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Of the major categories in your household budget, food is one of the expenses that you can get the most savings from. There are many ways for you to cut back on food and groceries without compromising the needs of your family.
The daily intake of your family is very important but you should understand that good nutrition should not necessarily be expensive. In fact, eating healthy food is sometimes more economical. That is what we will be concentrating on in this article. How you can make smart spending choices when you are out grocery shopping.
Tips to smartly lower your grocery bills
We all have our own grocery habits. You need to analyze that so you can identify if you are spending too much on certain products. The best tip that you can get is to create a list before you go out to shop. This is applicable not just when grocery shopping, but whenever you are out buying things. It can be for clothes or even for the school supplies of the children. Create a list before you go out so you eliminate the danger of impulsive buying.
Here are more tips that will really help you make smart spending decisions as you complete your grocery needs.
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Plan when you will go grocery shopping. Most people buy their groceries on a weekly basis while others do it on a monthly basis. Keep yourself from making daily grocery trips because that will cost you more time, money and effort. Plan your grocery shopping only a few times a month. The less you go, the more savings you should get – even with your gas.
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Make a menu. It should be planned depending on when the grocery shopping happens. If it is monthly, then you need to create a monthly menu plan. This will help you bulk buy some products and that should get you more savings. You will be able to take advantage of the buy one take one promos in your local grocery store.
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Know when sale events happen. These events are usually announced before the actual date of the sale. Sign up for email notifications so you are always updated. Some store will even show you the items that will be on sale.
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Base your menu around items that cost less. This is applicable to both seasonal and sale events. If a fruit is on season, you may want to create your menu around it. The same is true for items that are on sale in the grocery.
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Know the right substitute for certain products. If you do not have an ingredient, instead of running to the grocery to buy that one product, see what you can use as a substitute from your stores.
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Opt for generic brands. Store labels usually come out much cheaper because the store naturally wants you to prioritize them. Try them out and you could find that their quality is the same as the name brands that you often prefer. You can save a lot this way.
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Clip coupons. A coupon is your best friend if you want to save on your grocery shopping. Check out couponing sites like TheCouponClippers.com or GroceryCouponNetwork.com. You can also see specific store coupons like those from Walmart or Target.
You also have the option to grow your own produce. What better way to save on grocery than to eliminate the need to buy them? If you love to garden anyway, why not grow fruits and vegetables that you usually put on the table. That way, you are also sure that what you are serving your family is healthy. It will also make huge savings on your budget.
Use your leftovers to cut back on grocery expenses
There is another thing that you can use to indirectly cut back on your grocery expenses. A huge amount of money is usually wasted on leftovers. By utilizing your leftovers, you can actually help minimize your grocery bills. It is one way to make your overall food costs lower. Here are two tips that you can use when dealing with leftovers.
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Plan the next day’s lunch based on the leftovers of dinner. Or vice versa. If you had roast chicken for dinner, you can make a chicken salad for lunch or a chicken sandwich. There are many recipes for leftover food and it can help support your bulk buying efforts.
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Brown bag your lunch. This will help lower the money that you have to spend in the office. Simply make more at dinnertime and pack a portion of it for lunch. Add some fruits to give variety to your meal.
Remember that when you cook two meals at once, it will also save you time and effort. Not to mention the savings on gas (or electricity, depending on your cooking equipment) and water too. After all, cooking once will minimize your need to keep on washing pots and pans. That may be stretching, we know, but if you think about it, smart spending is also about maximizing the money you spend on. It may all seem tedious but you can get used to all of it.
