If you have been to the grocery store anytime over the course of past few months then you have definitely seen how food prices have escalated. Stores have been passing along increased prices to consumers who are feeling squeezed at the grocery store. At a time when gas prices are higher, you are paying more money for everything from milk and potato chips to paper towels. If you want to save yourself some money on food, here are a few things that you can start doing.
1. Use the combination approach
Everyone knows that using coupons can save you money when you are out grocery shopping. You may not know that you can save a lot more money by using grocery coupons when an item is already on sale. This is a way of getting double savings on many popular everyday items that you need. Check online and newspapers for coupons and find stores that are already offering discounted pricing.
2. Stock up on sales
Buying in bulk is an old principle that still works. Load up on meat, poultry, and fish items when they are on sale. Grocery stores will occasionally discount these expensive items in order to sell their inventory. You should buy as many pounds as possible to take advantage of lower costs per pound. Structure your meals around the savings that you have gained on these products. Store your excess inventory in your freezer so that you can make sure that it does not perish.
3. Grow your own garden
Growing your own fruits and vegetables can save you from having to purchase costly produce at your local grocery store. You can start an outdoor garden really cheaply by just buying some soil, a few gardening tools, and seeds. This is the perfect time of year to get started and your garden can be blooming by the summer. You can also grow your own spices outside your window sill and keep yourself from having to purchase spices to season your foods.
4. Shop wherever the deals are
Most grocery shoppers are lazy and go to the same store week after week regardless of higher prices. It is important to visit different grocery stores and shop wherever the best deals are for that week. Not getting too comfortable with your local grocery store will keep them from taking you for granted.
5. Start using rebates
Rebates are a great way to get cash back on many purchases that you get from your grocer. Stores offer rebates instead of discounts because they count on customers neglecting to fill out the form and mail the receipt to get a discount. Start taking the time to send in rebates. You can mail them in or submit them electronically online. Manufacturer rebates often give cash back or free items to shoppers that use them.
Do you have any strategies for beating food price inflation?
Disclosure: This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. Unless otherwise expressly stated, you should assume that NotMadeofMoney.com has an affiliate relationship or other material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned by, recommended, hyperlinked to, or otherwise referenced on NotMadeofMoney.com. Please see the full disclosure statement.
Good ideas! I would add adjusting the menu items to reduce expenses too. We incorporated some meatless items for health reasons as well as saving money.
Shopping around is a good idea, but I would try to do it with ads rather than driving around. The high price of gas could negate any savings although I would hope that the distance covered from store to store would be fairly short.
I was so proud of my husband this past week. I was out of town and that left him to do the grocery shopping on his own. We usually do it together. He enjoys the “game” of combining a coupon with an item that is already on sale. On his solo trip he had roughly estimated the final price before checking out. After putting the groceries away at home, it was nagging him that the price he estimated was lower than what he had been charged. He checked the receipt and found 4 of the items that should have been “buy one get one” were charged at their full price. He went back to the store, less than a mile from home, with the receipt and sales flyer. The store stated the item was coming up at full price and that the sale had ended. He persisted and showed the dates printed on the sales flyer and was given a refund of $9.14. Not a ton of money, but that would certainly add up. All of the above mentioned ideas are great. Just remember registers and people both make mistakes. So make sure to watch the register at checkout and check your receipt or you could miss out on a lot of savings.
Not so much on coupons, but stocking up on sales is definitely one. As well as growing our vegetables and hopefully in the not too distant future, our own fruit as well. I planted some fruit trees and vines this year, so in a few years the cherries, grapes, apples and apricots should be coming in.
This article reminded me of the other day when I needed to buy some rice…its was 5 bucks for a bag (not a huge sack or anything, just a little 2lb bag) of rice in our local grocery store. The first thing I though was that it was crazy how expensive even rice is getting. I can only image how people in 3rd world countries are handling this.
I really want to grow tomatoes with that topsy contraption. But, I never tried it!! I need to get off my butt and do it!
A neighbor and I plan to pick peaches together this summer and can. Even factoring in the price of gas the final prices look mighty good. Some food items at Dollar Tree are well worth it. 15 oz. canned mackeral for a buck. Far less than tuna. Jarred roasted red peppers are another good deal. If we had an ethnic grocery in our town I’d try that as well. My mom used to get the most wonderful fish at an Asian market near her. Hope these ideas help someone.
We definitely do # 2 and 4. Also, like others we’re modifying our meals to be centered around cheaper items and to be simpler so we can buy more in bulk. With no yard a garden is on hold, though we might do some pots of herbs or something this summer. Most of the foods we eat it’s hard to get coupons for (produce, beans, brown rice etc) so I don’t really invest a lot of effort in this area.
Whenever I buy those little bags of fresh herbs (so expensive!) I have lots left over. So I stick them in pots of soil (giving the bottom ends a fresh cut to help rooting), keep them moist and in a couple of weeks, presto! free herb garden. It doesn’t work with every kind of herb — not parsley, chives, dill or cilantro for example. But it does with thyme, oregano, basil, sage, rosemary, tarragon and mint — and probably more that I haven’t tried yet. If this is too much work for you, you can also freeze those leftover fresh herbs. Just chop the whole lot at once, use whatever you need for your recipe, pile the rest into an ice cube tray, fill with water and put in the freezer. I also do this with lemon zest, grated ginger root, tomato paste, etc. — any little leftover bit that would otherwise go in the garbage. It not only saves money, it’s also super convenient to just pull one of those cubes out of the freezer while making dinner.
Another simple idea is to make a shopping list and not buy anything that is not on it. Otherwise, you could come home with bags and bags of groceries you never intended to buy.
You’d be amazed how many chain grocery stores have an on-line weekly ad. Since I don’t subscribe to the local newspaper, this makes comparing costs and finding deals a snap. I can even do it in my jammies!
Be sure to visit our local sales page on http://www.pricible.com/ to match coupons and sales in a snap. Our free tools can help save you money each time you shop — and it’s simple! Our massive database is one of a kind. We track much more than what is in the sales circulars. We also add stores based on user’s request. Take advantage of our site to get the lowest grocery prices. (We’re on Facebook and Twitter, too!)
Coupons and sales worked good. I like own garden it saves alot and the food tastes better because you grew it. i have noticed the stores do have sales the same time every month so you can plan what they have on sale every month and when to buy it.