How To Pay Less For Groceries

A few weeks ago, while grocery shopping, I overheard a Dad saying to his son: "If milk stays this expensive, you're going to have to start drinking water instead".  All I could think was "people actually pay full price for a gallon of milk"?!  I don't remember the last time I did that.

I want to start off by saying, paying less for groceries does not require a lot of planning on your part; this is not extreme couponing.  It does require a little bit of effort, but it's well worth it.  Here are a few simple steps to saving lots of money on groceries.

Step 1: Price Match!

Each Monday, all the local grocery store ads are delivered in our mailbox (I think there are five of them).  I pull them out, take out a notebook and write down all the prices of items we might purchase.  This step takes about 15 minutes total.  This is also a reason I never pay full price for a gallon of milk; very rarely is there a week that milk is not on sale at a local grocery store.  Price matching is also the best way to get produce for as cheap as possible.

Step 2: Find a Store that will Price Match

I know a lot of people will cringe when I say this, but I do all my grocery shopping at Walmart.  On occasion, we will pick up produce & meats from a store closer to our house, but Walmart seems to be the best bet when it comes to price matching.  AND, we just happen to have a really nice Walmart near our house. In their policy, they state that they will never make you show them the ads that you got your prices from.  You simply tell them you want to price match, you tell them the price of each item (that you wrote down in your notebook) & they enter it into the register.  It's really simple.  In fact, many cashiers will already know the prices of common price matched items because so many people do it.  For example, many people will price match milk for $1.87 each week.  

*On a side note: It seems like women cashiers in their mid-50's tend to question me the most.  No, I'm not cheating the system (and never will), I just know how to get things for cheap.  I've had women cashiers tell me that I couldn't use a coupon in addition to price matching; I know that's not true because I've read their policies (yes, I'm a nerd).  Anyway, over time, I've learned that it's best to find either a male cashier or a younger cashier; they won't question you.  : )

Step 3: Clip Coupons

Again, I'm not telling you to go collect coupons and sort them in binders; this is not extreme couponing.  We have a few coupon ads that come in our weekly paper and I use the website: coupons.com.  I cut out anything and everything that we might consider eating.  We try a lot of new foods this way.  I spend about 10 minutes cutting coupons each week.  I keep them in a bag in the kitchen & pull out the ones I want to use each week.  Last week, I had items that were on sale & I had a coupon for them.  I ended up getting Nature Valley Granola Bars, Eggos & Kraft shredded cheese for $1 each because of this.

Step 4: Plan Meals & Snacks around what is on Sale/What you have a coupon for

If I price matched ground turkey & bell peppers, I know that I can make Turkey chili for dinner this week.  If I have a coupon for a specific type of string cheese, that becomes one of the snacks we have in the house this week.  Of course, you still want to make sure that with a coupon or price match, you're still getting the best deal.  Sometimes, it's still cheaper to buy the "off brand".  This step requires you to be open minded & try new things.  If you're a creature of habit and buy the same things every week, this will be a change for you. 

For our family of four, I spend about $85 a week on grocery shopping.  This includes all ingredients for at least 5 dinners, snacks, fresh produce, lunch items and every day staples (like milk, cheeses & eggs).  How much does your family spend on groceries each week? Leave a comment below!