How to Save Money on Groceries (and still eat well!)

Years ago before my husband and I had kids, we sat down to write up a budget. We realized that we were spending so much on food! For the previous month, we had spent way more on food for the two of us (including eating out) than we spend now for our family of five. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit that now, but it was such a high number. We absolutely had to cut way back on our frivolous spending. But my husband and I both love to cook, and we love to eat yummy, healthy foods. So, I’ve had to learn how to grocery shop on a budget without eating rice and beans for every meal. That was 7 years ago, and I’m happy to report that we are doing so much better staying within our grocery budget, and we eat delicious meals every day.

1. Meal Plan

Meal planning has been huge for me and my budget. Having a plan, and buying all the ingredients ahead of time is so helpful and keeps me from defaulting to eating out (most of the time). Later this month, I’ll be sharing a more deep dive into exactly how I meal plan with some extra tips to help you out. When I sit down to meal plan, my mind usually goes blank and I forget every meal I’ve ever made. But I’ve figured out so many tricks to keep me from hitting a wall when meal planning, and make it quick and easy. I also share my meal plans on Instagram each week, so check those out if you want some ideas!

2. Cook Meals That You Actually Like

This might sound like a no brainer. But cook meals you like! Make your favorites. If you don’t like quinoa, don’t buy quinoa. You aren’t going to enjoy cooking it, eating it or cleaning it up. And if you aren’t going to enjoy any of it, you’re just going to talk yourself into eating out instead.

I love to check Pinterest for recipes, especially for copycat recipes of my favorite take out meals. I’ve got a Pinterest board full of recipes I’ve tried and loved!

3. Shop Your Pantry First

This is the tip that I really need to improve on myself. A couple years ago I just kept buying a pack of butter every time I went to Costco. We use butter pretty regularly, so each time I saw it I’d think “Oh! We probably need that.” Except we didn’t. And pretty soon, we had a freezer full of butter! I just never took the time to check before meal planning and grocery shopping. Luckily, I was able to put it in the freezer so it didn’t spoil. And now I always double check the fridge before I add butter to the grocery list.

While meal planning, or at least before you head to the store, check your pantry, freezer and fridge. Take a quick inventory of what you already have, and what meals you could make with that. Are there any ingredients that need to be used soon that you can incorporate so they aren’t wasted? Is there anything you just forgot you had? You might be surprised by what you already have available.

Now, I generally keep a decent stock of food storage in our pantry and freezer. Nothing crazy. But I am typically about to come up with at least 4-5 meals just from checking what I already have when I do check. Sometimes it takes some extra creativity to come up with meals, but it’s worth it to save the money.

4. Cash Back Apps

I use apps like Ibotta, Fetch and Capital One Shopping every week to save money. There are pros and cons to each, and I’ll be sharing a post next month that better details what I like and dislike about each. But I like to use all three weekly. I usually save up my reward points, then cash them out as Amazon gift cards to use for household supplies or gifts. I’ve included my referral links for each below for each. I may receive an extra bonus at no extra cost to you if you choose to sign up using my referral codes and links.

Ibotta

I have used Ibotta for a long time! I check the app each week for the ‘any item’ offers, as well as any items I already buy and use. To get an extra bonus when you submit your first receipt, you can use my referral code QOEACON when you sign up.

Fetch Rewards

Fetch is one of my favorites. They make it so easy to submit receipts, and the offers are typically by brand rather than a specific product. You can get extra reward points when you use my referral code TOGWF when you sign up.

Capital One Shopping

You do not need to have an account with Capital One to use the Capital One Shopping app. I typically use Walmart pickup for my weekly grocery shopping, and they often have a reward offer for Walmart purchases. The reward offers change regularly, so check in with the app and see what the current offers are. And the reward is different for each store on the app. You can use this app for way more than grocery shopping too, so it’s great to sign up for at this time of year if you are doing a lot of online shopping for gifts. The bummer about this app though is that it does take a while to get your reward points. The other apps I use typically credit me within 48 hours, but it’s not uncommon for my rewards to take several weeks to credit through this one. If you are looking for a quicker pay out, this isn’t it. But for my shopping, the rewards are better with this app so I don’t mind the extra time.

5. Learn To Cook Things From Scratch

Now honestly, not everything is cheaper to make from scratch. But there are a few things I always make from scratch that saves me money.

I make my own bread, including hamburger buns and hoagie rolls. You can see a round up of my favorite bread, bun and roll recipes in this post. They are way easier than you think and seriously delicious. My kids go crazy over the hoagie rolls. This saves me quite a bit of money. The bread I typically make only uses flour, yeast, salt and water. And I can make several loaves from just one 10lb bag of flour.

These few things have helped me so much to save money while grocery shopping! I can’t wait to hear what you’re doing to keep your costs low. Share in the comments any other tips you might have to help!

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