Now days more and more people are trying to cut corners when it comes to their budgets. In the past 4 years I have saved more on groceries, than I did in the previous 10 years and here’s how I did it. And you can do the same!
1. Make a list of what items you “need” (milk, bread, eggs, etc.) – Not to be confused with wants.
2. Take inventory – I am constantly updating my inventory list, through the years of couponing I have thrown away out dated products, simply because I have over purchased and not used the items I had in my pantry.
3. Look through the weekly circulars – Every Wednesday morning I look through the ads to see what’s on sale for the week. I try to purchase only what’s on sale for the week. You can call your local stores to find out when their new circulars come out.
4. Visit Coupons.com – In my opinion Coupons.com is by far the best online service to print grocery and drug store coupons, but don’t limit yourself to just coupons.com, because SmartSource, Red Plum, and Coupon Network have some coupons too, just not as many to choose from.
5. Download eCoupons to your loyalty cards Get in the habit of taking the extra 10 minutes to visit SavingStar, Cellfire, Short Cuts, Soft Coin and Upromise and download all the eCoupons that fit your needs.
6. Make a weekly menu to match the weekly sales Not only will this save you money, but it will also save you time. Every Wednesday I make a menu plan for the week (Monday-Friday) for a couple reasons. One being that when I go shopping I only purchase items on sale for that week that fits my menu. Another reason I make a menu is save time cooking and clean pots and pans, let me explain. Let’s say on Monday we are having tacos and on Tuesday we are having spaghetti. I cook all the hamburger I will need to make BOTH meals on Monday. I set a side Tuesday’s meat and place it in the refrigerator, so come Tuesday all I have to do is add the meat to my sauce and cook noodles! Yay!!!
7. Take Cash! This is the best piece of advice I was ever given about shopping. You will limit the amount of impulse buying or extra treats for the kids and you will save money!
How do you save money on your grocery bill?
