $2.69 at an Ohio supermarket. Comparably, the store brand is $3.99 and the brand is a whopping $5.99. Is your calculator available?
12. Buy seasonal products. You can pay as low as 99¢ per pound for red seedless grapes when they’re in season and as much as $3.99 per pound when they’re not.
13. Why pay $4.29 for 10 ounces of French fries when you can buy a pound of nutritious plantains for just 39 cents?
14. Why pay $2.49 for a 6-ounce box of macaroni and cheese when you can buy a comparable size of the store brand for 59 cents?
15. Why pay $1.99 for 9 ounces of dish detergent when you can buy 25 ounces of the same brand for $2.00 when it goes on sale?
16. Why pay $3.99 for a 6-ounce breakfast when you can buy a 42-ounce box of healthy oatmeal for $2.69?
17. Why pay $2.29 for a 20-ounce can of aerosol starch when you can buy it on sale for 99 cents?
18. Why pay $4.29 for 32 ounces of name brand window cleaner when you can buy a gallon of windshield washer fluid for $3.49?
19. Why pay $2.99 for a 16-ounce bottle of salad dressing when you can make it from scratch for so much less per serving?
20. Why pay $2.49 for 16 ounces of cottage cheese when you can buy 32 ounces of the same brand for $3.00 or less?
21. Why pay $1.49 for a 15-ounce can of brand name kidney beans when you can buy a comparable size of the store brand for 79 cents?
22. Why pay $2.19 for a 15-ounce can of chili when you can make it from scratch for so much less per serving?
23. Why pay $6.99 for a brand name hydrocortisone cream when you can buy a comparable size of the store brand for $3.04?
24. Why pay $4.99 for 15 ounces of canned coffee when you can buy 35 ounces of the same brand for $6.99 when it goes on sale?
25. Why pay $2.19 for 25 feet? of aluminum foil when you can get it on sale for 99 cents?
This article has taught you 25 easy ways to save money on your grocery bill. The next time you’re tempted to spend a Saturday afternoon at the mall, be sure to remember this timeless quote by Henrik Ibsen: “There can be no freedom or beauty in a home life dependent on loans and debt.”