To save money, it’s important to make a budget and stick to it. This isn’t always easy, especially when it comes to grocery shopping. Luckily, there are ways to stick to your budget without having to skimp on your family meals. Try these top 5 tips to help you stick to your budget while grocery shopping.
1. Plan Your Menu
Sit down and plan out your menu for the week. As you do so, look through the grocery store ads to find out what meat, produce, canned goods, and other items are on sale. Plan your meals around these sales. Then, once your menu is set, create your grocery list. And, stick to your list!
2. Shop Less
Have you ever gone to the grocery store to get one thing (maybe milk) and ended up with a whole cartload of groceries? You plan on spending a couple dollars, but you end up shelling out $50.
To prevent this from happening, only allow yourself to go to the grocery store once a week, once every other week, or even once a month. Stock up on everything that you’ll need, and then avoid the grocery store like the plague.
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3. Keep an Inventory List
What do you have in your pantry right now? What food is in your freezer? The fridge? If you don’t know, it might be time to create an inventory list.
List everything that you have in your home. Then, plan your meals around these items. Try to use everything before they go bad. If your pantry or food storage is overflowing, challenge yourself to make meals only using items that you already have on hand.
4. Dare to Shop Around
You probably have a store that you prefer to go to for all of your grocery shopping needs, right? However, you’ll find that you can save money by shopping around. Some of the cheaper grocery store chains are Aldi’s or WinCo. You could also try warehouses, such as Costco or Sam’s Club.
We here at Promocodes.com have even discovered that you can save money by shopping at a couple different local grocery stores. Watch the weekly advertisements, and go where the deals are for the week. You may even find that a pharmacy like CVS or Walgreens will have the best deals on things like milk and eggs.
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5. Choose Generic Items
In some cases, the best items are going to be the name-brand ones. However, we’ve also found that many generic brands are just as good—if not better—than their name-brand counterpart. And, as an added bonus, they’re cheaper. Save money by looking for the store brand items when you’re shopping.