The average American family of four spends more money on food than they do on TV, utilities, and even healthcare - sometimes combined. In fact, the typical household spend way over $4,000 every year on groceries alone, making it one of the biggest expenditures in the family budget.
But what if we were to tell you that you could cut this in half? What would you do if you have an extra $2,000 to spend every year? It’s a great vacation abroad, or it’s a significant downpayment on a car. Or, it’s just a Christmas holiday season beyond your wildest dreams.
Well, freeing up all that cash is not the challenging project you might think. With some savvy shopping skills and an open mind, it’s possible to shave off at least 50 percent of your grocery money every week, month, and year. And io today’s guide, we’re going to show you exactly how you can do it. Let’s take a closer look at some of your options.
Avoid the variables
First of all, food shopping is one of those costs in life that changes every time you go to your grocery store. You push your trolley around the aisles, see tempting offers, and buy different products every time. If you can avoid this and apply a more robust structure to your shopping, you will find that you make an immediate impact. Avoid impulse buys, create and shop from your shopping list - or even order a delivery online. If you can remove yourself from temptation, it will make a big difference to your weekly bills.
Make your own dishes
Stop buying overpriced prepackaged meals, and put in some effort into learning how to cook. Yes, it will take you a little more time, but the money you will save by cooking meals yourself will be significant.
Bulk buy
If you have space in your store cupboard, fridge and freezer, always try and bulk buy as much as possible. It’s so much cheaper going to somewhere like Costco.com than it is to pick up your groceries at a convenience store on a daily basis. Just watch out for use by dates, and make sure that whatever you buy gets used up - otherwise, bulk buying will be a waste.
Get into coupons
Coupons can save you a lot of money if you take the process seriously. Collect them from magazines, newspapers, flyers, and on online services such as DontPayFull.com. That said, only use coupons for products you already buy, or you could end up spending more on things you don’t need.
Strategic shopping
There are plenty of apps out there that will compare prices from all the major grocery stores. With a little planning, you can take advantage of the lowest prices from every store - and cut your grocery bills by a significant amount.
Buy generic products
Store-branded products are often much cheaper than brand names, and the difference in quality or taste is negligible at most. Try and find alternatives to the more expensive brands - not all of them will be suitable fo course, but you should find many of your typical grocery purchases are just as good when you buy generic.
Any more tips to add? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below!