Due to inflation, unfortunately grocery prices have seen a steep, sharp, and seemingly sudden increase. While economists have theorized this should be temporary and prices in the near future should come down, it doesn’t make it any easier for you or your family afford grocery bills. Because there was such an injection of cash from pandemic stimulus relief, combined with the supply chain issues about which we’ve all heard, and thankfully a faster rebounding economy than expected, every day staples have seen inflated prices: gas for your car, lumber for building projects, beef, and most recently chicken. While wages are rising in the United States, they don’t seem to be increasing fast enough to keep up with inflated prices on the items we need to live our lives. Fortunately, there are a number of strategies and tips you can employ to try and keep your grocery costs down.
Coupons – Tried and True
It may be time consuming and seem a little old fashioned, but coupons are a tried and true way to save money on groceries. While you can still peruse a newspaper or your mailbox for hard copy coupons to help you save at the store, be sure to check the products you buy for any coupons to buy that product again. Additionally, some stores will allow double coupons on certain days.
These days, as with most things, coupons have also become electronic. If you have a credit or debit card, your bank or credit card provider may have coupons that you can electronically add to your card so that when you use that card to pay for products at the store, you get an automatic discount. Whatever your preferred grocery store is, be sure to sign up for a free cost saving membership if they offer it, and opt to have the weekly flyer sent to you via email. Local stores may offer electronic coupons you can add to your shopper’s club membership in addition to coupons you may be able to show on your phone from the weekly flyer to get the best prices. Keep an eye on Facebook pages for the makers of your favorite products too and they may offer coupons for those that you can gain access to electronically.
There’s an app for everything today, too. If you have a smart phone, do a quick search for your provider’s app store for grocery coupon apps. Some of the well known apps for grocery coupons are companies like Honey, iBotta, SnipSnap, and Coupons.com. These apps are designed to help you save at the store. If you’d like to read more about couponing options, you can check our post here.
Forget The Name Brands
When you shop the store, there are the name brands we all know and love. If you want to save however, your local store probably has their own distributer’s line of products. For instance, a can of beans that’s not a name brand but rather a generic store distributer brand may cost as little as 50% of the price of a name brand product. Get familiar with your store’s generic brands: they may be positioned lower on the shelf so that you don’t see them as easily but often times they’re there.
If you live in a large enough town, you may have some shopping options that will save you more than larger chains. For instance, ALDI is a store that offers many products that are their own brands, which allow you access to products that are not name brand and offer exceptional savings. The bottom line is that these non name brand products have all the same ingredients as the name brand ones, with less fancier labeling, less marketing, and probably not as good placement on the shelf. They taste as great as the others with considerable savings.
Have a Plan
Grocery stores are no different than any other retail stores. They are designed for you to impulsively buy certain products. Items at the end of the aisles, or the “End Cap,” are typically the foods that fly off the shelves that the store really wants you to buy. Have a strategy, though. Plan out your meals for the week, write down the ingredients you need, and check that list off as you shop. Having a plan helps you lower your risk of buying impulse items that you don’t need or don’t fit your budget. To take it a step further, your store may have a shop online function where you can simply pick up your order when it’s ready that way you can shop within your budget without having any surprise once you get to the cash register.
With some planning and helpful tips, you can overcome the high prices at the grocery store.
