How to Save Money on Groceries & Food

In this money saving lesson we are working through how to save money on groceries and food. These modules can be used to lower your monthly grocery bill and other food related expenses.

Please know, this lesson is part of a larger course on how to save money on everything (click here to read the introduction). Check out the other lessons for more ways you can save money here.

Table of Contents

1. Buy in Bulk
2. Buy Food in Bulk & Freeze It
3. Buy Generic Products
4. Buy Vegetables & Fruits in Season
5. Buy Frozen Vegetables & Fruits
6. Bring Your Own Bags
7. Meal Prep a Portion of Your Meals
8. Use Coupons
9. Shop at Budget Grocery Stores
10. Don’t Buy Pre-Cut or Pre-Prepared Food
11. Don’t Buy Pre-Washed Salad or Lettuce
12. Don’t Buy Bottled Water
13. Watch the Prices at the Cash Register
14. Buy Potatoes in a Big Bag
15. Buy the Loss Leader Items
16. Shop the Perimeter of the Store
17. The Duh List

1. Buy in Bulk

• 🧾 Description – Buy products in bulk, but especially non-perishables or stuff you are 100% certain you will fully use before it goes bad. If you have access to Costco or Sam’s Club membership that’s ideal, otherwise, you can still find good bulk items at typical stores. Item categories to focus on include toiletries, dental care, paper products, batteries, cereal, canned food, rice, and dry beans. Items to avoid included perishables, fruits, vegetables, dairy, spices, and condiments. Further reading and examples.
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate
  • Time will vary depending on if you need to go to a special store and/or how many bulk items you make a point to buy
• 💰 Cost – free (if you shop at grocery store), $60 / year (Costco), $45 / year (Sam’s Club)
  • Varies based on your habits, but in general, you’ll have more upfront costs, but will save over the course of the year
  • Will vary based on how many bulk items you buy.
  • The most important thing to remember is only buy bulk items if you are 100% sure you will fully finish them before they are able to expire. If you cannot do that, don’t buy in bulk, as you’ll just end throwing away your savings.
• 💲 Savings – $480 / year. 
  • Varies based on your habits, in general, the more items you buy in bulk, the more you save
  • Savings varies by region, country, and item. However, according to this source on average you save 31% by buying in bulk with a 40% savings on cereal / bread, cooking / baking, and snacks. A 66% savings on raisins, syrup, bottled water, and plastic bags. And up to an 83% savings on aspirin and hand sanitizer. If you spend $300 / month on groceries that’s $3,600 / year. Let’s use a conservative 15% reduction in total costs by buying in bulk (since you cannot buy everything in bulk). That’s a total savings of $540 / year. If we subtract the cost of your Costco (or Sam’s club) membership that’s a savings of $480 / year.
  • Here’s a specific example. Let’s say your family eats a lot of rice. A 16 ounce bag of long grain white rice from Kroger is $0.89, which of course is $0.89 per pound. The same rice in a 5 pound bag is $4.77, which breaks down to $0.47 per pound. That’s half price! Better yet, it stays fresh for a long period of time, so not much risk of it expiring. If you eat 50 pounds of rice over the course of a year you’ll save $21 / year, and that’s just on one bulk item.

2. Buy Food in Bulk & Freeze It

• 🧾 Description – When you find good deals on products you can buy in bulk stock up and freeze those products. Meat, fruits, vegetables, and more are great to freeze. If you want to do a lot of this, it’s worth getting a vacuum sealer system like this. If it’s something you just want to do at a small to moderate level standard quart freezer bags are perfectly fine.
• ⏳ Effort – Moderate
• 💰 Cost – $2.50 for around 38 freezer bags (Kroger)
  • That breaks down to a cost of $0.065 per bag
• 💲 Savings – $81.67 / year
  • For our example, we’ll assume we’re going to freeze 6 things per month and we’ll use our standard quart sized freezer bags. That’s 72 bags per year at a cost of $4.73 per year. Beyond that, your savings will really vary depending on what you’re buying. Freezing foods allows you to buy in bulk, buy in season, and buy foods that are on sale because they expire soon.
  • Buying fruits and vegetables in season can save you 50% compared to the out of season cost. Buying bulk meat can also save 10-50%. Buying meat that’s near the expiring date can save 20-70%.
  • Let’s use a conservative estimate of a savings of 30%. We’ll assume that the food costs to fill up your freezer bag was $4 and it would have cost you $5.20 under normal pricing conditions. That’s a savings of $1.20 per frozen bag of food. Multiple $1.20 by 72 bags of frozen food per year and we have a savings of $86.40 / year. Subtract our investment cost of $4.73 for our freezer bags and we saved a total of $81.67 / year.

3. Buy Generic Products

• 🧾 Description – Big brands cost more than generic / grocery store branded products. Where you’re able to, purchase the generic brand to save money.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Free
• 💲 Savings – $357.60 / per person per year
  • This site compared generic products vs. name brand products for 3 recipes (spaghetti, chicken and rice casserole, and beef tacos). The combined generic price for these 3 recipes was $30.48 compared to the brand price, which was $49.92. That’s a difference of $19.44 or 63.8% more money for the big brands.
  • According to the US Department of Agriculture the average cost of groceries each month for one person ranges from $165 to $345. We’ll split the difference at $255. Let’s say you’re able to switch 30% of your items to generic brands, which is $76.50 of your total budget. If you’re able to reduce that $76.50 by the generic vs. brand difference of 63.8% you’ll only spend $46.70 / month, a cash savings of $29.80. That nets a per person savings each year of $357.60. Have a family of four? The number balloons to a savings of $1,430.40 / year.

4. Buy Vegetables & Fruits in Season

• 🧾 Description – Make a point to buy fruits and vegetables when they are in their ideal season in our region. But specifically, don’t buy out of season fruits and vegetables.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Varies by produce, region, and quantity
  • Different vegetables and fruits cost different amounts depending on what you’re buying, where you’re buying it, and when you’re buying it
• 💲 Savings – Varies by produce, region, and quantity
  • When fruits and vegetables are in season they taste better, are more easily available and cost less. When they are out of season they typically aren’t as good quality and are more expensive.
  • Find out the in-season period of your favorite fruits and vegetables and make a point to purchase more of those when they are in season and less when they are out.
  • In season strawberries (June) cost around $1-3 per package, whereas they can easily be $4-5 when they are out of season. If you only buy strawberries from June to September and then avoid them from November to May you’ll end up eating better strawberries and not paying the extra prices for out of season growing.
  • Here’s a comprehensive list of ideal fruit and vegetable growing seasons in the US according to the USDA.

5. Buy Frozen Vegetables & Fruits

• 🧾 Description – When vegetables are frozen they lock in all of the nutrients, allowing them to be good for months or years. This allows you to eat out of season vegetables at in season prices.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Varies by produce, region, and quantity
  • Different vegetables and fruits cost different amounts depending on what you’re buying, where you’re buying it, and when you’re buying it
• 💲 Savings – Varies by produce, region, and quantity
  • When fruits and vegetables are out of season they are notably more inexpensive compared to their in-season prices. Identify the in-season periods for your favorite fruits and vegetables in your region. Make a point to buy frozen packages of those fruits and vegetables when they are out of season.
  • Let’s look at strawberries as an example. For most of the US, June is the ideal season for strawberries. As a result, you’ll often find the best deals of the year on strawberries in June. So eat more strawberries in June and other summer months. If you can buy extra and freeze yourself that’s even better. In the fall, winter, and spring focus on buying frozen strawberries instead. In season, you can find them as cheap as $1-3 per package, whereas out of season you’ll find them for $4-5 per package. A package of frozen strawberries at Kroger is $2.79 (10 oz.).

6. Bring Your Own Bags

• 🧾 Description – Many grocery stores will give you a per bag discount if you bring your own bags. Bringing your own bags will save some money each trip and cut down on plastic waste.
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate 
• 💰 Cost – Free
• 💲 Savings – $24 per year
  • Typical savings is around $0.05 per bag. If each grocery trip you end up with around 20 plastic bags that’s a savings of $1 per trip. If you make 2 trips per month that’s $2 per month and $24 per year. Simply ask the cashier next time you’re at your local grocery store if they offer a discount if you bring your own bags.

7. Meal Prep a Portion of Your Meals

• 🧾 Description – Meal prepping is the process of planning and preparing meals. However, when most people talk about meal prepping it’s the process of preparing multiple meals for an upcoming period of time. For example, you might make 5 lunches for the next week on a Sunday night. Meal prepping can save money by reducing food waste and reducing the amount you eat out.
• ⏳ Effort – Moderate to High
• 💰 Cost – Varies, free (if you already have containers) to $10-$15 (for containers) and $2-$5 for food ingredients per meal
  • To meal prep you’ll need the food ingredients with what you’re going to make for yourself and air tight containers to store them in. 
• 💲 Savings – $801 / year
  • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Americans spend about $3,000 / year eating out. According to a 2015 survey of Americans by TNS Global, Americans waste $640 in food each year. Let’s say half of that $640 is food brought home from eating out, giving us a total spend of $3,320 / year. If your meal prepping can reduce just 30% of that number you’ll save $996 / year. 
  • Of course, we need to add our cost for the meals and containers. Let’s say you meal prep 5 meals a month at a cost of $3 per meal. That’s $15 / month, or $180 / year. Add that to our $15 for containers and we’re at $195 / year. That still leaves us with a sizable savings of $801 / year.

8. Use Coupons

• 🧾 Description – Find and use coupons at your local stores and online. You can find local coupons in your mail, local mailers, at the stores themselves, and newspapers. You can also find grocery coupons online at Valpak, Coupons.com, and Lozo.com. Valpak also has a wider range of coupons here. Find even more coupon sites here.
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate
  • You can go really extreme with couponing, in which case you could spend hours and hours. However, for most people, just taking 5-15 minutes is a good use of time to find some quick deals on stuff you’re already buying.
• 💰 Cost – $0
• 💲 Savings – $120 / year
  • Varies based on what you’re buying and how much, but it would be easy to save $5 every time you go to the grocery store. Save $5 per trip, go to the store twice a month, that’s $120 saved per year.

9. Shop at Budget Grocery Stores

• 🧾 Description – If you have a budget grocery store in your neighborhood, specifically Aldi’s, consider shopping for many of your groceries there. 
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate
• 💰 Cost – Free
• 💲 Savings – $261.36 / year
  • Cheapism did an extensive comparison of Aldi vs. Walmart vs. Kroger that you can see here. In their comparison of 41 items across 10 product categories Aldi’s was $67.34 compared to $78.23 for Walmart and $88.65 for Kroger. That’s a savings of $10.89 compared to Walmart. If you can save $10.89 each trip and you make 2 trips a month that yields a savings of $21.78 / month and $261.36 / year.
  • A few other quick tips for shopping at Aldi’s
    1. Grab the sales page for that week, it’s usually at the front of the store
    2. Bring your own bags. Aldi’s charges 5-10 cents per bag.

10. Don’t Buy Pre-Cut or Pre-Prepared Food

• 🧾 Description – Avoid buying pre-cut food, especially produce, vegetables, and fruits. Avoid buying pre-prepared foods from the deli, produce, and bakery section. These items are convenient, but have high margins and are more expensive than if you were to buy and make yourself.
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate
• 💰 Cost – Varies depending on the food
• 💲 Savings – Varies depending on the food
  • A pre-cut watermelon slice that is 1 cup (8 oz.) is $2 at Kroger. A whole watermelon contains around 32 cups of edible fruit. A whole watermelon is around $5 at Kroger, which breaks down to $0.15 per cup of watermelon if you buy a whole watermelon and cut it yourself.
  • Watermelon is one of the most egregious examples, but in general, any pre-cut foods at grocery stores (especially that you’ll find in the deli and produce sections) are going to cost more than it would if you were to buy the produce and cut yourself. Get yourself a nice knife site and a few cutting boards. A couple extra minutes at home will yield big savings over the course of a year.

11. Don’t Buy Pre-Washed Salad or Lettuce

• 🧾 Description – Buy whole heads of lettuce and make your own salad as opposed to buying pre-cut pre-washed salads.
• ⏳ Effort – Low to Moderate 
• 💰 Cost – Depends on the type of salad
• 💲 Savings – $52.80 / year
  • A 10 oz. Romaine salad is around $2.79 at Kroger (that’s $0.279 per oz). For $1.69 you can get a bunch of unwashed uncut Romaine hearts, which is about 1 cup or 8 oz. of lettuce. That breaks down to $0.169 per oz. Let’s say you eat 4 salads a month or about 40 oz. of lettuce. Pre-cut salads would cost you $11.16 / month vs. the uncut salad that will cost you $6.76. Over the course of the year that will lead to a savings $52.80 / year.

12. Don’t Buy Bottled Water

• 🧾 Description – Stop buying bottled water and get a water filter system instead.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – $52 in year 1, $20 / year in subsequent years
  • $32 for an 18 cup Brita + $5 per filter replacement (replace every 3 months or so)
• 💲 Savings – $235.89 in year 1, $268 in subsequent years
  • If you buy 2 packs of 24 count 16.9 oz. water per month you’ll spend around $24. That breaks out to $288 / year for 76 purified gallons of water. In the US, water costs around $0.0015 per gallon ($1.50 for 1,000 gallons). Which means that the 76 gallons of water out of the tap will cost you $0.11 / year. If you add that to the cost of the water filters and container we have $52.11, which means you save $235.89 in year 1 and $268 in subsequent years.

13. Watch the Prices at the Cash Register

• 🧾 Description – Keep an eye on the prices that come up at the register. It’s not uncommon for prices to get entered wrong in the system and/or to be marked wrong on the aisles. 
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Free
• 💲 Savings – Varies by product and quantity
  • In a perfect world, prices would always come up exactly what you think they should be. But people make mistakes and invariably some prices may come up wrong from time to time. Your savings will vary depending on what you’re buying. The big thing to watch out for are those items that you’ve bought specifically because they were on sale or at a price that really made sense to justify their purchase. 

14. Buy Potatoes in a Big Bag

• 🧾 Description – Potatoes that come in a bulk bag are significantly less expensive per pound than loose potatoes that you choose yourself.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – $2.99 for a 10 pound bag
• 💲 Savings – $70.80 / year
  • Loose Russet potatoes are $0.89 / pound at Fry’s Grocery (Kroger). A 10 pound bag of Kroger Idaho potatoes is $2.99, which breaks down to $0.30 per pound. 
  • If you eat 10 pounds of potatoes per month and always buy the bulk bag you’ll save $5.90 / month and $70.80 / year.

15. Buy the Loss Leader Items

• 🧾 Description – Loss leader items are items that stores sell at a loss in order to get you into the store. These items are usually what you’ll see on the front page of the store’s weekly sales paper. Ex. a gallon of milk for $0.88, 4 twelve packs of soda for $8.88, a whole rotisserie chicken for $4.99, etc. 
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Depends on what you’re buy and the quantity
• 💲 Savings – Depends on what you’re buy and the quantity
  • Find out what the loss leader and biggest sale items are for that period for your local grocery store and, if you’re going to use them, make sure to buy those. If those items allow you to purchase a larger quantity and aren’t perishable items, consider stocking up. For example, soda is an easy one to stock up because it usually stays good for up to a year. Non-perishables are even better to stock up on (ex. Paper products, household cleaners, canned foods, etc.). 

16. Shop the Perimeter of the Store

• 🧾 Description – The interior grocery store aisles are designed to create more impulse purchases, especially those items right at eye level. As a good rule, start your shopping along the perimeter of the store and then work your way in. Or better yet, use a list and only buy what’s on your list. Lastly, don’t simply buy the products directly at eye level. See what’s up a little lower or higher on the shelf. Oftentimes those items are less expensive, but equally good alternatives to the larger brands.
• ⏳ Effort – Low
• 💰 Cost – Free
• 💲 Savings – Savings will vary based on your shopping habits.

17. The Duh List

• Don’t shop when you’re hungry
• Make a shopping list and stick to it
• Make a budget and stick to it
• Avoid items at eye level
• Check price per unit / weight
• Look for sale items
• Eat everything you buy
• Leave kids at home (if you can)
• Avoid impulse purchases
• Don’t buy individually packaged items
• Don’t buy pre-prepared / pre-cut products
• Use the rewards cards