With the cost of groceries increasing all the time, it can be hard to feed your family on a budget! I’m certainly not an expert on the matter, but I have gotten pretty good at keeping us fed on a budget. Here are some of my grocery saving tips:
Shop Your Pantry
Or your refrigerator, or your freezer. Each week I start off by seeing what we still have left that I could turn into a meal with minimal ingredients. This helps me use up what we have and avoid buying too much of something.
Shop the Flyers
Next up, I take a look at my usual grocery store’s flyer for the week. I see what’s on sale and start making my shopping list from there.
Make a Meal Plan
Making a meal plan is crucial to staying on track in my opinion. Each week I write out what we will eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day as well as an assortment of snacks we can eat throughout the week. This helps me to organize my grocery list and ensures that all of my ingredients get used.
Shop Where There is A Point System +/or Use Coupons
I like to shop at stores where I earn points that can be redeemed for free groceries. They can add up and really save us some money. The store I typically shop at will also price match, which can be a nice feature. You can also use coupons to save even more!
Eat Seasonally
Not only is in-season produce typically cheapest, it also tastes better! It also ensures you’re getting a variety of nutrients and flavours throughout the year as well.
Consider Food Subscription Services
A lot of food subscription services aren’t worth it for me and my family, but one that we get pretty frequently is from Odd Bunch. They have different size boxes of produce to choose from and it’s actually pretty fun to have a box of goodies arrive on your doorstep each week. The medium mixed box works well for our little family and it’s a fun way to save money while getting in our fruits and veggies!
Make Food from Scratch
This one requires some time in the kitchen, which not all of us have. For me, this varies week to week, but I try to do my best. This could look like making homemade muffins instead of buying already made ones from the bakery section; or homemade bread instead of buying a loaf at the store.
You could also shop in bulk if your budget allows for it as you will save more money in the long run. That isn’t always an option for us, so these above tips are my go-to options when I’m looking to make my grocery list each week.
