Are you saving for a major financial goal like a home loan downpayment, an overseas trip or retirement?
You can make great inroads by slashing your grocery bill by $100 each week. I put together this video with our best tips on how to save money on food…
ABS Census data showed that in 2016 Australians spent 16% more on groceries than in the previous census period according to this Australian Bureau of Statistics table. At Bright Spenders, we’re 100% sure you can save on your grocery budget with a little planning and some savvy shopping skills.
If you use a Spending Planner there’s no need to track your expenses. Try these tweaks to save on your grocery budget (no coupons required) and save potentially up to $5200/year
1. Save Money on groceries by Planning ahead.
Making a plan before you head out to the grocery store is our favorite way to save money on groceries. It’s one of the simplest but most effective things you can do to really ramp up your savings.
Start by planning your meals for the week, by creating a calendar of meals. Mark any times you already plan to eat out, and work around that. By writing down exactly what ingredients you’ll need for all your meals, you’ll eliminate expensive mid-week trips back to the store for just one thing where you mysteriously end up with an extra few packets of Tim Tams.
If you are really stretched for time (and only if you have a few more dollars in your budget), you could try an online meal-planning service. Each week they send new recipes, including entrees and side dishes, along with a complete shopping list organized by grocery store section. That way you don’t have to spend hours scrolling through Pinterest recipes or repeating the same meals week after week. Just bear in mind that you will pay extra for this kind of service. So this is not a tip for people who really want to save super fast.
Plan your time. Rather than trying to cram your grocery trip into a busy day and grabbing unnecessary items along the way, designate a shopping day and give yourself plenty of time to shop. You’ll actually spend less time shopping overall, and far less money.
Plan with your family. Communicate with your spouse about shopping needs so you don’t double-buy. There are some great Apps like Wunderlist which are great for sharing your shopping list so you and your spouse both know what to get the next time you head to the grocery store.
2. Be a savvy shopper.
After you’ve made your list, try these savvy shopping tips to save a bunch of money on your next grocery run.
- Eat before you shop. Toothpaste can look tasty if your stomach is growling. Eating a snack first could save you $10 per week on food you end up buying that’s not on your shopping list.
- Buy generic over branded. Did you know that if more of us purchased store brands, we could save roughly $44 billion collectively? It seriously pays to be brand un-loyal! Store brand quality is really just a high without the extra price-tag that people are paying for advertising.
- Choose smaller carts. An empty shopping cart begs to be filled — which means you always buy more than you need. If you don’t have much on your grocery list, then carry a basket around the store instead.
- Look at the price per kilo to determine the best value when comparing different brands or container sizes, and those savings add up over time.
- Go solo. If you shop with a spouse or friend, you might talk yourselves into purchasing something you wouldn’t have even considered if you were by yourself. When you’re alone, you can just zip in, buy things, and zip out.
- Look out for store incentives. Reward points or discounts on gas cards if you shop at certain stores can save a lot. It definitely pays to keep an eye out for store incentives.
3. Only spend a fixed amount on groceries each week
The great thing about using the Spending Planner is that you know exactly how much you have allocated for your weekly grocery shop, and it turns up in your designated Weekly Spending FFFI account (FFFI stands for Food, Fuel, Fun & Incidentals).
And once that grocery money is spent, that’s it. There’s no dipping into the Cookie jar for more. You’ll clearly see when you’re overspending or not. And you start to get creative about ways to use the non-perishables in your pantry and leftover veggies and other foods in your fridge.
At the moment I’m on a ‘buy no new herbs’ spree. I realised that I had stockpiled herbs for a long time, so now I’m using them up before I buy any more. And herbs are expensive – so there are major savings to be had simply by refusing to buy more.
Grocery shopping has become a bit of a game for me. I’m constantly looking for ways to shave a bit more off my weekly spend so that I can scoot more and more of our funds over to projects we really value.
New habits, big savings.
Save big on your monthly grocery budget simply by incorporating some of these new habits. Without a doubt, smart shopping saves you big money—we’re 100% sure of it.
Now that we’ve shared our favourite tips for saving money on groceries, please share your grocery saving hacks with us in the comments section below! Share the love!
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