Six Steps to Save Money on Groceries: How We’ve Saved $100 per Week this Year.
Disclaimer: The problem I discuss below (overspending on food) is very much a first world problem. The problem many others face is food shortage and real hunger. By working to save money on food, we can have more to give to organizations that support those who go hungry (Unbound is a great one) and better live out the virtue of solidarity, to which we are called.
My New Year’s Resolution for 2020 was a daunting one: figure out how to save a significant amount of money on groceries.
For some, this would be easy, but not for an avid foodie like myself. See, I love nothing more than to pop into Whole Foods and grab a coffee, maybe a chocolate bar or some bright, seasonal produce. And since I’m there, it’s likely I’ll Google a new recipe to try and will add those novel ingredients to my cart. If I pass the Lara bars, I’ll have to grab a handful for our girls. And if it’s lunchtime, I’ll probably build a colorful salad at the take-out bar.
Yes, I knew my food shopping habits well. They were fun, relaxing, and rewarding (as I often happily drank coffee and ate chocolate on my drive home). I liked getting out of the house for regular store trips. I enjoyed visiting with the employees and taking in the environment. The only thing this wasn’t practical for was our grocery budget.
I soon realized that I’d easily spend $30-$40 per trip to the store like this (yes, usually Whole Foods, although I also frequented Natural Grocers). The problem was, I’d still have to do our actual grocery shopping for the week.
I began noticing things like that my husband didn’t have anything at home for lunch on the weekends. Or that our girls were out of snacks – again. I was spending $250 a week on groceries, but where was all the food?
A generous grocery budget like that should have been filling our fridge. But because of poor planning and impulse shopping, it wasn’t.
I’d known for a while that I needed to reign in our grocery spending. And what better time than the new year? I’ve heard it takes 28 days to build a new habit, so I was determined to carry out my behavior change first through the month of January and then for the year.
Here’s what I’ve done that has worked, saving us $100 a week on groceries while still eating healthy, high quality meals. Hopefully you’ll get some ideas to save money too!
1. Meal plan
I simply never have been one to plan meals in advance. The idea of having to eat a certain thing on a certain night felt too rigid. What if I wasn’t in the mood for meatloaf on Wednesday night but that was the scheduled meal?
After some brainstorming, I realized that meal planning could be flexible. I made a list of seven meals I knew my family would eat, but didn’t assign them a day (see point number five for simple recipe ideas). Then, I could serve each meal on the night it sounded best. I found I usually ended up serving leftovers one night midweek, and could bump meal number seven to the next week.
I’d also plan to make soup and buy sandwich items for our lunches. Breakfast was eggs, Gypsy eggs or oatmeal with fruit.
Once I knew what I planned to cook, I easily had my grocery list. I was able to shop intentionally for just what we needed that week, which saved money and eliminated food waste.
2. Use an online grocery service
In the past I’d always gone into grocery stores with kids – and hopefully a list – in tow. Shopping with kids led to more impulse buying since I’d typically say yes to at least one novel thing they asked for. Cinnabunnies cereal wasn’t on the list, but hey, we’d eat it so why not buy it? This led to more spending than planned.
After researching online grocery services, I decided to use WalMart’s online grocery pick-up. I also looked at services like Insta-cart, Hy-Vee delivery, and Whole Foods delivery (no membership fee if you already have Prime). WalMart had a surprisingly good selection, consistently reasonable prices, and pick-up was free.
Using the WalMart grocery app, I selected the items I needed for the week and knew the exact cost before completing the order. No more impulse buying, and I could easily delete items from my online order to stick to a budget.
3. Set a budget
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) lists the average grocery spending per household based on the number of people in the home. It also outlines a thrifty, low-cost, moderate cost, and liberal spending plan for different family sizes.
Here’s what the USDA recommends per week for a family of four, defined by the USDA as a male and female 19 – 50 years old and two children 2 – 11 years old:
Thrifty: $131 – $150
Low-Cost: $167 – $197
Moderate-Cost: $206 – $246
Liberal: $255 – $299
I decided my goal was to move from the liberal bracket down to thrifty. Instead of $250 a week, I wanted to see if we could live off $150. My goal was to do this without feeling deprived, and we were not about to eat only rice and beans (sorry Dave Ramsey).
We eat dairy and gluten free meals because of food sensitivities. This costs a bit more, but I also wanted to continue this lifestyle while saving money. The goal wasn’t to compromise our physical or mental health (yes, food affects the way we think, not just how we feel) either.
I began comparing weekly grocery sales (especially produce and meat sales at Sprouts, which often had certain items marked lower than WalMart, so I’d buy a few things there instead).
I started writing down every food-related purchase we made, keeping a tally on a paper inside a kitchen cabinet door. At any given point, I knew how much we’d spent on food that week. If we were over budget, my spending would stop. Yes, this took willpower and habit change, but we already had everything we needed and wanted at home due to good planning.
4. Selectively buy organic
A couple years ago I realized the MTHFR gene mutation ran in our family (thanks to 23andMe saliva testing and the interpretation of a wonderful functional medicine doctor). This meant that our daughters and I didn’t rid our bodies of toxins the way most people do. So I began buying organic food, green cleaning and skincare products, and supplements with methylfolate. The health benefits, for me, were worth every penny (increased energy, balanced hormones, sick less often).
I began to wonder if we could maintain this healthy lifestyle but save money. That’s when I discovered the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen.” This guide outlined the top 12 most pesticide-covered foods (buy these organic) and the 15 cleanest foods (okay to buy not organic).
Following these guidelines has saved significant dollars, while maintaining our healthy living standards. I have peace of mind knowing I’m not serving tomatoes with a side of endocrine-disrupting pesticides. And I’m thrilled I can buy a bag of non-organic frozen broccoli at WalMart for one dollar (compared to $2.50 or $3 organic).
5. Cook more
Through the past couple months I’ve learned a pretty obvious lesson: the key to saving money on food is cooking at home. I’ve always known this, but until we really started embracing cooking at home, I didn’t realize how much you can really save. For the price of one salad at a local restaurant ($14), I could feed our family of 4 a complete dinner. And have leftovers. A bag of decaf coffee and chocolate chips could last me all week and cost $7, equal to the cost of a daily coffee and chocolate bar at Whole Foods.
I began trying new dinner recipes at home to see how they went over. Each week I’d try at least one or two new dishes. This added variety and it expanded my list of go-to dinners. I kept the meals simple and low cost by focusing on real food recipes.
Here are some of our favorites (all recipes are gluten and dairy free):
Burgers (I buy grass-fed beef and skip the bread crumbs).
Salmon cakes (I buy wild caught salmon filets frozen from WalMart instead of canned to reduce sodium. I use ground oats for flour).
Chicken nachos (with sautéed onions, quinoa, and homemade guacamole)
Beef sausage hash (We use olive oil instead of butter).
I also wanted to have food that felt like treats at home, but didn’t want to regularly pay the price of dairy free ice cream or pre-packaged gluten free cookies. Again, the budgeting goal wasn’t to make us feel deprived, it was to save money. I soon learned that if I bought oatmeal, bananas, and eggs, I could make all sorts of baked goodies. Stevia sweetened chocolate chips and dates were also staples.
Here are some of our favorite dessert/snack recipes:
Banana ice cream (I use almond milk too and sometimes skip the chocolate).
Chocolate muffins with chocolate frosting (They are all sweetened with fruit. These are what we use for birthday parties).
Banana pancakes (add chocolate chips)
Banana muffins (All you need is ground oatmeal for flour, bananas, baking powder, almond milk, and eggs).
Fudgy Vegan Banana brownies (Sometimes I just use coconut oil, cocoa powder, bananas, baking powder and ground oat flour and they still turn out great).
6. When you run out of something, wait until grocery day to restock it
One habit that’s been the hardest to break is running to the store immediately when we are out of something. If our daughters wanted more of their favorite snacks, I used to head to the store and restock. Now, instead, I look for alternative food options using what we already have at home. It takes more creativity and energy, but we always find something to eat those last days before it’s time to grocery shop again (even if that means eating leftovers for breakfast).
Our girls have already learned to wait until shopping day (usually Friday so we are well stocked for the weekend) for what they want and are excited to see what new things I bring home each week. I’ve noticed we appreciate the food we do have more and waste much less by being more intentional with our shopping and waiting to buy.
After two months of intentional grocery shopping, I’ve decided the results have been worth the extra effort. I’ve been amazed how much we can save on groceries with some planning and perseverance. And I’ve been pleased with having extra time on my hands since I’m not running to the store so often. Plus, there’s less stress around mealtime because I already know what I will be cooking and know I have the ingredients I need.
If you’ve been wanting to tackle your grocery budget, but found it too overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be. It will take discipline and planning, but it is doable. It takes some trial and error, of seeing what works and what doesn’t work. Think of it as a fun experiment and observe your progress, tweaking your plan as you go.
Decide you can do it, and you will. And why not start today? Your bank account will thank you.