Grocery Shop Smart

There’s no doubt that a good chunk of our change is spent on groceries. This is especially true if you’re enrolled in cooking schools online. While it probably isn’t possible to limit what you’re buying at the grocery store – especially if you’re shopping for certain recipes – there are ways to shop smarter and save a little bit without affecting your meals. Follow these steps to cut down on your grocery bill:

Shop when you don’t have time
The more time you have to wander the aisles at a grocery store, the more products you’ll find yourself buying. Rather than leisurely strolling through the grocery store on a weekend when you have all the time in the world, try to run to the store between errands. That way you don’t have much of a choice but to run in and grab what you need. Not to mention, the grocery store will be much less busy during the week so you’ll be able to get in and out much quicker.

Buy store brands
Nine times out of 10, store brands are just as good as the name brand food you’re looking at, but at a significantly lower price. So don’t rule out the idea of purchasing the store brand out of fear that you dish won’t taste as good. Unless you have an emotional attachment to a specific brand of cheese or sauce, don’t bother.

Clean out your kitchen
Before you go to the grocery store, look in your pantry and refrigerator. Don’t just see what staple items, like milk or eggs, you need, but also make sure you don’t buy anything that you already have. Go through your pantry and fridge and see what’s already expired as well. Unloading your new groceries into a freshly cleaned fridge ensures they won’t get lost amongst all of the leftovers, so you’ll remember to eat them.

Bring a list
While you’re going through your pantry and fridge, make a list. Throwing away an expired bottle of salad dressing? Write it on the list. Do you notice you have a surplus of noodles, but nothing to make sauces? Write those ingredients down too. This will keep you from having to wrack your brain while shopping or make emergency trips to the store right before you’re supposed to start making dinner.

Look closely at “deal” prices
Ten items for $10 seems like a great deal when it comes to anything, doesn’t it? Well, that’s the purpose of the marketing ploy. But do you really need ten yogurts? Would you buy all of that yogurt if it were regularly priced? If the answer is no, put the armload of yogurt down. While sales sound like a good deal, don’t let them convince you to buy items that you don’t actually need. You’ll probably actually just end up spending more money that way.