Budget Grocery Shopping Tips

Who dreads that weekly shopping trip to the grocery store? I know I do most of the time. The crowds, the prices, the time it takes to get through the store, and all the decisions on what to buy within your budget.

I’ve put together some tips I often use to make that trip to the grocery store a little less intimidating & more budget friendly.

First off always make a grocery list at home where you can see what you need or don’t already have along with planning your meals out for the week around the sale items at the store before you start your grocery list & stick to it!

Next up try to buy only in bulk the items you use the most of, or meats that you can divide up and freeze for later & don’t impulse shop!

Stay away from buying in single servings, for example, packets of oatmeal or the individual containers of apple sauce. I know they can be convenient, but you get so much more out of the regular serving sizes.

Another trick I have learned is to also check the per ounce or per pound price and not the total cost. Bigger doesn’t always mean cheaper, so use this tool as well when buying items in bulk. I also try to buy whole foods rather than processed foods.

Whole foods can be a package of chicken in the meat isle instead of a bag of chicken nuggets. Consider buying the generic store brand instead of name brand products to save.

You can also purchase fresh, frozen, or canned fruits & veggies based upon which is the best deal as described above. You can change up how you eat.

If you can’t afford meats all week, you can also substitute with alternatives like beans, legumes, eggs, nuts, seeds, & dairy like cottage cheese or yogurt or make up extra portions and freeze them for later, like egg cups, pancakes, leftover dinners, or even breakfast burritos and make your meals homemade instead of processed foods from a box or freezer.

One last thing I do is try to shop at the least busy times of day & pick a time of day or best day of the week to shop that is convenient for you. These are some things that help me budget my shopping and make it much easier to budget shop!

What are some ideas you use to budget shop or make the shopping experience less stressful?