Jeff McRitchie

Tips for Saving Money while Grocery Shopping

With the receding economy of the last few years, people have had to get creative with their finances.  Here are a few easy things you can do to help you save money while feeding your family.

With the receding economy of the last few years, people have had to get creative with their finances. For many, this meant learning how to maximize the money spent at the grocery store. Here are a few easy things you can do to help you save money while feeding your family.

• Plan your menu every week. Eating out can take a big slice of your budget. When you have a weekly food plan, you avoid last minute drive through runs or pizza orders. Having a menu in place also helps you avoid leftovers. If you're having tacos one night, plan to have breakfast burritos for dinner later in the week to use up the leftover taco meat. Or have roast chicken one night and make a soup out of the extras. These are just a few examples of how planning saves you from throwing away extra food.

• Make a list of what you need and stick to it. Impulse buys will fill your cart with unneeded items and eat away at your budget.

• Buy what's on sale. We're not talking about buying something simply because it's a good deal; there's no sense in having ten cans of tuna if your kids won't eat it. But if your family eats ground beef every week and there's a sale going on, stock up and throw the extra in the freezer.

• Invest in the Sunday paper. Besides the generic coupons, stores generally put out an ad every week highlighting their specials. These often include store coupons as well. By planning your weekly menu around what is on special at your local grocery store, you'll be able to serve the freshest foods for the lowest cost. This as well as the other coupons you can use will probably more than pay for the cost of the paper.

• Pay attention to the unit price. Sure the smaller bag of flour costs less right now but the larger one is likely to be less per pound, even though it costs more. Paying attention to these things will save you money on things you buy regularly. For specialty items, go ahead and only get what you'll need.

• Buy in bulk. Back to our flour example, if a small bag is $1.38 per pound and the large bag is $0.98, the bulk option is likely to be $0.75. These are just arbitrary numbers to make the point that things sold in bulk are cheaper. Not to mention better for the environment.

• Organize your recipes. This is best done by consolidating them all either to a three ring binder or a recipe box. Either way you'll also want to protect them from splatters by laminating them or using page protectors. How can this save you money? Tried and true recipes allow you to buy ingredients you know your family will like, so you won't waste money on food that ends up in the trash.

• Organize your coupons and take them with you to the store. Having a neat and orderly coupon system helps you remember to use them. Make sure you have a section for ones that will expire soon so you can take advantage of the savings before it's too late.

• Join the store's loyalty program. This gives you on the spot savings and often you'll get specialty coupons in the mail. Some stores even offer a rebate or a credit toward your next purchase every six months or so, depending on the store.

These are just a few ways to cut costs while spending money. Planning your menu is one of the best because you'll avoid throwing food away. Cutting coupons and taking them with you as well as planning around what's on sale can offer significant savings every month. And taking the time to organize both your recipes and your coupons streamlines the entire process. Good luck and happy shopping!

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