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Need to tighten up your grocery spending? Here are a handful of tips to save up to $200 on groceries this month—without using coupons!
Last month, my husband and I joked (sort of) about having a “Frugal February”—we would set out to spend as little as possible throughout the month.
For him, this essentially meant refusing to buy any books (what else does he ever buy?!); for me, it was a goal to severely cut our grocery spending. (I’m pretty good about not splurging on other things.)
Well, that didn’t happen. Frugal February FAIL.
It’s not that we went crazy spending more than usual; we just weren’t as intentional as we planned to be. I gave in to some stock-up prices on pantry items (we’ll eat the food eventually, right?); he wanted to purchase this book we could read as a family during Lent.
Good reasons, right?! We could certainly justify them!
Well, March was a new month, so we tried again. This time, we aimed for a “Meager March”. (Corny, I know, but we needed to keep up the alliteration!)
March was a success! Here are six strategies we implemented to save over $200 on groceries this month!
1. We Planned Simple Dinners.
Usually, I love to make a nice meal with all the sides and fixin’s that go with it. Which means my kitchen is a complete tornado when I’m done and there are more dirty dishes than clean ones. Not to mention, this sometimes requires buying a few extra ingredients that we may not use up entirely on just one meal.
Choosing to make simpler dinners not only saves time prepping the meal and cleaning up afterwards, it can also save a chunk of money on extra ingredients that may not be necessary.
We also ate breakfast for dinner at least once a week. Yum! Omelets, pancakes, and French toast with homemade fruit sauce tend to be less expensive than other meaty main dishes.
Estimated savings: $40/month
2. We Price Matched.
Stores like Walmart and Target price match competitors’ sale prices! Just take the competitor’s current sales ad with you (or take a screenshot on your phone) and mention it at checkout. I suggest grouping your price match items together at the end of your order to help the cashier.
I frequently price match to ALDI’s produce and meat prices. This also saves me from traveling to another store (with two little ones)!
Estimated savings: $20/month
3. We Ate From Our Freezer.
If you’ve never done this challenge, you should try it! Eating down your freezer or pantry is a great way to save money, get creative with your cooking, and rotate the stock of food items in your kitchen (including throwing away old/expired items!).
It is also be fun to get the kids involved—they can help you think about what to make using only the ingredients on hand.
See How to Save Money with a Pantry Challenge.
Estimated savings: $100/month
4. We Tried Out New Subscriptions.
Shipt is a grocery delivery service expanding to new areas all across the country. As a new customer, you get $10 off your first order and 2 weeks of free deliveries!
We signed up and, for some reason, we received $20 off at checkout! We paired this introductory offer with the weekly Harris Teeter sales and saved over 80% (and enjoyed having the groceries delivered to our home)!
A few months ago, we were gifted a HelloFresh Groupon, so we chose to redeem it and try it out this month. (See my Review of HelloFresh here.)
The ingredients needed for 3 meals were delivered to our door for free! All we needed to do was follow the recipes to make our meals.
Right now, new HelloFresh customers can get $40 off their first delivery! Just use code BDW457 at www.hellofresh.com.
Estimated savings: $10-40 (+ a lot of time!)
5. We Used Gift Cards.
I’ve written before about my husband and I being terrible gift card hoarders! Well, it was time to cash some of them in. The Visa gift cards we had went toward the food we did buy—staples like milk, eggs, and fresh produce.
We also ate out a few times using restaurant gift cards we earned through Swagbucks, or discounted gift cards previously purchased through Raise (sign up for Raise.com through this link and get $5 off your first order!).
Estimated savings: $5/month
6. We Practiced Patience!
Even on a budget, I often buy items at the grocery store that we don’t need. Yes, I said it!
Let me explain: If natural peanut butter is on sale this week and I have a coupon and/or rebate, which will bring the cost down to $1, I’ll buy it now (when we don’t need it) instead of waiting until we do need it and then spend $4 (full price) for the same jar of peanut butter. I may even buy several to last us a few weeks until the next big sale.
Just to clarify: This goes for items that are shelf-stable. I will not carelessly buy a ton of fresh produce if I know we won’t be able to eat it up or freeze it before it goes bad!
That being said, this month I didn’t focus so much on stocking up on anything…even if it was a killer price! Sales come back around again.
Instead, I practiced patience and self-control to only buy the things we needed for our simple meals. It was very freeing to not even think about keeping a stockpile of other items!
Estimated savings: $25/month
While our attempt at a Frugal February was a complete flop, we made a few adjustments to our spending which resulted in a successful (and meager) March. By using these strategies, we saved over $200 on groceries for the month!
What strategies do YOU use to save money on groceries?
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