A lot of people waste money on food without even realizing it, or if they realize it, they do not know how to stop. I have been there, where I think “I will surely eat this and that” while I am in the store, or buy it because it is “healthy and will make me thinner,” and I end up never eating it at home, and before I know it, that food has gone bad. Here are some tips to help you realize where with food you are overspending and how to cut down that grocery bill:

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1. Keep tabs on your Food Habits

Keeping tabs on your food habits is probably one of the two most important tips on this list. Many people do not watch what they really eat (good and bad foods) and they just buy what looks good in the store at that moment. That causes us to waste our hard-earned money and the food we bought.

I personally like to do a sweep through my kitchen about once a month to make sure there are no ‘biological experiments’ growing (nothing has expired). I also use this to make sure we are not wasting any food, and if so, I take note of that food and do not buy it since we clearly are not eating it (no matter how healthy that food is).

I make sure foods we do tend to eat are on the grocery list and are part of that week’s meal plan. This allows me to make sure we are not wasting food or money.

2. Stick to Your List, Mostly – Also look for Items on Sale

Create a grocery list based off of what you want to cook for the week. (For example, take 10-15 minutes Sunday afternoon to plan what you want to cook and eat for the week before you go to the store). When you go to the grocery store, stick to that list. Also, do not go to the store hungry as sticking to that list becomes much harder.

I know this next part goes against what I just said a bit: If the grocery store has an item on sale, then buy the on sale item instead of the regular priced meal you were going to get. For example, if spaghetti is on sale, then consider switching one of your meal planned dinners to spaghetti instead of what is not on sale. You do not have to do this for all the meals, but it can help save money if you do it for a few. Just make sure it is not something that is on sale and still at a higher price than the regular priced item you were going to buy.

3. Cooking Spices

How many cooking/baking spices do we really use? Most of us do not need 100 spices at home, as we tend to only use a few. Go through all of your spices and see what has expired. Keep track of what spices you actually use (more than 3/4 of the bottle gone before the expiration date), and only keep and buy those. I personally use eight different spices no matter what I cook and bake (cinnamon, cinnamon sugar, nutmeg, salt, cream of tartar, lemon pepper, rosemary, and thyme). Yours may be a bit more or less. I do not have any other spices because I do not use them, which saves some money.

It is very wasteful to our pocketbooks and the environment to buy spices we only use once. If a recipe calls for a different spice that you do not have, try substituting it for one you have already. (Example, if the recipe calls for paprika, and you only have chili powder- try the chili powder). You can also ask a neighbor or friend to borrow a spice from their spice cabinet if you want that exact spice.

4. Choose the Right Stores & How to Get There

Some grocery stores have certain items that are more expensive than others. Do your homework on who is the cheapest over all (not on any one particular item only). Also, make sure that you will not be spending that much more in gas going to the ‘cheapest store’ as you could end up spending more money than just going to the grocery store down the street.

Look into alternative ways to get to the grocery store. Maybe take a bicycle, or even walk (if you are fit enough to carry all the groceries home). Depending upon where you live, public transportation could be another option to get to the grocery store.

5. Coffee Out/Dining Out

We all love the coffee shops and someone serving us that ‘fresh start’ in the morning, but it can get very expensive. Making the coffee, lattes, frappuccino’s, etc. at home can save you money, and takes the same amount of time (if not a bit less) than stopping by the coffee shop. Also, when you make it at home, you can make it healthier and know exactly where the ingredients come from. It also saves a bit of gas money not stopping by the coffee shop.

Eating out tends to consume a lot of money, even if it is fast food. Say I stop for fast food once a week and spend $5 per meal. That is $20 per month just on food that is not good for our systems or the environment. $20 can go a long ways in the grocery store on buying food that is healthier for our systems.

Restaurants are where you can really see the spending add up. If I go out once a week and spend $25 (including tax and tip), that is $100 per month on just four meals for me. If I have a family with me, you see how this can get to be $250-300 per month (assuming kids meals are around $10 a plate; family of three or four). A lot of money can be saved by eating at home and it is healthier.

Besides the cost and health reasons, better dinner conversations can happen when you are not surrounded by a lot of random people at other tables. Closer bonds tend to form then when you all can talk and laugh at the table. It helps you and the whole family live more simply and put each other first (have a chance to show love through actions and speech, which is more important than dining out).

6. Gardening for Food

You can plant different vegetables and fruits for some of your food, especially if you have a green thumb. If you do not have an area to garden, you can use pots. As the years go by, your plants will produce even more than the first few years of harvest.

You can then also compost and put the compost back into your garden. This can also help you save money, as you will not need to buy special soils and fertilizers for the garden.

7. Waste Not, Want Not

Learn to use every part of the food you buy. For example, if you bought a rotisserie chicken (or any chicken with bones), use the bones to make chicken stock. Save the tops of the onions and celery to also help with making broths and stock. When I notice my bananas going bad, I make banana muffins or pie that day, which then gives the food a bit longer to be consumed, and I am not just throwing the food away. It also gives me a quick and easy grab-n-go breakfast or dessert. Fruits and vegetables can be frozen, dehydrated, or canned to last longer also. There are so many ways to use all of the parts, or to make the food last longer. Do not be afraid to get creative with saving food, or making a new recipe with the food you have that you want to last longer.

Learning to eat left overs is very important for saving on your food bill, living a simpler life, and better for the environment. Left overs tend to make great and healthy lunches too. Instead of running to the work cafeteria or whatever fast food is near by, save some money by eating the left overs instead. This can also give you more time during your lunch break to take a short walk and get some fresh air.

8. Your Pantry Does Not Need to be 100% Filled

This is probably the other most important tip on this list. A lot of what people buy in the store is not fueled truly on the purchase of buying that item, but a subconscious part underneath ‘filling a void.’ Many people think their pantry and cabinets have to be filled to the brim to ‘have enough.’ Our culture teaches us that we ‘never have enough’ when in reality we not only have enough, we have more than enough, and more than most people in this world (average salary for the world is about $1480/month, or $9.25/hour based on 40 hour work week (I believe this is before taxes) – https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17512040).

Stop to look and see if there is a subconscious part of you trying to take care of you by overfilling your home with food. This could come from you not growing up with enough, or even a family member who did not have enough food when they were younger, and they decided they needed to keep a supply of everything to make sure they would never go hungry again. Those kinds of subconsciousness can be passed on, especially if we were raised with them. Keeping a few extra days to a week supply of food is smart due to storms, etc. – many people have more than an extra week supply though.

To change that, we first need to realize it, and then we can give ourselves grace and work towards realizing and believing we have enough. This will help us save money, as we will not buy as much food (and other things). This realizing I ‘have enough’ has been a game changer for me. This mindset change also helps us live more simply and appreciate what we have more. It goes so much farther than just food.

9. Buying in Bulk

For items that are non-perishable, or items that you go through a ton of, buying in bulk can help save a lot of money. I personally buy kitty litter, tissues, and honey (among other non perishables) in bulk because they do not expire and it saves me a good chunk of money. Kitty litter alone saves me $42.17 per purchase – I can buy 40 lbs for $17.78, and at the normal stores, it costs me $25.48 for 17lbs.

If you go through a lot of a certain food in a quick time, buying in bulk is cheaper, and saves waste (plastic of the individual little containers). When you take inventory of what are the favorite foods/foods eaten a lot, and what is used a lot around the home, buying in bulk is cheaper in the long run (just make sure that food would be used in that quantity).

10. Basic Meals

Making your meals simpler helps save you money and cuts down on time spent in the kitchen (helps with a simpler life). Instead of making for dinner a salad, vegetables, chicken, bread, and dessert, try making just chicken, vegetables, and bread. Or just chicken and vegetables. You can also use less spices and sauces, which will help you save because you do not need as many spices and sauces (meals can still be super yummy when made basic).

Conclusion:

Saving money on your grocery bill does not have to be impossible. It takes conscious decisions to be mindful of how much we are spending, eating, and using. Creating a list and sticking to it can be helpful, as well as looking for food that is on sale. Not wasting, finding creative ways to use parts of the food we would typically throw out, and having the right mindset can help us save money, along with buying in bulk. Even with the rising cost of food prices, you can still save money on your food budget.