By learning how to shop smart and spot the best deals in the grocery store, you can reduce your grocery bill substantially.
Surprisingly, this is relatively simple to do. The secret lies in knowing where to go and knowing what to look for when you get there.
Here are five simple tips you can implement right away to help you spend less on your essentials.
1. Buy in Bulk
Buying in bulk has many benefits; you’ll take fewer trips to the supermarket, get more value for your money and if you shop smartly, you can stock up on items that will last longer.
Start off with the basics for all of your required food groups:
- Grains, beans, spices, flours, pastas
- Nuts, nut butters, seeds
- Quality tinned and frozen meats
- Frozen vegetables
Watch out for the gotchas:
- Don’t buy more fresh produce than you can consume
- Don’t assume buying at a bulk chain is always the cheapest option – check out the Price Check Experiment on Squawkfox for a comparison of Canadian giants Superstore and Costco. You might be surprised by the results!
2. Pay Attention to Unit Prices
Looking for the sale items is one tactic, but sometimes we can get drawn in by the big red “discount” sticker that is really a marketing ploy. Save yourself some extra cash by looking at the price per unit. Usually, the price per unit is labelled explicitly on the packaging itself (this would be per ounce, gram, pound etc.).
If you can’t find the price per unit, you can work it out yourself with this formula: Cost of Item / Quantity = Unit Price.
Watch out for the gotchas:
- When buying the generic store-brand for an item, check the name-brand competitor if it’s on sale. Sometimes name-brand items can be heavily discounted and work out as a better deal.
- If the smaller package is on sale, the larger package may still work out as a cheaper price per unit
3. Buy House Brands
The vast majority of house brands cost on average 25% less and are comparable or even created by their big-brand competitors.
Here are some items that are considered quality to routinely add to your shopping cart:
- Cleaning Supplies – Paper towels, cleaning agents
- Baking Ingredients – Yellow mustard, salt, sugar, raw oats, dried fruits and canned items
- Coffee – Namely Costco’s brand, Kirkland is a bestseller.
- Orange Juice & Milk – Made locally, there is often less processing and transportation involved, resulting in lower prices and higher quality
4. Try out the Local Ethnic Markets
If you don’t mind some aesthetic deficiencies in your fruit and vegetables, try out your local ethnic market for the cheapest deals.
Pros
- Cheaper than the bulk chains
- Offer larger quantities than regular grocery stores
Cons
- Use Class 3 fruit and vegetables, meaning that sizing errors and odd-shaped fruit is okay (vs. Class 2 offered in grocery stores)
- Fruits and vegetables may not last as long if they have been stored for some time
5. Stock up on Frozen Foods
Frozen fruit and vegetables are generally less costly than fresh produce and actually maintain their nutritional value extremely well, since they’re packed during their peak growing season.
Watch out for the gotchas:
- Avoid any extras such as special additives, sauces or cheese, since these not only bump up the price but are usually packed with extra fat, calories and sodium
- Make sure they have not been frozen into a lump – this can be a sign they have thawed and been refrozen again
Got your grocery shopping all planned out but need some healthy wholefood recipes to enjoy on a budget?
Download this guide: Good and Cheap: A Healthy Cookbook for Food Stamp Budgets by Leanne Brown
That’s 130 pages of recipes thast fit into a $4 a day food budget!
Got any tips of your own? Let us know in the comments below.
