Note From The Editor: Here at Frugal Americans, we love hearing from our readers. As it happens, we stumbled upon a homemaker who shared with us her family’s struggles and how she managed to save big by changing her grocery shopping habits. This is her story:
Here’s how I changed my grocery shopping habits and saved $4,800
I’m a busy mother, grandmother, and wife. And the fact is that over the past couple of years, my family has been feeling the financial squeeze of higher grocery prices, just like the rest of the country.
After speaking to my family about trying to cut back, we made three simple changes to our grocery shopping habits and saved $400 each month. Added up, that’s almost $5,000 a year.
We can all admit that American families are dealing with food deficits and the highest inflation numbers in supermarkets that we’ve seen in many decades. Think about it: Everything from eggs and bacon to juice and bread costs much more than it did last year.
And increasing grocery prices can put stress on anyone’s budget. This is why I knew it was time to make some changes when higher grocery bills threatened to stall my family’s financial goals. Keep reading to find out how I did it!
Set some goals
As a financial educator, I’ve dedicated my life to helping small business owners and women reach their financial goals.
But as much as I love assisting others in conquering the financial stresses in their lives, there’s another area that I’m even more passionate about as a working mom: my family. Love for my family has motivated me to shoot for the stars in many ways.
Retirement is also on my mind. So, financial freedom is essential to me because I aim to retire comfortably soon and spend more time with loved ones.
Inflation could threaten to derail or slow down these goals if left unchecked. So, I’ve decided to take action to offset the damage that a higher grocery bill has been doing to my family’s budget.
These are the smart grocery shopping habits that helped me save $4,800 on groceries in a year.
Grocery shopping habit: Buying in bulk
Monthly savings: $250
Buying in bulk could potentially save money and time if you’re careful with your shopping choices. The potential for this grocery shopping habit is why wholesale warehouse clubs are so popular.
I decided to put this theory to the test and started buying snack items, staples, detergents, and more in bulk at my local Costco and Sam’s Club stores. The adjustment to my shopping habits saved me somewhere around $250 a month.
Also, I realized that buying strategically in bulk meant I didn’t need to make multiple trips to the grocery store, saving me valuable time and gas money.
Grocery shopping habit: Welcoming technology
Monthly savings: $50
Another adjustment I made to save money on groceries was using technology to my advantage. I made some notable changes in my food budget by utilizing a couple of grocery shopping apps. This strategy also helps me monitor my spending.
The Flipp app made it easy for me to plan weekly meals according to my local grocery deals. Fetch Rewards also helped me earn gift-card bonuses on food purchases I was planning to make anyway.
Using these two convenient tools on my cell phone helped me raise some monthly savings of about $50, sometimes more.
Grocery shopping habit: Shopping from the pantry
Monthly savings: $100
The final significant change I made to my grocery shopping habits was first shopping from my own pantry. This decision saved me about $100 monthly. Before going to the supermarket, I would use all or most of the items I had in my pantry.
Another big help was watching YouTube videos to get some inspiration on making new meals from pantry ingredients. I sometimes searched for inspo online and came to find some delicious recipes my family loved!
Making the most of the savings
These changes in my grocery shopping habits helped me offset the negative impact inflation was having on my bank account. But the newfound budget-friendly choices helped me save extra, too.
I ultimately had the enjoyable task of figuring out how to use all that extra money. I’ve committed to a weekend road trip once a quarter with my husband, and the rest we’ve put into a savings account for our golden years.
Come up with your own savings plan
If you’re interested in cutting down on your food budget like I did, consider making these changes in your grocery shopping habits. You can also do a spending audit.
Start by looking at your bank statements for the past 30 to 60 days to see how much you’re spending on restaurants and fast food items. Reducing these purchases can help reduce discretionary spending and put money back into your monthly grocery budget.
I also recommend using cash to avoid overspending at the grocery store and planning meals around the deals offered at your local grocery stores.
Change your grocery shopping habits by not buying these 5 things!
Besides getting all this fantastic advice from our readers, we wish to put in our own two cents. So, we came up with a list of some things you can stop buying if you want to save TONS of cash!
Dryer sheets
Pick up a couple of reusable wool dryer balls instead of using dryer sheets. You’ll save money on repeat dryer-sheet purchases. And this grocery shopping habit will cut down on dry time by up to 40%, according to the dryer-ball manufacturer, which also saves on energy costs.
Napkins and paper towels
A 36-pack of microfiber cloths will cost you about the same as a 12-pack of paper towels. But one thing’s for sure: it’ll definitely last you much longer. You can even grab a stash of pretty cloth napkins while you’re at it.
Neatly store a mini hamper under the sink to throw in the dirty ones, and effectively keep paper products away from your kitchen.
We recommend these Eurow Microfiber Cleaning and Dusting Cloths from Amazon.
Name-brand items
While it might be true that some generic items don’t compare to their higher-priced brand-named counterparts when it comes to quality, it’s also true that some generic products are identical. This is true of hundreds of things, including food, medicines, household items, and so on.
Greeting cards
Believe it or not, all those purchases of a couple of bucks really do add up. Switching to free e-cards you find online instead of sending them in the mail is a fantastic grocery shopping habit that can save you money on postage, as well.
PaperlessPost, Smilebox, and justWink are just a few of the most popular options. But if you don’t like the idea of not giving them something to have and to hold, making cards is also a great way to go!
Bottled water
If you haven’t already, it’s time to get into the grocery shopping habit of NOT paying nearly $5 for a bottle of water when you can get it at home for free. If you’re concerned about quality or taste, you can purchase a water filter and reusable water bottle.
Canned sparkling water isn’t exactly reasonable, either. If you’ve developed a fizzy water habit, you can get a Soda Stream and make your own!
Share your thoughts with us…Can you make a few changes and get into these grocery shopping habit? Let us kn0w if you have any of your own money-saving tips you’d like to share with us!
In the meantime, we also think you’d enjoy reading about 12 Retirement Financial Mistakes to Avoid in Your Golden Years
