According to the US Department of Agriculture, an average American family of four will spend $727 to $1,303 per month for groceries excluding restaurant meals and takeouts. Fortunately, there are effective ways in cutting your grocery bill without cutting coupons, one of the more popular suggestions for household cost-cutting purposes.
Finance experts suggest strategic shopping, which involves carefully planning for the purchase of products that you will actually use when these are on sale. You should ideally buy these products in sufficiently large quantities to last until the next sale happens. You will be able to save more money via strategic shopping than buying the products at their full prices with coupons, not to mention that you can skip on the inconveniences of choosing, cutting and filing coupons.
Here are simple yet effective ways to apply strategic shopping.
Buy In-season Products
In-season fruits and vegetables will have lower prices than off-season fresh produce because of their more abundant supply. You should buy citrus fruits in winter and berries and watermelon in summer, for example.
You will also find that non-perishable items also have their sale seasons, a fact that you can learn by shrewd observations. Canned fruits and vegetables, canned soup, and baking supplies usually have the lowest prices during the winter months. Barbecue sauce, condiments, and hamburger buns as well as antibiotic sprays, sunscreen, and adhesive bandages are on sale during the summer. Even Valentine’s Day is a great day to stock up on steak and potatoes!
Buy On-sale Products
This is a no-brainer as a cost-cutting measure. Ask the staff about the usual dates when staple items, such as meat, bread, coffee, cereal, condiments, and pet food, go on sale. Take notes of the times when the top 20 items on your grocery list are offered on sale, which may be on a regular basis, or on special occasions like holidays, or from time to time.
Most grocery stores, especially chains like Safeway, also provide information about their sales via their websites. You can subscribe to their email list and get alerts about these excellent money-saving opportunities.
Use What You Purchase
Plan your meals so that you will not waste food, either because the food items became spoiled before use or the meals were thrown into the garbage. Keep in mind that when you throw away food, you are also throwing away money – and the above-mentioned strategic shopping tips will be for naught in this case.
You will find that by lessening your food waste at home, you are also decreasing your money waste. You can even halve your grocery bills, too!