We’ve all been shopping enough times now to know how it works: we’re encouraged to spend as much money as possible. The layout of most grocery stores means that we’re always presented with the most “sellable” items at the front – i.e. sweet treats at a price our stomachs can’t resist, or the household essentials offered by a trusted brand.
We end up missing out on the good deals because they’re not even labeled as a “deal” – not to mention that we never make it that far into the store.
There are plenty of ways you can save money on your weekly grocery shop, and spending a little more time browsing is only one of them. Here are the top 30 hacks to start implementing into your own shopping routine today.
1. Use up your surplus items
We all have tins of beans, tomatoes and soups that haven’t been touched in about four years. And yes, while tinned stuff might have a shelf life to boast about, it still goes out of date eventually. If you’re trying to save money, head into your pantry and see what you can use in there – no shopping needed.
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Elizabeth/ Flickr
2. Don’t always be allured by the big brands
It often seems like the biggest brands are the most well-known for a reason: because they’re the most trusted. But oftentimes, being popular simply comes down to having the most money to spend on marketing. The smaller brands are just as legitimate as the big ones, and you might actually end up preferring their products.
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Mike Mozart/ Flickr
3. Visit local food markets
When’s the last time you visited a food market to buy groceries? While food markets tend to be less convenient, you get to enjoy the atmosphere and pick up some freshly-grown produce for less. Plus, you’ll be supporting your local sellers, rather than backing the big guys, which is definitely a bonus from a local economy perspective.
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neajjan/ Flickr
4. Shop on a full stomach
We all know what happens when you shop when you’re hungry. You pop into the store to pick up some toothpaste, frozen peas and milk, and end up coming out with a few family packs of snacks because your stomach thought it’d be a good idea. Shopping while you’re hungry will result in you spending far more money on things you only want there and then.
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Christian Scheja/ Flickr
5. Try vegetarian cooking
More and more people are becoming exclusively vegetarian nowadays, but if that’s too much to ask, try cutting meat out of at least one meal a week. Natural vegetarian proteins like sweet potato and beans are far cheaper than steak and chicken. Going veggie means you’ll be doing your bit for the environment, too.
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Ella Olsson/ Flickr
6. Okay so yes, you can still use coupons to save $$$
We’re all a bit lazy when it comes to couponing – and can you blame us when we’ve got so much other stuff demanding our time and attention in the working week? But just a little extra effort with coupons can help you save hundreds of dollars per year. We could write a whole article itself on the best coupon hacks.
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Carol Pyles/ Flickr
7. Budget – and stick to it
It might be hard to believe, but budgeting can actually be… exciting. You get a weird sort of adrenaline rush from cutting your shopping budget in half, then actually achieving that smaller figure and realizing you’ve been spending way more than you needed to on previous shops. Budgeting is especially important if you can’t afford to spend more than a certain figure.
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GotCredit/ Flickr
8. Don’t fall for “special offers”
We’ve all seen the “special offer” stand at the end of supermarket aisles, advertising big-brand products at a “reduced” price. The offer can seem too good to ignore, but this is actually just clever psychology at work. Say you’ve come across a laundry detergent that seems much more affordable than normal. Head down the laundry aisle and you’ll find plenty of decent products already at the same price or less.
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Artem Beliaikin/ Flickr
9. Don’t shop so frequently
It’s probably the most basic tip on this list, but how many of us follow it? The more you shop, the more likely you are to accumulate more stuff: it’s simple math. Even if you live round the corner from a store and it’s convenient to nip in as and when, try to limit your visits to once a week only. If you can shop once every two weeks, even better.
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Michael Ocampo/ Flickr
10. Buy in bulk with the big cart
Gather up your friends and family and pay a visit to a wholesale store to save cash on your groceries. Buying in bulk means you pay less per item, so when you split the cost – and the products – between you, you could end up paying over half of what you usually pay on your weekly grocery shop.
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Open Grid Scheduler/ Flickr
11. Use discounts
We’re not talking about in-store discounts, here – we’re talking about discounts you might be entitled to just for being you. Unfortunately, there isn’t currently a “top mom” discount going, but if you’re a student or an Army veteran, for example, it’s worth checking to see if your local stores will offer you any discounts. Don’t just assume no, either – these discounts aren’t always advertised widely.
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Mike Cohen/ Flickr
12. Shop at the discount stores
It’s normal, as humans, for us to become set in our ways over time. We eat at the same restaurants, go on the same vacations – and shop at the same supermarkets. But if you’re not a regular shopper at discount stores, you could be spending more than you need. Affordable supermarkets offer high-quality products for less.
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Kristina D.C. Hoeppner/ Flickr
13. Get cashback from your buys
There are plenty of ways to get cash back on your shopping now, with very little effort on your part. Many phone apps will offer you cashback simply for logging your receipts. Of course, be wary of fraud, and only download an app if it’s legitimate and has more than 1,000 reviews.
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Mike Lawrence/ Flickr
14. Don’t always “buy one, get one free”
Another tempting offer that can usually be found in the grocery store is the “buy one, get one free” offer. Sounds great – unless you don’t actually need one of the items, let alone two. These offers are usually on products that nobody needs to buy, like cookies, in an effort to encourage more sales. And it usually works.
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Bobby P/ Flickr
15. Buy in-season produce
If you’re a fruit and veggie lover and love buying all kinds of exotic produce year-round, you probably know that prices jump up when the produce isn’t in season. If you can bear to part with certain items for a few months, try replacing them with in-season produce while you wait. You could always look for frozen alternatives for those out-of-season items, too which tend to be cheaper.
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Mike Mozart/ Flickr
16. Don’t always stay loyal to loyalty schemes
Another way that grocery chains will try and keep you shopping with them is to offer a loyalty scheme for its customers. The problem with loyalty schemes is that, even with the odd perk and discount of being a loyal customer, only shopping in one store will mean you’re missing out on better deals elsewhere. Keep this in mind if that’s how you currently shop.
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Karen Bryan/ Flickr
17. Opt for frozen, not fresh
Ever noticed that the frozen aisles are typically at the very back of the store you’re visiting? That’s because freezer food tends to be the cheapest, and supermarkets don’t want you to “cheap out” on your shopping. A top tip is to head to the freezer aisle first and see what foods on your list you can buy frozen at a lower cost per gram.
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Ben Schumin/ Flickr
18. Shop later
Us humans are very predictable in some ways. The big guys who own the supermarkets know that we’re most likely to visit their stores between 10am and 4pm on the weekends – so guess what? You’ll be hard-pressed to find a good discount then. Shop later in the evening on a weekday, however, and you’re much more likely to come across those bargain yellow labels.
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Bobby Mckay/ Flickr
19. Visit the “world food” aisles
Most supermarkets have an “exotic foods” or “world foods” aisle that offers imported foods like rice, grains, spices and sweet stuff. Some of the products offered in these aisles are more expensive, but some are far more affordable. Look particularly at the oversized products – if you’ve got space in your pantry, you can pay far less per gram for a huge bag of rice or beans.
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Paul Long/ Flickr
20. Get low
How many of us actively check the bottom shelf when we’re browsing aisles? Most of the time, you hit the area you need, grab your product from one of the middle shelves, and continue on your way. You might think that the middle shelves are where the best deals are at, but actually, the middle shelves house the products that the supermarket wants you to see. Which often means you’ll spend more money than you would on a bottom-shelf product.
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Beatrice Murch/ Flickr
21. Buy tinned foods
Canned soups, beans and potatoes are fantastically affordable – and they can be stored for years, too, so they’re a great option if you want to cut down on your food waste. If you’re after a quick dinner, tinned chilli, curry so on can be much cheaper than refrigerated microwave meals. Be aware, though, that certain tinned veggies, like peas and sweetcorn, are a lot cheaper to buy frozen.
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Matthew Hurst/ Flickr
22. Don’t buy to waste
If you love a good offer, it can be tempting to buy every single good deal you come across. But be wary of buying fresh foods that can’t be frozen, or even freezable foods that you won’t eat in time. Food waste is a huge problem in the US, so only buy food that you realistically know you will be able to eat.
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jbloom/ Flickr
23. Cook from scratch
You don’t have to be Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen to cook your meals from scratch. Staples like lasagne, pizza and stir fry are much easier to make than you might realize. Cooking your dinners from scratch means you can save money by purchasing low-cost ingredients for your recipe, rather than spending more on a prepared dish in the refrigerated section.
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Scott Rubin/ Flickr
24. Make a shopping list
Shopping lists are useful for two reasons: first, they tell you what you actually need; and second, they remind you of what you don’t. Having a shopping list can encourage you to only stick to the aisles you need, making you less likely to get tempted by products that aren’t on your list. Write down what you need on your phone or a piece of paper and you’ll be good to go.
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Karen/ Flickr
25. Grow your own food
Growing your own veggies is a really fun way to save money on your grocery shop – plus, you’ll get to enjoy fresh produce that tastes much better than the shop-bought stuff. Don’t have a garden? As long as you’ve got a balcony, or even just a bit of spare space by a big window, you can still grow potted plants like chillies and peppers.
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Forestfolks/ Flickr
26. Don’t stay loyal to one brand
Are you that person who refuses to eat any other cereal aside from Kellog’s? Or do you only buy Persil laundry detergents and turn your nose up at anything else? If you’re stubbornly brand-loyal, you’re definitely missing out on some bargains. It’s worth expanding your horizons to see what else you can get, for less.
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Mike Mozart/ Flickr
27. Make dinners in bulk
Batch-cooking your dinners means less waste and less money spent per meal – and that’s not the only benefit. Whether you’re a busy parent or you work late into the evening, batch-cooking your meals in advance means you can come home and eat something tasty without spending extra on takeout or a microwave meal.
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Boca Dorada/ Flickr
28. Food shop online
The COVID-19 pandemic has made online grocery shopping more of a normality than a luxury, which is great news from a money-saving perspective. Yes, you will often have to pay for delivery, but the money you can save by having that extra bargain-browsing time makes it more than worth it. Shopping online today isn’t just cheaper, it’s also safer.
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Sari Montag/ Flickr
29. Store your food properly
How many of us actually know the proper way to store our groceries? We might be putting some things in the fridge that belong in a dark cupboard, or simply storing refrigerated items on the wrong shelves. Make sure you know how to store your food properly and it’ll likely keep well beyond its “best before” date.
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Toms Baugis/ Flickr
30. Plan your meals
And finally, you’re going to find it difficult to stick to a budget – or write a shopping list – if you don’t know what meals you’re cooking in the week. Try not to randomly buy a few tins and veggies and hope that inspiration will hit at the right time. Instead, spend a few minutes writing down what you’ll make every day, and the ingredients you’ll need.
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Marco Verch/ Flickr
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