There is never a bad time to be intentional about your grocery budget. And when it comes to saving money on food, what works for one person won’t always work for the next. That’s why I’m sharing 16 things that can help you save money on food.
Before we get into the list, let me tell you two things:
First, if you want your food costs to change, it will involve some effort. It doesn’t need to be tons of effort, but it does need some space in your consciousness. It’s not going to magically happen by itself.
Second, remember to pivot along the way. If you start out with some of these ideas and they just don’t work for you, reassess and try something different. There are also different seasons in life. What works for you as a single person may not work when you are married. Things change and that’s okay. Make a habit of auditing and editing.
16 things that can (really) help you save money on food:
- Plan ahead (menu and grocery list)
- Limit eating out
- Build a food stash
- Consider the store(s) you shop at
- Use loyalty programs
- Use coupons and cashback apps (when it makes sense)
- Know sale prices and unit prices
- Try the store brand
- Buy in bulk (when it makes sense)
- Make some things from scratch
- Consider less meat
- Try strategic gardening
- Order groceries online/compare prices on apps
- Shop at a good time
- Waste less food
- Choose consumables wisely
1. Plan ahead
A menu and a grocery list are two powerful tools when it comes to keeping food costs from competing with a mortgage payment.
Last-minute meals are costly, whether that’s three full-price frozen pizzas or $60 for takeout. Start planning a menu – a realistic menu – and you’ll find that both your stress levels and your food costs go down.
A grocery list also helps you remember things you need and prevents you from having to make multiple trips to the store every week. I know, we all know this. But do we do it? It’s time to start.
Planning ahead doesn’t just save time and money. It helps lessen the decision fatigue of everyday life.
2. Limit eating out.
Maybe you categorize eating out separate from groceries. That’s fine. But if your overall goal is to save money, you’ll want to take a good look at the trail of takeout receipts.
Planning ahead makes it much easier to avoid the Door Dash app. If you already have an idea for dinner and have already bought the ingredients, it’s less tempting to order up a $45+ dinner. Can you feed a family on less than $10 total cooking at home? Yes you can. The savings from every meal you don’t eat out add up fast.
Of course this means you need to have a plan for what you are going to cook at home, which we just talked about.
3. Build a food stash
One great way to limit eating out and other little splurges is to keep a food stash. If you buy bags of chocolate chips when they are on sale, they will be there when you need a little sweet treat. When frozen pizzas hit a stock-up-price, grab a few to burry in the freezer for a night you can’t bring yourself to boil a pot of water.
Keeping a stash of staples like canned tomatoes, butter, flour, etc. also means you may be able to avoid paying full price for those items. Not everyone has room for a walk-in pantry or second refrigerator, so a food stash looks different for everyone. Be creative (not weird, creative) with whatever space you have. Just make sure food is stored at a safe temperature and not in extreme heat.
4. Consider the store
Some people may have time (and desire) to shop at 3-4 stores every week to grab the best deals from each store. I am not some people. It is worth comparing between nearby stores to see if one offers the items you buy frequently at a better price than others. We stick to two stores per week, with maybe a once per month trip to some other stores. Find what works for you.
5. Use store loyalty programs
Grocery stores have loyalty programs where you can earn fuel points, get member-only coupons, and pay lower prices (“member prices”). These memberships are free and just need basic information to sign up. With the rise in grocery delivery though, there are more “exclusive” memberships that offer free delivery as well as some other deals. These tend to be $50-$100 per year, but if you compare that with what delivery fees would be, it’s not too bad.
6. Use coupons and cashback apps (when it’s worth it)
I use both digital and paper coupons, but lately the cashback apps like Fetch and Ibotta have just not been all that worth the time.
Part of the perks of the store loyalty programs mentioned above is that they often send coupons specific to the products you purchase. Otherwise, coupons can trick you into spending more money because you are buying something you wouldn’t regularly buy. The cashback apps can be the same – you may see a deal on something and want to purchase it so you can qualify for the cashback. Whatever you use, make sure it’s actually saving you money.
7. Know good sale prices and unit prices
Do you know what a good price per pound is for fresh broccoli? What about grapes or apples? And how do you know if cereal is a better price when it’s on sale at the grocery store or regular price at a wholesale club like Costco?
Get to know the rock bottom prices for foods you regularly buy so you know when to stock up. The prices will vary by region and season, but if you keep an eye on grocery ads, you will start to know when something is a good deal or when it’s just being featured in the ad.
It’s also wise to look at unit prices. Crackers may be on sale at the grocery store, but if you figure out the price per ounce, you may find that the price is still better at Costco. When cereal is on a steep sale at the grocery store, it is likely less expensive than the big boxes of cereal at wholesale clubs.
To calculate the unit price, take the price ($3.99 for a box of cereal) and divide it by the number of ounces (12 ounces). This comes out to $0.33/ounce. Once you know the unit price of something, it makes it easier to compare different package sizes, different brands, and different stores.
8. Try the store brand
Stores carry name brands like Kellogg’s, Tyson, Keebler, etc., and they also have store brands, or house brands (Great Value, Signature Select, Kroger, Equate). Unit prices are a great way to see if the store brand is that much cheaper. If the name brand is running a good sale, there may not be much of a price difference.
For some products, the store brand is virtually the same quality as a name brand. Do some experimenting and see what items the savings is worth it for you.
From my experience I have learned that I always prefer Bush’s or Kuner’s for canned beans (especially garbanzo beans), because the store brand beans are small and undercooked. I will almost always buy the Cool Whip brand (it doesn’t deflate and melt like some of the store brands do). Store brand peanut butter doesn’t bother me.
Experiment and see what is worth it to you. There may be some significant savings to be had by choosing the store brand.
9. Buy in bulk (when it makes sense)
Once again, those unit prices help with this decision. Cottage cheese may be the same price per ounce whether you are buying 16 ounces or 24 ounces. But maybe a gallon of milk costs less than buying half gallons. A ten-pound bag of potatoes usually costs less per pound than a five-pound bag. The same is often true for rice, flour, sugar, bags of carrots, and flats of eggs.
If you can use the food before it goes bad or share it with family members and split the cost, buying in bulk can end up saving significant money. Don’t assume it’s always cheaper to buy in bulk though. Do some quick math to find the unit cost so you can know it’s worth it.
10. Make some things from scratch
Some things are worth it to make yourself, some are not. Homemade artisan bread (find some inspiration here, or here) can cost only a few dollars in ingredients and not require much hands-on time. Buying artisan bread from the store or bakery could set you back $6.00+ per loaf. Pasta, in contrast, is very hands-on to make and is only around $1.00-$2.00 per box in the store. It may be fun, but it’s not a money saver. Cooking dried beans (use an electric pressure cooker) is much cheaper than using canned.
Consider some of the foods you keep around regularly and determine if it might be worth making some of them from scratch. Sometimes the savings might be a wash, but you end up with something healthier. Once again, let your values drive the decision.
11. Consider less meat
You don’t have to. But meat does add quite a bit to the grocery bill. If you are using ground meat, you can add finely chopped veggies and TVP (textured vegetable protein) to make more with less.
Our homemade meatballs are made this way, which makes the meat go farther. They’re also healthier than traditional beef meatballs.
You can also make entirely meatless meals, like a veggie scramble for breakfast, mock tuna salad sandwiches for lunch, and taco salads made with black beans for dinner.
It doesn’t have to be every meal either- maybe go meatless at breakfast and see what it does to the grocery bill.
12. Try strategic gardening
It can be kind of a toss up whether gardening actually saves money. It is a time investment, but we find it to be worth it.
You don’t have to have a huge garden plot. If you use a lot of tomatoes (as we do), grow a few tomato plants in pots. Maybe you use a lot of fresh basil. Get some basil plants going.
Some foods, like fresh green beans or baby tomatoes, can be pretty pricey in the store. If you have the time and the space, growing a few things at home can save money on things that might otherwise be luxuries.
13. Order groceries online/price compare on apps
Ordering groceries online is like being in two stores (or more) at one time. Is it cheaper here or there? Something is out of stock here, so I’m going to switch my pickup store to another location.
Forget something? That’s okay, some stores give you a window of time to keep modifying your order.
While I do miss combing through the discount bins in the store, overall, ordering groceries online saves money because I can see my running total and remove items if I go over budget. There’s also less likelihood of picking up things I didn’t mean to buy. And the time savings is so, so worth it.
14. Shop at a good time
If you still want to shop in the store, do it at a good time. After work you are likely to be stressed and tired. Not prime conditions for comparing prices and saving money.
The store may be out of items that were supposed to be on sale, so you end up buying something more expensive instead. Stress short-circuits our brains, so remembering what we needed is not likely to happen. And if you’re hungry? Forget it. You might as well send a caffeinated racoon into the store to do your shopping.
Back to the online shopping idea – if you are ordering groceries online, you can always set things aside and circle back if your current mental state has you filling the cart with cheese balls and brownie bites.
Whether it’s in the store or on your phone, shop at a time when you have the mental capacity to make decisions.
15. Waste less food
Mushy spinach leaves, green, fuzzy pasta at the back of the fridge, an almost entire bunch of celery wilting in the crisper… Food waste happens. One way to save money on food is to actually eat the majority of the food you buy.
There are lots of ways to prevent food waste that don’t involve making vegetable stock with carrot peels and onion tops. The two main ways are to freeze it before it goes bad and make a plan for leftovers.
Aside from lettuce, almost anything can be frozen.
If you were a different person when you bought the big tub of fresh spinach, stuff the rest in a bag and freeze it for soups, a green smoothie, or a veggie scramble. When you buy celery for a recipe, buy individual stalks, or buy the bunch and chop it all at once to keep in the freezer for soups.
Leftovers can often be frozen too. Just don’t forget about them. They also make great lunches. Depending on what is left over, it can be turned into a completely new meal. Leftover pasta>> pasta salad. Leftover roasted potatoes >> veggie breakfast hash.
16. Choose consumables wisely
There’s a good chance that when you are shopping for food, you are also buying toilet paper, cleaners, paper plates, and other consumables. Some consumables can be replaced with reusables, and you can decide if that’s a worthwhile savings to you.
You don’t have to give up all modern conveniences. But maybe you use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets and cloth napkins instead of paper napkins. We have an abundance of kitchen wash cloths, which saves us a lot of money on paper towels. A Swiffer-style mop with washable pads means we don’t have a continuous expense on Swiffer mop heads. Cloth napkins are the usual (we have paper ones for company too), and we have a collection of dryer balls.
When it comes to cleaners, we don’t have cupboards full of products for every task. Most of our cleaning is done with the Branch Basics cleaner. It isn’t the cheapest, but it saves a lot of time searching for sales on laundry detergent and dish soap. Since it’s non-toxic, it also means I can clean the house when the kids are around.
Think about your consumables and consider if there are reasonable alternatives that could be saving you money in the long run.
The bottom line
Saving money on food is never a bad idea. Whether it’s for groceries or something else, our money should follow our values.
You may find that spending more money on precut produce allows you to spend more time taking online classes or doing something else important to you. Our values are unique, so what works for one person may not work for the next. It is important to make sure your actions and your values line up. If your grocery budget has been getting out of hand and has been stressing you out, I hope some of these 16 ways to save money on food help you find breathing room in your budget.
If you’re keen on saving money, you might want to check out the YNAB (You Need a Budget) app. They offer a free trial so you can test drive the app. We’ve used it for several years, and it has some pretty handy features.