Saving money at the grocery store?

[Anonymous]

Besides the obvious “meal plan” and “no impulse purchases”, what are your best tips for saving money at the grocery store?

[Anonymous]

Sign up for an app like Ibotta to get some money back. Takes about 5-10 minutes extra per shopping trip, but the savings add up.

[Anonymous]

Aldis. Stick to your list. Limited food storage at home, so no buying more than what can be eaten in the next week or so.

[Anonymous]

Price compare items -- taste test store brands, most are indistinguishable from much more expensive name brands.

Don't buy more than you can eat, and know what meals you'll be making.

Shop your pantry and fridge before you go to the grocery store, so you don't buy things you actually already have.

My DH cooks occasionally -- always a Big Deal. He invariably buys EVERY ingredient needed for a recipe without checking to see if we already have something. At last count we had 4 jars of at least 7 different spices, including poppy seeds. How do I use up 4 jars of poppy seeds?????

[Anonymous]

I save a lot when doing vegetarian meals.

[Anonymous]

Shop at Aldi except for a handful of things that we buy in bulk at Costco. Don’t shy away from buying some frozen food because you will eventually need it and if you don’t have it you’ll cave and order delivery.

[Anonymous]

I meal plan on Wednesday when the sales come out and shop the sales. The meat and fruit we eat is based on the sales each week. I buy vegetables at the Asian grocery store when I can. I keep a dry erase board with the contents of my pantry and stock up during sales. For spices I use a lot of, I buy in bulk from Penzeys or Spice House. I have an extra freezer in my basement and stock up on good sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I meal plan on Wednesday when the sales come out and shop the sales. The meat and fruit we eat is based on the sales each week. I buy vegetables at the Asian grocery store when I can. I keep a dry erase board with the contents of my pantry and stock up during sales. For spices I use a lot of, I buy in bulk from Penzeys or Spice House. I have an extra freezer in my basement and stock up on good sales.

I don’t shop at Aldi because it’s not convenient and I don’t have time to go to more than 1 store. I don’t use coupons. I spend roughly $85/week for 4 people.

Turkey breasts are always on sale for $.99/lb the day after Thanksgiving
Same with pork shoulder the day after New Year’s
My family eats a lot of chicken breasts but also we do meatless meals 2x a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sign up for an app like Ibotta to get some money back. Takes about 5-10 minutes extra per shopping trip, but the savings add up.

drop is easier as an app. Works for Safeway, Whole foods

[Anonymous]

Biggest bang for your buck timewise is to upload the online coupons to your bonus card. Takes about 5 minutes to click through the site. Sometimes I really prepare and print out the list of added coupons. This can add up if you also combine with manufacturer coupons.

Also I regularly save $10 at Giant with the coupon Shoppers puts in their store circular that comes in the mailbox. Giant accepts all competitors coupons.

[Anonymous]

Our approach is to eat mainly vegetarian and cook from scratch. The food is so cheap--though that's not why we do it. We spend about 350/mo for 4 people (including a voracious teen boy), but we have taught and enlisted our kids to cook so we have time to make a lot more than many families. But I think it's more habit than time as we have conveniences like an instant pot that make cooking easy.

We shop at a combo of costco, amazon delivery and super hmart.

We buy bulk grain (quinoa, brown rice, steel cut oats etc.) and dried beans in bulk.
We buy bulk flours, yeast, baking powder and bake our own breads and treats.
We buy frozen fruits and veggies of basics from Costco.
We always have fresh: spinach, onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, red cabbage, sweet potatoes and then whatever is on sale and looks good of other veggies and fruits so we can make a great salad, stir fry, casserole or egg dish on a moment's notice.
We buy bulk popcorn and vary the toppings as our most common snack.

We have dried fruit, seeds, nuts on hand to add a nice varied touch to salads, oatmeal and stir fries. We buy the surprisingly good Costco Kirkland EV organic olive oil as our main fat. We always have some good quality olives and sundried tomatoes on hand too.

For non-vegetarian parts of diet we buy one kind of nice cheese and fresh fish--usual salmon for the week that we use as a touch to several meals. We also always have eggs, tofu and greek yogurt on hand.
We drink water mainly (well and coffee and wine...).

I really thoroughly enjoy all our food!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Price compare items -- taste test store brands, most are indistinguishable from much more expensive name brands.

Don't buy more than you can eat, and know what meals you'll be making.

Shop your pantry and fridge before you go to the grocery store, so you don't buy things you actually already have.

My DH cooks occasionally -- always a Big Deal. He invariably buys EVERY ingredient needed for a recipe without checking to see if we already have something. At last count we had 4 jars of at least 7 different spices, including poppy seeds. How do I use up 4 jars of poppy seeds?????

Lemon poppyseed muffins and/or cake.

[Anonymous]

See if you can reduce or stop buying certain kinds of processed food as these items are relatively expensive. Oatmeal instead of cold cereal, bulk flour and yeast for the bread machine instead of buying loaves of bread, etc.
Also, shop your fridge and pantry when planning meals - incorporate whatever you need to use up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sign up for an app like Ibotta to get some money back. Takes about 5-10 minutes extra per shopping trip, but the savings add up.

drop is easier as an app. Works for Safeway, Whole foods

I have Ibotta and it does indeed gives you rebates for Safeway, WF, and a bunch of other stores. How is drop different?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:See if you can reduce or stop buying certain kinds of processed food as these items are relatively expensive. Oatmeal instead of cold cereal, bulk flour and yeast for the bread machine instead of buying loaves of bread, etc.
Also, shop your fridge and pantry when planning meals - incorporate whatever you need to use up.

This is OP and this is one of my biggest struggles. It’s empty and I think it’s psychological. I NEED to have stuff in there for a rainy day.