Shopping for groceries is an expense that can’t be avoided. You can survive without paying for restaurant meals, life insurance, a car, new clothes, entertainment and contributing to a retirement plan. But when the refrigerator and pantry are empty, or even near empty, groceries are high on the priority list.
Groceries can be costly, though not as much as housing, transportation and other expenses. The average U.S. household with children spends $158 a week on groceries, and a household without children spends an average of $103. Added up monthly, it’s a good amount of money to spend on groceries.
But there are ways to save money on groceries that you may not know about that go beyond cutting coupons and shopping at discount stores such as Costco — though those are good first steps. Here are 11 ways to save money on groceries that should add up to substantial savings:
Shop on lower shelves
Bargains are on the low shelves for a few reasons. Food makers pay for the privilege of having their products put on the middle shelves, where they’re more likely to be spotted at eye level by shoppers than they would be at higher or lower shelves.
Discontinued items or brands that aren’t as popular as other may be put on low shelves, giving shoppers an easy place to look for low prices. Some low shelf items are as much as half the cost of eye-level items.
Buy store brands
A typical profit margin for a grocery store is 1%. A grocery chain can increase that by selling its own brands, also called private labels. Since they control the shelf space, they can put their less expensive private label next to a brand name product, and show shoppers the price difference side by side.
Avoid the highest markups
Some things shouldn’t be bought in a grocery store, no matter how convenient it is, because the prices are marked up so high that you’re better off shopping for them elsewhere.
Bottled water, for example, is marked up by up to 4,000% at some supermarkets. If you’re not going to bottle water from your tap at home, then buy bottled water at big-box stores or in generic form. Don’t buy from the big-name water companies.
Other items with big markups include any type of meat that has been pre-cut into smaller pieces to make cooking easier, and anything else that’s pre-cut or already prepared such as salads, fruit, and vegetables. Take the time to cut them up yourself at home and save 40% or more.
Avoid non-food items
Going to a grocery store should be for just that: groceries. Don’t buy batteries (70% markup), magazines (90% markup) or anything else that you can find elsewhere. You can probably find them at a drugstore on sale, or buy a magazine subscription to save money, or buy in bulk somewhere else and save more money than you would at a grocery store.
No specialty foods
Like pre-cut fruit, vegetables and meat, avoid buying food that you can cook at home. These include loaves of fresh-baked bread that you can make at home for half the cost, gourmet cheese, and the antipasto bar.
Buy seasonal groceries
If it’s fall, don’t look for a deal on strawberries, even if it’s your birthday and you really want a strawberry pie. You’ll obviously find better deals on strawberries in the summer.
Know what fruits and vegetables are in season in your area, and only buy as many as you’ll need that week. Or, can or freeze them for a treat in the off-season.
Have a grocery list
Walking into a grocery store hungry is one mistake that will likely lead to you spending more money than you planned. Not having a grocery list is another.
Without a list that you’ve made after planning meals for the week, you’re more likely to make impulse buys. A list can also help you from pushing your cart down aisles where you don’t need to go, such as the soda or potato chip aisle if you don’t have those items on your grocery list. If you don’t see chips on sale, chances are you won’t seek them out and buy them if you’re sticking to your list.
There are plenty of smartphone apps for this, or at least use pencil and paper to come up with a list before you leave the house.
Follow the sales cycle
Most grocery stores follow a six-week sales cycle, putting some staples such as cereal and toilet paper on sale every six weeks. That’s when to stock up on what’s on sale that you use often.
My house goes through enough peanut butter that when I see a sale at my local grocery store, I buy a few extra containers that I figure will last us until the next sale. The same goes for soup or anything else that goes on sale and will last awhile.
Some sales are seasonal, such as early summer for condiments and the beginning of cold and flu season for tissues.
Coupon policy
Using coupons isn’t enough if you want to save money on groceries. Know your store’s coupon policy so that you can use as many coupons as possible.
For example, does the store have a limit to how many coupons can be used to buy an item? Do they have a dollar limit?
Do they accept expired coupons? For how long? Do they accept mobile coupons from your phone? Do they match other stores’ coupons or have double or triple the coupon values?
Shop on Wednesdays
This midweek day is when managers are likely to discount items that aren’t selling well. It’s also when new circular ads from grocery stores are often released, so look for sale items there too.
For extra savings, buy things after holidays, such as candy after Halloween and Christmas items on Dec. 28.
Check your receipt
As fast as the cashier may be going, do your best to check prices as they’re being rung up on the cash register. Prices change daily, and you don’t want to be charged the wrong price for something you thought was cheaper than what you’re being charged.
If you think a price is wrong, ask for it to be checked. If you were charged incorrectly, sometimes the store will give you the item for free, even after you’ve gotten home and checked the receipt.
Those are some of our best suggestions for saving money on groceries. What do you do to save on groceries each week? Leave your comment below.
