The first two are fairly big areas to tackle and greatly impact our way of life. It's not easy to pick up and move somewhere less expensive. Nor is it easy to decide to trade your car out for a bike (or the bus). Although these are moves you can make in attempts to save some money.
Of the top three things we spend money on, food is the easiest to tackle.
You've read all of the general tips already:
- Comparison shop for the best prices
- Use coupons
- Use savings apps like iBotta, Cartwheel, or Honey for stacked savings
- Make a list & Make a plan
- Buy in bulk
- Make your own meals from scratch (or nearly from scratch)
- Eat leftovers
Once you've saved money on the food and gotten it home, in order to maintain that savings, you need to ensure you aren't wasting any of it. Food waste accounts for up to 1/3rd of your food budget. Things go bad, get moldy, get freezer burned... and get thrown out.
Food waste accounts for up to
Food waste accounts for up to
1/3rd of your food budget.
Buying items in bulk won't do you any good if you don't use those items up before they start to spoil.
Comparison Shop For the Best Prices
When comparison shopping, it's helpful to keep a "Price Book." Rather than commit to memory the regular and sale prices of the items you usually buy, a Price Book gives you some place to write it down. It doesn't have to be anything fancy—a sheet of paper works fine, as does an Excel spreadsheet. (I sort of like the old note card version where each ingredient gets it's own card—it's easier to carry around with you and make note of the prices while you're at the store.)
Price books keep track of basic information:
- The ingredient
- The store where it can be found
- The brand
- The size
- The price
- The unit price
This helps you figure out the best deals and know when something is an even better deal (Hello Sale!). And here's a secret, your biggest savings will come from those store sales (not from coupons), so it's helpful to know what the best prices are.
Free printable price book [PDF]
Use Coupons (When You Can)
I admit, I'm not a huge couponer, although I have tried. I used to get two copies of the Sunday paper just to have double the coupons—what I noticed though, was most of the Sunday paper coupons were for things I didn't use.
These days most coupons are printed by the stores (when you check out) or sent out via email.
My Simple Couponing Rules
- Rule #1—don't buy stuff you never use just because there's a coupon.
- Rule #2—don't waste your entire morning looking for coupons for stuff you do buy. If you can't find it at the manufacturer's website, move on. Otherwise you're spending hours looking for, at best, a 50¢ off coupon (but most likely, a "25¢ off three" coupon).
- Rule #3—don't forget to use your coupons. For a long time I would save coupons and clip them to the fridge, where they'd stay until they expired.
- Rule #4—a coupon doesn't guarantee the cheapest price, so have your calculator ready to do some price comparisons. The price for the store brand or generic version may still beat your name brand product with a coupon.
Stacking Coupons
If you're really on the ball, you can "stack" coupons. Most stores accept both store and manufacturer coupons for the same product. If you have a 25¢ off manufacturer's coupon for Starkist tuna, and the store also has a 25¢ off coupon for that product, you can "stack" them to get a total of 50¢ off. (It's even better if the store is having a sale on the product in conjunction with using the coupons.)
Coupon & Rebate Apps
Some stores have coupon apps like Cartwheel (Target's app), that will allow you to check their store coupons via your smartphone.
If you're shopping online, try the Honey app. It will automatically search for coupon codes or the best price.
I know everyone and her sister hawks iBotta, MobiSave, and Checkout51, but there's a reason for that (& it's not just the affiliate income). These apps can save you money and sometimes you can double or triple up—stacking savings by uploading the same receipt to the different rebate apps.
You can use these after-the-fact, when you're home and the groceries have been unloaded. Keep your receipts though (because you'll have to take a picture of them on your phone.)
In general, unless you are an extreme couponer (& kudos if you are), coupons won't save you a ton of money, but they do help chip away at the bill a bit. On average, I save between $1 and $3 per visit. Still, every little bit helps.
Use this link for iBotta & get a $10 "welcome bonus"
*Note the iBotta and Honey app links listed above are affiliate links
Make a List & Make a Plan
It's always wise to have some sort of list before stepping in to a store. Even if you wrote that list on a back of an envelope while you were sitting in the store's parking lot. It just helps keep you on track & avoids you getting all the way home before you realize that you forgot the milk.
- Make a shopping list and use it as a guide to keep you from forgetting stuff or buying spur of the moment things.
- Go through your coupons and paperclip the relevant ones to your list.
- Read your grocery store's circular to see what's on sale this week and if they have special coupons or savings days.
- Be prepared to change the plan. Every once in a while my grocery store has a buy 2 get 3 free sale, or I'm surprised with a BOGO sale. Most of the stuff isn't on my diet, but for the things that are, you better believe I load up my cart (then freeze or store stuff when I get home).
Make a Meal Plan
Meal plans are also a great help in organizing the weekly menu. I can see what's on sale this week and the grocery store, figure out what I have in my pantry and from there decide on meals for the week. These meals usually include left-overs for lunches.
If, for some reason, we can't eat the left-overs within 4 days, I'll freeze them for lunches later in the month.
I have a pantry inventory page in the budget bullet journal that I designed, along with a menu planner. The design is based on my own bullet journal. You can download the 11-page PDF, which includes monthly goals and budgeting along with a menu planner and inventory sheet for free here.
Free Pantry Inventory Bullet Journal Page [PDF]
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