7 Tips To Help Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half

Are you always finding yourself spending huge amounts at the supermarket and wondering what you have to show for it?

Do you still find yourself running to the shops again because you’ve forgotten something or run out of something, spending even more of your hard-earned dollars than you anticipated?

When you add it all up, the weekly shop and any other trips back to the supermarket could be costing you $250-$400 a week if you’re not careful. That’s a lot of money especially when you find yourself cash-strapped waiting for pay day!

Here’s some changes you can make to the way you shop to try to cut that grocery bill in half!

1. Plan, plan, plan!

Going in to the supermarket without a plan of attack is a recipe for disaster and you’ll find yourself forgetting basic items or impulse buying things you didn’t anticipate bringing home in the first place.

Before you do anything else, before you set foot in the supermarket, you need to plan and make a list! Check what you have in the pantry, the fridge and the freezer.  What basics/essentials do you need to stock up on? What about toiletries, cleaning products and so on? Write it all down on a list.

Plan your meals for the week or fortnight (however you shop) and make sure you write down any ingredients you need on your list as well. Try to plan multiple meals that use the same ingredients so you can use everything up that you buy. Also, plan to make meals that will make leftovers to have for another time (either reheated the next night or frozen for a later date, or to use as lunches during the week) so, you can use up everything you buy without waste.

Don’t forget to take the list to the supermarket with you (I use an app on my phone and always add to when I know I’m running out of things so, I don’t forget when I get to the supermarket!)

2. Pay attention to prices

Get to know how much the items you regularly buy cost. Pay close attention and when you are at the supermarket, check the unit cost on these items. You might be better off spending an extra dollar to buy something that is a lot bigger and will last longer than the smaller product, meaning, you won’t have to replace it again quickly.

You can also use this knowledge to buy things when they are on sale even if you don’t necessarily need the item at that point in time, so you don’t pay full price for it in a week or two when you need it. For example, I always buy things like deodorant and washing powder at half price, I never pay full price for these items, and I never run out.

3. Buy generic brands

It’s definitely worth looking at the generic “home brand” versions of your favourite items and adding them to your trolley. You’ll find that often the nutritional content is the same and the items don’t taste much different. Other times, these are the EXACT same thing, made in the same factory by the same manufacturer with the supermarket’s label applied.

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