Grocery Shopping Tips

We, as college kids/young adults (or in my case, young parents), live busy lives.

There’s school, work, internships, homework, families, extracurricular shit, and parties to attend…

We don’t have much time to look through coupons trying to save money.

We don’t have time to whip up gourmet meals and we sure as hell can’t be expected to stay healthy!

WRONG!

You can save money, eat (kind of) healthy and cook really good food.

All while living busy lives.

You can even save some money without having to use coupons!

Although, you will definitely save more if you do.

I’ve come up with a few basic tips that will help save money as well as eating somewhat healthy.

1.   Make a realistic budget

There technically isn’t a right or wrong answer. Just make sure

 you know what YOU are allowed to spend. If necessary, have a test month. 

Follow the tips below, save all of your grocery receipts and at the 

of the month see what your realistic budget should be.

 

2.      Look through ads

Go to websites like southernsavers.com that basically do everything but

 buy the newspaper and cut coupons for you. 

They have lists of major grocery stores, especially in the south like Publix, Kroger, Harvey’s, etc. 

The website also mentions major drugstores like CVS, Walgreens, and RiteAid. 

If your store isn’t listed, go to their website and see their weekly sales.

 

3.       Plan your meals

Once you’ve peeped the ads, you can see what’s on sale and work around them. 

For me, this week chicken legs are on sale. I will plan at least two of my meals around chicken legs. 

When you plan your meals, it’s easy to know what you have so you don’t have to keep running to the store. You’ll probably buy more than what you initially went to get and use more gas
which means you’re losing mulah. Plus, it’s a pain in the ass.

4.       Stretch everything

A)Like I stated above, I will use the chicken for at least two meals. If you didn’t know, meat is expensive and you should really try to use as much as you can for as little.
My recipes will probably be slow cooker Asian chicken and roasted chicken and veggies.

B) Try not to make your meat the KimK of the meal. It really isn’t that fabulous anyway. Instead of burgers, make tacos or spaghetti with Bolognese sauce. It’ll go further.

5.       Stick to your list

This is probably the biggest reasons for over spending. #guilty

Yes, sometimes you’ll forget milk or eggs but I’m talking about the chocolate chip
 mint ice cream that you’re suddenly craving. Stick to your plan and save that money!

6.       Compare bulk prices to coupon prices

Plot twist. Buying in bulk isn’t always cheaper. You can buy three jars of peanut butter,
 have (3) $1 coupons and it could cost less than buying one big jar for $5.
It might be annoying at first but check the ounces per cent and compare.

7.       Buy produce in season

I know someone who would always buy oranges because everyone in the house loved them.
The thing is, oranges aren’t always in season. She’d spend so much money on them when apples were literally half the price. Check this page to see what produce is seasonal.
Plus, it’ll totally help the environment and local farmers.

8.       Stock up on your faves and toiletries.

I’ll state the obvious. You’re always going to need toilet paper, toothpaste and if you’re a lady,
feminine products. Why pay more when you run out? Stock up on these items!
I would hate running out of toilet paper and having to buy it at FULL PRICE.
When these products go on sale, always buy more than one. Always.

9.       Make it yourself

There are so many things you can make from scratch to save money. Taco seasoning is one of them. Go to Aldi and grab all the spices needed. It may seem like a lot at first but those spices stretch. You can use them for other mixes like the perfect chicken seasoning. Try making cupcakes and cakes from scratch. It’s just as easy as buying the packet. Plus, you have the advantage of knowing what’s in it!

10.   Consider off brands

Stores like Aldi are becoming more popular. They have almost no brand name items in the store but their products still measure up. Milk, ice cream, baking items, yogurts and most especially produce are way cheaper than the bigger stores. Another thing, if you don’t like whatever you bought, you can take it back to the store and get your money back! Guaranteed!

Just remember to bring your own bags because that shit gets embarrassing quickly.

See? Easy. No clipping coupons!
 If you have any tips, let me know! I love to save money ;)

Good luck!