Grocery Shopping on a Budget
Pima Community Nutrition Education
Food is one of the hardest categories to budget. Grocery shopping is a significant expense for most families and households. Here are tips to make grocery shopping on a budget easily:
Plan ahead
1. Shop on a full stomach. An empty stomach would make you easily tempted to buy more than you need.
2. Make a shopping list. Write a list and stick to it in order to minimize buying unnecessary items.
3. Plan meals before shopping. Planning meals help you to buy items that you need.
4. Shop only once a week. You will spend more if you shop several times a week.
5. Check the grocery store’s weekly ad before shopping. Comparing food prices at different stores can help you in doing meal planning.
At the grocery store
6. Don’t shop when you ‘re hungry. Eating before you go grocery shopping helps you resist impulse buys.
7. Buy more fresh food. Pre-packaged food usually tends to be more expensive.
8. Check the price per serving. Unit pricing is the best way to compare similar products to find the best value.
9. Look to the upper and lower shelves. Higher priced items are usually placed at eye-level shelves. Check the price on the top and bottom shelves to find the cheapest alternatives.
10. Check different brands. Check prices of items that you want to buy in different brands in order to find the cheapest alternative.
11. Stock up. Buy extra frozen foods, canned foods, meat, rice when they are on sale. Watch expiration dates and package the food to preserve as long as needed.
12. Bring reusable bags. Some stores give you money off your purchase when you use reusable bags.
13. Use coupons. Coupons can be found in multiple forms accessible through various means, from newspapers to mobile apps.
14. Sign up for the store reward programs. Most of the reward programs are free to join. You can redeem points for discounts, coupons, or free products.
At home
15. Cook more meals at home. Pre-packaged food usually tends to be more expensive because of the labor cost.
16. Grow your own food. Plant tomatoes, basil, peppers, etc. It is fun and can help you save money.
17. Extend the food shelf life. Keep foods in their proper placement and know what you can do to preserve their freshness.