You’ve noticed that your grocery bills are steeper than usual. You’re not imagining things — inflation has made the costs of your groceries rise recently, and it doesn’t look like those high prices are going away any time soon.
Shopping on a Tight Budget
If your budget is really tight, this rise in grocery prices could be making you nervous. You don’t want to spend more than you can afford on this necessity and put yourself in a bad financial spot. What if you drain your checking account before your next payday? What if you put your account into overdraft? What if an emergency expense crops up?
In the case of an emergency expense, you can charge it to your credit card, or you can look at options for personal loans. You don’t have to make an appointment at your bank to do this — you can try to get your next loan online through a website like this. If you’re approved, you can use the borrowed funds to handle your emergency expense in a hurry.
You can avoid this entire budgeting problem by shrinking your grocery costs every month. Read the tips below to find out how.
How to Shrink Grocery Costs
1. Use Your Freezer
One way to shrink your grocery costs is to minimize your food waste. The more groceries that you throw out at the end of the week, the more you’ll have to buy when you head back to the store. To keep your groceries fresher for longer, take advantage of your freezer.
These are just some of the items that you can store there:
- Butter
- Bread
- Flour
- Nuts
- Brown rice
- Meat
- Berries
- Ginger
You can also tuck your leftovers in the freezer so that you have an easy dinner to heat up in a few weeks. It’s the perfect way to preserve soups, chilis, stews, curries, stir-frys and pasta bakes.
2. Learn the Seasons
Find out what fruits and vegetables are in season before you shop. The fruits and vegetables that are in season will be fresher, tastier and often much cheaper than the other produce in the store.
3. Go Generic
Specific name brands will charge more for the exact same products. So, fill your cart with generic products — they will cost you a lot less.
4. Go Meatless
Meat will be one of the priciest items sitting on your grocery list. You can shrink your monthly grocery costs by skipping meat-heavy meals and using alternative proteins like eggs, tofu and beans. Doing a few budget-friendly vegetarian dinners per week could make a huge difference.
5. Use Coupons
Use coupons and discount codes to reduce the prices of your groceries at the checkout. You should only use them for items that you were already planning to buy. Getting a lower price on something you don’t need isn’t a real deal.
6. Embrace DIY
Packaged meals and snacks tend to cost more than cooking those same meals for yourself. A little bit of effort on your part will save you money. Think about something as simple as granola. You could spend $5 on a small bag that you will finish in a few days. Or you could buy the ingredients and make batches for weeks on end.
7. Shop at the Right Time
If you feel rushed or hungry when you’re shopping, you’re going to spend impulsively and ignore your budget. Try to find convenient times to shop in your schedule when you know you won’t have to race through the aisles and get home to eat.
Use these tips to whittle down your grocery bills and add more room to your budget.
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