One Snarky Chica with Issues

10 tips that I use to spend less when grocery shopping

If you are trying to watch your spending or just simply stick to a budget, then chances are pretty high that grocery shopping is giving you a problem in this area. You are not alone in this as many people trying to get a tight hold of their finances seem to have trouble with spending too much, or least somewhat more than they wanted or expected, at the grocery store. 

With a little work and discipline, it is possible to not only reign in your grocery spending, but to lower it more than you might think. 

1. The easiest, and most often overlooked, way of saving money at the grocery store is by using coupons. Coupons are a great way to save money and they are easily accessible. You can get coupons in your Sunday newspaper. Don’t subscribe to the paper? Check at your local library or with any businesses nearby that might get the full week of paper delivery but have no need for the weekend papers. The internet is also a great place to get coupons. You can get coupons by signing up for manufacturer email newsletters, such as Kraft. The way this works is that when the manufacturer sends you a monthly email about all of their products, there will usually be some coupons in the newsletter as well that are for you to print out. There are also websites dedicated to coupons where you can sign up by putting in your zip code and you are shown coupons for stores in your area or maybe you are just shown a general batch of coupons that are not store specific.  Some grocery stores double coupons up to a certain amount, so make sure you look into the stores in your area as you want to get the most bang for your buck. Once you are armed with your coupons remember to only use them on things you would have bought anyway.  Saving $0.30 on some soup that is $2.45, which you would not have bought normally only results in you spending $2.15 that you would not have spent otherwise. Remember to always carry your coupons with you so that if there is a sale in the store that was not advertised you can check and see if you have a coupon for it. 

2. Another important way to control your spending that few people utilize is the grocery list.  If you make a grocery list and only purchase what is on the list, then you will begin to see lower grocery bills. Why? Because we are all impulse buyers. Sticking to a list takes incredible discipline though. 

3. An easy way to ensure that there are no impulse buys and you stick to your list is to only take enough cash to the grocery store to cover what is on the list. That way it is impossible for you to have some outrageous impulse buys as you would get to the checkout and not have enough money, thus having to do the walk of shame to return the items you did not have enough money to purchase. 

4. Going grocery shopping alone is another great way to avoid impulse buys. This is especially important if you usually take children with you, as they are sometimes prone to tossing stuff into the cart when no one is looking.  

5. Always go to the grocery store with a full stomach. Nothing fills a cart with impulse buys faster than shopping when you are hungry.  When you go grocery shopping when you are hungry it is much more difficult to stick to a list because everything looks good to you since you are famished.  

6. When you are at the grocery store, do not be suckered in by the end-aisle displays or the items that are at eye-level. That is typically where you find the more expensive items. Look below or above them to see the cheaper alternatives. 

7. Remember that most generic brands are actually name brand items. One of the ways that name brands get prime shelf space is by agreeing to make the stores generic brand. Thanks to the recent Peter Pan peanut butter recall, we now know that Wal-Mart brand peanut butter is actually Peter Pan peanut butter, and at a fraction of the cost.  

8. Sometimes we go to the grocery store when we really do not need to because we have a lot of food already in the pantry. An easy way to save money on food is to use up what you already have stockpiled away.  

9. If you want to make sure you are getting the best price on everything that you buy then it is imperative that you start keeping a price book. This is simply where you write down the price you pay at various stores for the items that you buy so that you can keep track of the best price at any given time. 

10. Getting groceries for free is the best way to save money. While I do not know of any places where you can earn free grocery cards, you can earn gift cards for Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and Target on MyPoints. Each of these places have grocery items, with some (Super Wal-Mart, Super Target) having a full grocery section. All you have to do is click on links in emails to earn points towards the gift cards and you can be on your way to some free groceries. 

While I am sure there are other ways to save money at the grocery store, the above 10 tips are how I have reigned in my grocery spending to an acceptable level.