Food is typically the fourth biggest budget priority behind housing, transportation, and insurance. The average American family of four spends somewhere between $300 and $700 per month on groceries. That’s a big disparity! The defining factors for those that spend on the lower end of that statistic are attention and effort. By paying attention to how and what is spent on groceries, combined with a little bit of effort, anyone can significantly lower their grocery.

When you head out for your next grocery trip, try applying these strategies to your shopping routine for ultimate savings:

Don’t just shop around. Comparison shop!
The first step in saving money on food items is to figure out which store sells what you need for the least amount of money. It seems obvious, but a little more research will sometimes reveal that more savings are available. Comparison shopping is the best way to ensure you are getting the best deal. This means paying attention to unit prices.

Most retailers disclose the price per ounce, pound, or other units of measurement on the display label. This is what is referred to as the “price per unit”. The unit of measurement is generally uniform for each product (paper towels in square footage, peanut butter in ounces, etc.). Comparing unit prices is a surefire way to ensure you are buying the least expensive product. Many savvy shoppers report that they don’t even pay attention to the price tag, but rather shop according to the least expensive unit price. Many times this means buying in bulk, but not always. Most people just assume that the largest package of an item is the cheapest. This is not always true. Pay attention to unit prices. Use this information to purchase the least expensive version of the item you need. Which brings us to….

Shop according to item, not brand
If you are truly committed to saving money on groceries, brand loyalty must go out the window. Many people refuse to try store brands, assuming they are lower quality than name brands. This is simply not true. The cost is less mainly because the manufacturers save big in areas like advertising, where national brands spend a fortune. Business Insider published a report that estimates a 25% savings on store brands!

Change your shopping routine
We are creatures of habit. I spent years shopping almost exclusively at Publix, which is the main grocery chain in my area, and Whole Foods. They were close by and I knew my way around them so well that shopping was generally quick and easy. Plus, they always had the items I was looking for. It turns out I was paying a BIG premium for doing all of my shopping there. Once I started focusing on my grocery budget (and realizing I was going way over each month), I began to venture out to other grocery stores as well as non-traditional stores. I went wherever I knew I could save.

This didn’t mean I had to stop buying the items I felt were necessary for my family. I just had to become open to changing brands. For us, that meant Trader Joe’s became my go to for organic items instead of Whole Foods. It meant a $60 yearly membership to Costco, where I cut my paper product costs in half by buying off brand in bulk. IN HALF. It meant trying out non-traditional stores like Aldi and the Dollar Store for everything from canned items to snack food.

I still go to my local grocery store when the sale price per unit beats these places, which it does often enough. I’m just no longer fixated on brand loyalty, and my family never noticed a difference in quality. In hindsight, I estimate that we wasted a ton of money, as I’m saving 30%-40% on my grocery bill now. It took some effort, but now that we’ve implemented the process, it’s just another routine. And it was well worth it.

Get technical about your savings
Consumers this day in age are extremely fortunate to have the most efficient price comparison and coupon tools at their fingertips. There are many applications that can be used easily from your mobile phone. From barcode scanning to manual searching, these programs can cut your research time from hours to minutes. Not to mention all of the cashback and coupon programs available. There are even browser extension programs that work with your internet browser on your PC or Mac. Many of these are designed to find deals and coupons during your online checkouts. With so much help available, there’s no excuse to not use tech to help you save money. Here are a few of our favorites to get you started:

ShopSavvy
This is an extremely useful, easy to use app that can be used on iOS and Android. There’s a scan barcode button on the screen that you line up with the item’s barcode. The app will find the item and give you both the online and local retailers who are selling the item. The same search can be done for specific items without the barcode, which is helpful if you are just looking for the least expensive non-brand specific item type. I use this often when making my grocery list.

Amazon App
Amazon.com’s mobile application for iOS and Android works great as a shopping trip sidekick. It also has a barcode scanner that allows you to scan items while you are shopping to ensure you can’t get them cheaper on Amazon. I’ve found better deals on Amazon for everything from protein powder to vitamins.

Ibotta
This is a rebate app that gives the user cash back offers. There are many apps of this kind, this is just one of them that we found works well. With Ibotta, you find rebates before you shop (there are tasks you complete to add the rebates to products). You then buy the products at the store you select, keep your receipt and redeem the rebates with a photo of it. The app matches the items you bought to the rebates you select and gives you cash back.

Walmart Savings Catcher
Available on iOS and Android, this app is a feature of Walmart’s regular application. You use this one after you shop at Walmart. It allows you to scan your receipt then compare prices of items against the advertised deals of competitors’. Walmart offers the difference you find back to you in an eGift Card.

Honey Browser Extension
Honey is a coupon finding browser extension designed to work with your internet browser (Chrome and Firefox). Discounts are found when you check out at an online retailer that Honey partners with (the exact number of their partners is unknown, but it seems to be a ton, as every online check out I’ve used has populated a Honey discount in some form or other). This is basically an up-to-date database of discount offers where the program automatically finds available coupon codes at checkout and uses a pop up to alert you to the deal. Very handy when shopping from your laptop!

Don’t forget coupons
Couponing has become an extreme sport in recent years, and for good reason. Extreme couponers report big savings to their weekly grocery bills. But many of these people buy items just because they are on sale. They will share information from their most recent “haul”, captioning a photo of 40 salad dressing bottles with “just $5!”. There’s a fine line between saving on items you need and saving on items you don’t need.

That being said, coupons are still a viable way to add to your savings. Set aside a fixed amount of time each week depending on your schedule. I limit couponing to thirty minutes per week. Make sure you sign up for your local newspaper and grab the store circulars (usually these come out weekly) from all the stores you will be going to. You may also get local discount flyers in the mail. Scan these before you throw them out. Facebook has local coupon groups that keep you in the know as well.

Finally, use tech to scour for coupons on items you need. In addition to programs like Honey, there are great coupon websites and apps that, used in conjunction with comparison tools, can really amp up your savings. Here’s a few to get you started:

Valpack.com (website)
The same Valpack that comes in circular form in your mailbox, this website is great to review for local and national deals. There are some digital offers, but most require a printer.

Savings.com (website)
Straightforward national coupon website. Like Valpack, there are some digital offers, but most require a printer.

Snap (mobile application)
This application for iOS and Android is powered by Groupon (another great place to snag deals). These are mostly digital offers that don’t need to be printed out.

SnipSnap (mobile application)
SnipSnap is a really cool app that lets you take photos of your coupons and converts the info, barcode and all, into digital format. It organizes them as you add so they are readily available at checkout right from your phone. This eliminates having to cut printed offers from circulars and is a real-time saver.

Invest in a deep freezer
This was a game changer for my family. The deep freezer we bought was just under $240, with free shipping with Amazon Prime (another great investment for lasting savings!).

We keep it on our porch and haven’t noticed a meaningful increase in our utility bill, and we’ve had it for over a year. Having a deep freezer allows you to buy freezable items, like meat, in bulk. The cost per pound for meat items is significantly less at warehouse stores like Costco. Meat isn’t the only thing that you can freeze, though. I buy frozen vegetables, like broccoli, in bulk. They stay good in a deep freeze for up to a year. It’s extremely handy to have these things on hand when meal planning. Frozen berries are far less expensive than fresh and are just as nutritionally dense, if not more, as they are picked at peak ripeness. These are great for morning smoothies. Surprisingly, there are many food items that can safely and effectively be frozen. Butter, cooked rice, ripe bananas, shredded cheese, and bread freeze great. That’s just the tip of the deep freeze ice burg! Things you’d never think of, like packaged guacamole, for instance, freeze extremely well and can be purchased for far less in bulk than in smaller packages.

Meal Plan
Food waste equals wasted money. Waste happens mainly from not properly planning, so preparation is key. Start with thinking about what type of diet you and your family want to eat. Consider how to create meals with inexpensive food items. Use the internet as a resource to find great recipes designed with budgets in mind. Budgetbytes.com is a great resource that has a ton of recipes using inexpensive ingredients (https://www.budgetbytes.com). A great way to save both time and money is to cook several portions and freeze leftovers in individual serving sizes. I quadruple most freezable recipes and store them in these great, inexpensive containers in my deep freeze.

Rely on a shopping list
Speaking of saving time and money! A shopping list is the most critical component to efficiently achieving money and time savings. It’s an absolute must. Start by writing down all the ingredients in your meal plan for a given period (I do this weekly). Cross off anything items you currently have enough of at home. Add to this list all other items you need, such as snack food, pet food, household products, and personal care items. Keeping an inventory of the latter items can be helpful in staying stocked but not overbuying. Remember that household products and some personal care items (razors!) are great places to buy in bulk to get the best per unit cost. Keep this list with you while you shop so that you can mark off items as you purchase them.

Use a credit card that gives you cash back points
This one isn’t for everyone. If you have a credit card that has a cash back point system, especially one that gives back higher percentages at grocery stores, it can be a great way to get even more savings out of your grocery shopping. The caveat is that you should be budgeting properly, paying off the amount you charge each month. Setting aside the cash in your budget as if you were going to spend it at the store, then paying the credit card bill with it instead. Only consider this if you are not already in troubling credit card debt, and have a good handle on your finances. Remember, if you are experiencing problems with debt, we can help! Reach out to us through this form: https://helpwithdebt.com/help-form/.