Grocery Budget Tips for Beginners
Trying to get a lower grocery bill has almost become an obsession of mine. The grocery budget is the highest and most busted category. But, it’s also the category with the most potential. I’ve compiled a list of my best grocery budget tips that any one, including beginners can do!
This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission. Please see my policy page for more information.
Grocery Shop Online to Manage your Budget
There is nothing worse than getting to the check out counter at the grocery store and having all your groceries scanned and bagged - to get a nasty surprise of the total. It’s happened to me more than once and then I always feel so obligated to pay it. There’s usually a line behind me, I’ve spent an hour picking everything out, and I can’t go through the groceries to put things back. Not only have I busted my budget but now I feel embarrassed to not pay it and leave.
I started grocery shopping online and doing a in-store pickup. I use Safeway so I just go to the Safeway app, put in what I want to buy, and check out. A couple hours later I can go and pick it up. I can put things in my cart ahead of time, take things out at my leisure, and keep an eye on the total to make sure I am paying exactly what I want to pay. Not only that, but the app will tell me if there’s any digital coupons or sales on the items I’m buying.
If you do prefer to go in store instead of pickup, the Safeway app actually has a scanner in it where I can scan the products I’m putting in my physical cart and it adds them to my cart on the app. I still have complete control over the total and it avoids the nasty surprise at the end. I can pull my cart over to the side and decide if I do want everything I put in it and I want to pay the price without the pressure of having a line behind me. When I scan the products on the app, it still tells me if there’s any digital coupons for it and I can clip them right there and then. All I have to do is enter my phone number at checkout and it applies all of my coupons and I walk away paying the exact total I was expecting.
Related Post: How to Keep Your Grocery Budget Low
2. Use the Weekly Ad and Digital Coupons Together
Every Tuesday, I get the weekly ad for Safeway in my mailbox. I can also look on their website and pull the weekly ad digitally. This will tell me everything that is on sale for the week and I can plan my grocery list by it. I like to see if things like juice or soda are on sale and then I can stock up when it’s buy 2 get 2 free. If it’s not on sale on the weekly ad then I know it’s not going to be on sale in the store and I skip it this trip.
Digital coupons have taken the grocery world by storm and it’s the only I way I like to coupon. You can clip them digitally directly from your grocery store app or online. It adds them to your account and when you enter your phone number at checkout, it applies them. My favorite thing to do is enter my phone number at the end and watch the total come down. You can clip as many as you want too. If you’re unsure about what product applies, on the app it tells you which products do so you know what you’re shopping for.
Using the digital coupons and the weekly ad together will help keep your grocery budget down with minimal effort. Sometimes if I don’t really want to plan the entire list with coupons, I’ll go into my account and clip all of them. If anything is on sale I am going to get it for that sale price without searching for it.
3. Make a Meal Plan and a List Before You Go to the Grocery Store
It’s much better to walk into the grocery store with a plan and a list. While it doesn’t keep you from adding that extra box of Oreos into the cart “accidentally”, it does help streamline your trip and make sure you don’t forget anything. Nothing is worse than getting back from the store only to realize you forgot something. It’s happened to me numerous times before and then I either have to go back to the store or I have to wait another week to get the condiment (it’s usually ALWAYS a condiment).
When you have a meal plan and you know what ingredients you need for it, you can substitute things that are on sale. Let’s say you’re making homemade Hamburger Helper (my favorite) and you were going to put ground beef in it but the ground turkey is buy 1 get 1, then it sounds like you’re making it with ground turkey! Meat is expensive - always look for the good sales and adjust your meal plans that way.
Related Post: Under $100 Grocery Haul
When you have a grocery list, it’s a lot easier to say no to things. Really want an extra ice cream? Is it on the list? No? Then no ice cream. If you tell yourself that you’ll put it on the list for next time, chances are you won’t and then won’t need to spend the extra money. There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself from time to time but those impulse buys will break a grocery budget fast. The list makes it a lot easier to say no to kids too. If it’s not on the list, it’s not in the cart. Plain and simple.
4. Shop your Pantry or Stockpile First
Shopping your pantry (or your stockpile!) means seeing what you have on hand first to make meals. If you already have an ingredient that means you don’t have to buy another. Or, worse, you didn’t know you had the ingredient and then you end up buying a second one you didn’t mean. Always take a look at your pantry before you decide what you want for meals. It saves money and it makes sure the food you do have doesn’t go bad. That’s just a good grocery budget tip. Food gone bad is a waste of money.
Try to make a couple of meals out of what you have on hand during the week. If you can make things you already have then you don’t have to spend the money on the food. It cuts down your grocery budget and it’s using food you already bought. While you still have to spend the money on all the food you have - it’s a lot easier to spread it out so you aren’t spending so much at one time.
Related Post: Creating a Food Stockpile
Get creative with cooking! A can of beans and a can of tomatoes goes a long way in dishes. It uses what you have, stretches the meal so that you can feed more people or have leftovers, and saves money on buying food. I always have a can of baked beans and a box of mac n cheese in my house when we need a quick meal. It also helps cut down on eating out when you “don’t have anything to eat”. Trust me - I’m guilty of it too when I have perfectly good food but I haven’t gone to the store so we don’t have anything I usually make. Time to get creative and save $60 on eating out at Red Robin (again).
5. Shop Warehouse Stores Like Costco, Sam’s Club, and Winco
We have a Costco membership that I pay $60 a year for. It has paid for itself in the savings we get from buying bulk. While you don’t necessarily have to buy in bulk for two people and a dog, we actually find it really helpful. One $20 pack of chicken at Costco can last us two weeks. Trying to get chicken to last for week at Safeway costs three times as much. We also like to stock up on toilet paper and dog food there.
It’s so easy to blow your budget at the warehouse stores because it feels like everything is “just” $20. You’ll $20 your budget to death real quick. 5 $20 items is already $100. Buy what your family will use and try not to get caught up in the good deals. I promise the good deals will be there when you go again. We’ve easily spent $300 without even trying. Another good grocery budget tip is to make sure everything you buy in bulk is either shelf stable or freezable. We once bought a tub of cream cheese and it molded in the fridge before I could even finish it. I should have spent the $2 or $3 on the small one at Safeway instead of the $12 one at Costco just to throw it out.
Asides from the great food (and paper products) deals at Costco - the deals on gasoline are top tier. I live in Washington where gas prices are on the rise. The Shell station by my house is selling gas for around $5 a gallon. Costco has consistently been around $3.50. I can fill my car up for around $40 and it was really important to get cheap gas when I was commuting 30 miles to work one way.
With a little planning and effort, you can easily get your grocery budget down. There is a lot of potential and things you can do when buying food. We all need food to live and it’s a budget category that will never go away. But, it really is something that can be manageable. Every grocery trip is a new trip to practice meal planning and these grocery budget tips. Even if you overspend one trip - the next will be better. Practice makes perfect!
I always bring my reusable grocery bags to the store. In Washington you have to pay for plastic bags but it’s a good habit to get into. I love that these fold into little bags and I can throw them in my purse so I’m never without a grocery bag!
Affiliate Link
