Meal planning is a low effort way to reduce grocery spend.
If you need a solution to your problem, you probably do what I do:
- Search Pinterest, TikTok, and Google to answer your question
- Read about the really obvious solutions
- Ignore the obvious solutions because they require too much work or a lifestyle change
- Read about someone who got a side-hustle or extra job to continue living the way they are used to
- Consider that
- Give up.
Unfortunately, most money dilemmas do have a really obvious solution, but require you to commit to making a change. You hear the same things over and over because that’s what actually works. The easiest thing you can do is try one of these strategies and see if that helps at all, then perhaps, try another, then another.
#1. Meal plan
Meal planning is essential to sticking to a budget. By doing this, you are acknowledging what you will actually eat. Look through the grocery ads first to see what is on sale and plan your meals around those items big savings items.
If you subscribe to my page, I will send you my meal planner for free! My Menu Planner lets you plan all meals for the week including a miscellaneous spot. This accounts for extra items like bake sale cupcakes cupcakes or tailgating food. There is also a grocery list on the bottom so you can bring your list shopping.
#2. Shop at Multiple Stores
If you have the convenience of living somewhere with multiple grocery chains, splitting your shopping amongst locations can be a quick money saver. Sometimes even the same store, on a different side of town, will have lower prices. I know that buying my canned and boxed items from Walmart will be about 1/3 of the price compared to my neighborhood grocer.
Always shop the dollar stores on the nice side of town, and the grocery stores in the less desirable part of town!
#3. Delivery and Drive-Up
This might not work for everyone, but there are a lot of cost savings methods so that it makes sense. My American Express Platinum card gives me a free subscription to Walmart+ and a discounted rate for Albertsons Fresh Pass. Right now, if you sign up using my referral link you are eligible for 100,000 points promotion. This is my favorite time saver and money saver for me! I have fewer opportunities to spontaneously add items to my cart. Plus, if I don’t specifically know what I want, the chances of a random goody just popping up are slim. I love being able to quickly fill out my list and then everything gets delivered while I’m doing laundry or cleaning the house. Even after tipping this usually costs me about $7, which is easy to spend since I rarely max out my grocery budget now.
#4. Bulk Shop with a Friend
If you are single, or just don’t like committing to a pallet of food, shopping with a buddy is a good way to split bulk items. I like to do this at Costco with vegetables or new food products. By doing this, you can split the item so it doesn’t go to waste if you don’t use it all or it’s just gross.
#5. Ignore Sales
Just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean you need to buy it! If you only need one case, only buy one case. Letting 40 cans of stewed tomatoes sit on your pantry shelf is not doing you any good. But if you actually go through stewed tomatoes every week, then stocking up is beneficial. If you do stock up on an item, make sure you properly store it so that it lasts as long as possible.
#6. Set a Grocery Budget
This is a big one! Your budget should be enough to feed you for that pay cycle, but not so much that you have extra money to throw at whatever you fancy. My rule of thumb is add up what you spent last pay cycle on food and minimize it by 1/4. If you are following the 6 other rules then this shouldn’t be too hard to do. It’s kind of a fun challenge too. If this doesn’t work for you because of location or number of mouths to feed, then give yourself a bigger budget. Your grocery budget should be in the sweet spot of providing what you need, but strict enough that you can’t just go crazy at the store.
#7. Coupons Aren’t Embarrassing
The only person you hurt by not using coupons is yourself. Food is already marked up, so you should be taking advantage of the options they give you to save. This is hard for some people, including me at first, but I realized that was silly. You should never be embarrassed for being responsible with your money. A lot of coupons are digital too, so nobody even has to know!