Tips for Saving Money at the Grocery Store

Some people may be very lucky to earn a lot of money but some of us are paupers running on a tight budget and it’s very easy to go over. The hilarious joke once I said to my husband was, “what would you do if I was in a million dollar debt” and he said: “I’d ask nicely, how did that happen?” That just sounds hilarious, but anyway, let me give you some advice from personal experience.

Look for Sales

I’m sure we’ve heard of this one. My mother loves to buy 900 toilet paper rolls when they’re on sale or eight boxes of fruits for $2, and in most cases, these really work out well. Even though you may be spending more money buying a whole stack of them now, but it does save money in time.

If you see something on a particular huge sale, then buy a lot of it, unless it’s easily perishable. This goes for anything you may need in the house, like soap. You can also get a large quantity of grains without them going off. Anything dry can usually keep for a long time!

Look for the Asian Grocery Stores

Often, the Asian grocery store has things that are lower priced. For example, the Vietnamese grocery stores near Brisbane, my home town, has things that are a few dollars cheaper than in the supermarket, particularly for fruits. Honestly, if you can get a box of apples for $2, why not? Some may go off, but even then, it’s much cheaper than what you would’ve bought it for, and don’t worry too much about wasting because the fruit probably would’ve been thrown away anyway.

Freeze Fruits

Another thing you can do is buy a huge lot of fruits, then freeze them and make smoothies out of them. That way, they can last a lot longer, particularly bananas and apples.

Eat Around a Food Theme

Let’s say you’re trying to be healthy, there really isn’t a need to buy all the different vegetables in the world. It would probably go off and be wasted. What you can do is buy 3-4 types and come up with interesting and inventive ways to eat it differently. For example, tomatoes can be made into pasta sauce, tomato sauce (ketchup), masala, tomato soup and so on. Having the same ingredients does not mean you need to eat the same dish over and over. Try and see what creative ways you can come up with cooking a couple of ingredients!

Write a Shopping List

Sometimes we’re too crazy seeing the different foods and can’t help ourselves. What works for me and my husband is that I write him a shopping list (because I’m usually the one who buys too much groceries) and he goes and gets exactly what I write in there. That way, there’s no chance of getting more. However, the person who goes to do the shopping must be good at self control, otherwise it’s tempting to just throw out the list and get what you TRULY DESIRE in your heart and soul!

So as you can see, there are easy ways to not spend so much. What are some of your own tips for saving money on a tight budget?