How to Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half

If you find yourself cash-strapped at the end of each month, wondering where your money has gone, it's time to make a change.

But where to start? One of the best and easiest places to start is on your grocery bill because there’s often a lot of money that can be saved with very few changes to your family’s eating habits. Whether you need to adjust your household’s monthly budget, or you just want to make sure you aren’t spending more money than is necessary on your groceries each month, this episode is for you.

Today, I’m going to give you my top 4 tips on how to save money on groceries. These are tips I used in my own home to cut my weekly grocery bill by over 30%. If you follow them, I will guarantee that you will see more money in your wallet at the end of each month.

Tip 1: Track Price Tags

The first tip any frugalista will give on how to save on groceries is to start tracking prices. Grocery stores have all kinds of tricks they use to make you think you're getting the best deal in town. But how do you know if you are really getting a deal?

Here's an example: This week I saw that grapes were on sale at our neighborhood store for $1.99 per pound. That “special” was front and center on the store’s weekly circular. So why wasn’t I excited to go get a bunch of grapes for our home? Because they were on sale, at the same store, for $0.69 per pound last week. Yep, their new amazing sale price this week is almost 3 times the cost they were last week. Please forgive me for not getting excited about paying triple for the same thing.

Stores do this all the time. They put fancy yellow or red tags on items, put them in the weekly circulars, and set up bright displays all in an effort to make shoppers think they need to buy now. While watching the circulars, tags, and end caps can help you save on groceries, it only works if you know what a good price is for a given item. By tracking prices on the items you use most for about 12 weeks, you can start to see the cycles in which grocery stores run their sales. Some people use a binder to manually write down the prices of their favorite items each week, others use apps that do the work for you. I follow a slightly simpler method: I only remember the rock bottom prices on things and stock up when I see that rock bottom price again.

Tip 2: Buy When It’s Cheap, Not When You Need It

The next tip on how to save on groceries is to use your new knowledge of prices to buy items when they are cheap, not when you need them. If you know that you can get butter for less than $2 a pound, why would you want to buy it when it’s $4.50 per pound? Butter freezes, so when it drops below $2 a pound, buy a few packages and store them in your freezer until you need new sticks in your fridge. This goes across the board with any items that aren’t perishable. Cheese, milk, and meats are all able to be frozen, so if you have the freezer space, stock up when the items are truly on sale.

If you want to start small or your freezer can't handle that kind of volume, only stock up on items that your family uses on a regular basis, and get enough to last just a few weeks. Grocery store sales usually run in 6-week cycles. That means that 6 weeks from now, the item will be on sale again. Buy enough at the super low price to get you through just 6 weeks, then repeat when it’s on sale again. Because you know what the best, rock bottom price is for that item, you can feel confident that you're getting the best deal around!

Tip 3: Use Coupons Responsibly

If you want to take the “buy when it’s cheap” method to a whole new level, start clipping coupons. When you combine a sale price at a store with a coupon, that’s where the real magic happens. Let’s say that your local grocery store’s normal price on packages of shredded cheese is $4.29 per package. Then let’s say the cheese goes on sale for 2 for $4, that’s already a great deal. But what if you have a coupon for $1 off 2 packages? You are now able to get packages of cheese for $1.50, or 65% off the normal price.

If your store values all manufacturer coupons at $1 or offers double or triple coupons, that gives you the opportunity to get some items for free. How?

Well, if those items go on sale for a 10 for $10 sale (in other words, they are $1 each), using a coupon that is valued at $1 will get you that item for free. If the value on the coupon is greater than the price of the sale item, you could even get money back! It doesn’t happen very often, but almost every good couponer I know has gone into a store, only to leave with a bag of items and a few coins that a bewildered cashier was forced to hand over because the cash register came up with a negative number at the end. It’s a pretty cool feeling, and definitely worthy of social media bragging when you can accomplish it.

Only cut coupons for items that your family will use. That way, you'll save money and stay safe from the temptation of buying junk food.

The key to saving on groceries while using coupons is to remember to only buy things you would normally eat. This takes some willpower because it's tempting to fill you cart with items that you're getting for dirt cheap. When I first started couponing, I was super excited to see that I could get bags of chips for around $1 when they're normally priced at $4 per bag. And yes, chips at that price are a smokin’ deal, but we don’t eat a lot of chips at my house, so every bag that I put in my cart was $1 more than I would have normally spent. I was losing money by using too many coupons. How's that for irony!

That's why I recommend only cutting coupons for items that your family will actually use. That way, you'll save money and stay safe from the temptation of buying junk food and other items that your family doesn’t even use, or is better off without.

Tip 4: Always Have a Plan

My final tip on how to save money on groceries is to never, I repeat, never walk into a grocery store without a list and a plan. When you walk into a grocery store with no plan, you are at the mercy of the store’s marketing department and your own hunger cravings. You know that annoying feeling of looking into your fridge only to realize that although it’s full, you have nothing to eat? I would put money on the fact that this happened after you went grocery shopping without a plan. Or, if you're like me, when I go into a store without a plan, I buy a bunch of unhealthy stuff like ramen noodles because it’s what I'm craving at the time (don’t judge me). Once I eat the junk, the craving is gone, and I’m left with 12 packages of ramen and a guilty conscience.

Before you go grocery shopping, always make a meal plan for the week. Additionally, check the store's circular to see what's on sale and take inventory of your fridge and pantry. Make a detailed list of the items that you need to make the meals on your plan, as well as the staple items to stock up on. Having a detailed list will help you go into the store, do a quick lap through the aisles, and get out before you're distracted by the store's marketing tricks. It does take some self control to not succumb to the big yellow "Sale!" signs that assault you every step of the way, but if you can commit to purchasing only the items on your list, you're definitely going to save yourself a lot of money.

So those are my 4 tips on how to save money on groceries. None of these tips are huge changes and none of them will dampen the quality or variety of your meals (quite the opposite). But putting them into effect will require a little extra effort in the beginning. Once you get into a routine, grocery shopping can even become a bit of a game. The days I come home having paid $25 for $80 worth of groceries, Mr. Domestic CEO gets to sit through a presentation of how much each item cost because I get that excited about saving. (Don't worry, he loves it).

Have a little fun competing with yourself and see how much money you can save today!

This originally appeared at http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/house-home/budgeting/how-to-cut-your-grocery-bill-in-half