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There is no shortage of tips and tricks to help with your grocery budget. Sometimes they pop up even if you’re not looking for them, thanks to the social media algorithm! In fact, most of Southern Savers is geared toward saving money, especially on groceries.
There are lots of ways to change your overall strategy with groceries in order to decrease spending. But what if you’re doing all those things, and are still wondering if you could shave off a little bit more? I’ve come up with 11 mini grocery budget hacks that might help you find some new ways to save.
If none of these seem like they will work, then see if you can come up with your own grocery budget hack by simply starting small in one area. Little changes that you are consistent with are going to produce better results than a big change that you don’t stick with.
11 Mini Grocery Budget Hacks
Extend the time between shopping trips
Try to extend your grocery shopping trip by at least one day, or more! The less trips you make to the store the less you’ll spend. It seems pretty common sense, but it takes a tiny bit of planning, or maybe sometimes stretching food to go an extra day or two but it will pay off. We only shop once a week and never make random trips for little things. If a recipe calls for something we don’t have… I just pick something else for dinner.
Eat random meals
You can make a meal by putting random things together (even if they don’t seem like they go together). Depending on our preferences and backgrounds, we might have an idea for what kinds of foods go together. But it truly doesn’t matter. If you’re out of veggies, serve fruit with your meal. It’s even OK to not have vegetables one night if you’re out.
Additionally, many of us grew up eating a protein, a vegetable, and another side. There’s nothing wrong with this, but you can have protein with two vegetables. Or a very small portion of protein and multiple sides. There is no meal police knocking at your door!
Pay attention to what you have
The best way I have found to do this is to empty or re-organize your fridge, freezer, and pantry once a month right before you go to the store. This doesn’t have to be a deep clean. I don’t keep a paper or digital inventory; it works well enough for me to visually look at the food I have and make a mental note.
Combine grocery pickup with inside trips
Some people swear by pickup, and some people never use it. I have found a lot of success with a combination between the two. When I am making a big grocery trip, I will plan to place a pickup order for the majority of the items. I’ll head to the store at the pickup time, at which point I know if they have needed to substitute items or were out of something. I then make a quick trip inside for anything I forgot, anything I want to find a substitute for myself, and a quick chance to check for clearance or marked down items. Then I go and accept the pickup order. I don’t do this for every trip, but it has led to some good deals on meat and also keeps me from making an extra trip mid-week for something I forgot.
Use clear containers for some items
You do not need to pour your spices into clear jars like Instagram sometimes shows. But I do like putting packaged goods that are in boxes in clear containers in the pantry or fridge so I have a good idea of how much we actually have. This keeps me from overbuying or underbuying, both of which can affect the grocery budget!
Keep a running list of what you need
This list can be a dry erase board on the fridge (or a shared note on your phone) so you don’t have to make extra trips to the store. It can even include non-food items if it will keep you from entering a store and having to fight the temptation of spending more money than you want to!
Have a dedicated spot for “backstock”
Backstock refers to items you bought that are duplicates of things you already have. I recently saw my favorite peanut butter on clearance at Walmart and bought three jars, even though I already had a jar at home. I have a dedicated spot for these so that I won’t forget them when I run out of my current peanut butter! The thing about backstock is that it needs to be visible or you need to set a reminder to check it before you go to the store. I can’t tell you how many times I have bought spices or oils and realized I already had a new bottle at home.
Keep produce where you can see it
I’m not saying not to use your produce drawers. But sometimes things can get lost in their depths. While the drawers will help you keep them fresh, if you are going through produce quickly, you don’t have to worry about this. Or at least pull out the things that need to be eaten soon before they go bad.
Google is your friend
If you have one or two ingredients and can’t think of what to make, Google it! Recently I had a ton of dry spaghetti in my pantry that I had bought for dinner but never used. However, what I needed was a side to eat with hamburgers. I couldn’t get the idea of spaghetti with tomato sauce out of my head and didn’t feel like I wanted to make that with hamburgers. I googled “spaghetti mac and cheese” and found a recipe that mimicked mac and cheese but used spaghetti. Perfect!
Have a weekly FFY (fend for yourself) night
This is a night to use up leftovers, but everyone can literally pick whatever they want to eat for dinner (within reason!). Someone might have cereal, someone else might eat scrambled eggs. If you have some frozen convenience food, that’s on the table, too. I pull everything that’s available out of the fridge and let the kids get creative.
Don’t try new recipes for a while
Sometimes simplifying is the key. If you find yourself consistently overspending, stick to the basics for a while. It might not change anything, but it might be worth a shot.
