Eating healthy and nutritious foods is not as expensive as you may think, it just takes a little bit of planning ahead and thought before you go shopping and the willingness to cook at home in smart and time saving ways.
Here are some suggestions to lower the cost of your grocery bill yet still eat quality food:
Price Matching
Price Matching
Besides buying groceries at your favorite store at an advertised price (on sale), try to shop at stores that offer price matching. Most grocery chains will offer price matching because of the fierce competition that exists in the grocery market for the food dollar. Price matching is like shopping at many different stores all in one place. It also saves you time and transportation costs.
You can match the prices of other stores by looking through your weekly flyers. All you have to do is show that lower price at checkout and the price is matched. Since I don’t get weekly flyers anymore, I like to use an app like Reebee, but there are probably many other price matching or similar flyer type apps out there for your smartphone and best of all, they are all free and created for where you live.
These shopping-type apps have all the flyers in your local area. All you have to do is pick your favorite store flyers and add them to a ”Favorites” section. Reebee allows me to do this by making it very easy for me to check on weekly basis all updated flyers in one convenient area in the app. Quickly browse each flyer and add to a shopping list the lower priced products. At checkout all you have to do is go to the shopping list section in the price matching app and show the lower price. It’s that easy, quick and convenient.
In the end, you will find that you can save a lot of money off of your weekly grocery bill! One of the best ways to shave dollars off your food bill.
Buy in Bulk
Buy what you need but in bulk without going overboard and overspending. The whole point is to save, not get carried away by over-buying! This is especially true for buying meat in bulk that can then be sliced and put in the freezer portions for future use. A lot cheaper than buying individually pre-sliced meat portions.
Fruits and Vegetables
Try to eat a larger percentage of your fruits and vegetables when they are in season. Not only are they much cheaper but they are more nutritious because they have properly gone through the ripening process or at least to a much greater degree.
Start a Vegetable and Herb Garden
Growing your own vegetables and herbs can save you a lot of money. Not only will you have a lot of vegetables to eat during the growing season but a lot of extra vegetables like: sweet peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, purslane, green beans, corn, etc.... that can be frozen and used in the late fall, winter and early spring. With respect to herbs like oregano and basil, they can be dried and used for years as seasoning or, in the case of mint, as a seasoning or in tea.
With a vegetable and herb garden, not only do you save money but it’s an holistic approach to life, an environmentally friendly way of life as well as a great way to get some extra exercise without leaving your home and without it even feeling like exercise.
Credit Cards That Offer Dollar Rewards
Stay away from paying with debit cards. If you are fiscally responsible, use a credit card instead. Preferably one that offers dollar rewards on the dollar purchase of your grocery bill. Some even giver extra bonuses for shopping at specific stores.
Avoid Food Service Apps
Food service apps like Skip The Dishes, Uber Eats and the many others that are out there may be very convenient but it is a very expensive way to eat. After all the fees they charge you for this convenience, your ordered meal will cost at least 30% or more of the original cost of the ordered food! Much cheaper to go for a walk and eat at the restaurant.
All or some of these tips will help you to save money and provide you with value-added benefits.
