One of the best ways to save at the grocery store is to plan out your trip. If you go into your trips blind, you are move likely to spend more money. Planning out your trip can be more involved than just simply creating a list. Here is how plan my frugal grocery trip each week.
Check the sales flyers
This is the first thing I do. I check to see what is on sale that week. I put the sale items that I will be purchasing on my list.
Check the pantry, freezer, etc.
After I write down the sale items I’ll be purchasing, I go through my pantry, refrigerator, and freezers to see what I’m out of or will be soon.
I then check my coupons. Any that might go with the sale items or items I need to purchase, get put with my list. I also look through to see which ones will be expiring before my next trip. If it is something we need and we have the money in the budget, I add the items to the list. I may not necessarily need shampoo or whatever that week but if I can get it at a good price, it goes in my stockpile. It is much better to spend a little money now than a lot of money later.
Check the calendar and weather
I like to check the calendar to make sure we don’t have anything special coming up that I forgot about. If we are going to be gone a day or having company over, I need to make sure I’m prepared. I also like to check the weather. If it is going to be a warm, I’ll be sure to look for a deals on something to grill. Or if it is going to be cooler, I’ll look for deals on things like stew beef.
As you can see, how I plan a grocery trip is fairly simple. However, without the plan, I would spend a lot more money. I typically get all that done on the afternoon before I go shopping. With Abby underfoot and wanting to play with the expired coupons, it takes me about 45-60 minutes. Without that, it is about 30 minutes. Well worth it to be able to save money at the store.
Rachael DeBruin says
I like the tips!! Pinning this one on my saving money board 🙂
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
Thanks!
Becca @ The Earthlings Handbook says
This is great advice! One thing I’d add is, when looking in the pantry and freezer, make sure you don’t already have a lot of an item that’s on sale–unless it is something you could donate to a food pantry–because there’s no point saving money on food that will go bad before you can use it.
Another thing I do when planning my shopping, if I’m going to the food co-op, is to gather my reusable containers for bulk food. This takes some evaluation, because just because we have an empty container marked for lentils, for example, doesn’t mean we need more lentils ASAP–it might mean lentils were on sale a while back and we stocked up–so I have to check the pantry for that, too.
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
Of course. Never buy food (or anything) just because it is on sale. 🙂
Janell Mares says
Hi, I am stopping over from Frugal Friday Link Up Party! These tips are great! I dread grocery shopping. Thanks for these great tips!
Julie @ Loggers Wife says
Thanks for stopping by! I actually kinda like grocery shopping sometimes. I know. I’m weird. 🙂