How we save money on groceries
When we started our debt-free journey, the biggest expense (besides our rent) was groceries. Although we cut back a lot, I thought it was time for an updated look into our grocery and meal routine and give you some ideas for how/where to spend your money to make the most of it and save you a little time. You can also read the original blog post about grocery shopping here.
We do still plan our meals out once per month, but we have since changed WHERE we get our groceries from.
Money vs. Time
You can either save a lot of money or save a lot of time, rarely you can do both. Since my husband and I have been taking on more house projects, I'm currently pregnant with our second baby, and my husband started grad school, we've opted to pay a little more in order to save some time. Our monthly budget for groceries and household products currently sits at $800 per month for 2 adults and a toddler. However, we rarely use all of that. In fact, this month that I'm writing the post we only spent $410, so it really depends on the month and how many guests we entertain through the weeks.
It's important that when you're looking at your monthly meals, you decide which is your priority. If you want the most convenient options, eating out every day might be the best option for you. If you need to cut that bill to under $300, you're going to need to invest some time into shopping around for the best prices.
Plan for the month
I have a whole post talking about how we grocery shop one month at a time. Rather than going to the store every day after work, you can buy in bulk and have meals ready to go for 30 days at a time. You can even use this method to push it to 60 or 90 days depending on your food storage options and lifestyle.
I won't go too far into this since THIS POST explains it all, but I will say that having a rotating meal list that your family enjoys can make this process much easier. We have about 80 recipes that we rotate through, with the occasional new recipe to test and of course, eating out now and then.
I use Notion to track and plan my meals, but you can really use anything you'd like - a notebook and pen, a recipe binder, or some fancy app. Whatever works best for you!
Grocery Store Options
Obviously, the stores you visit will vary by region but let's talk about the differences in WHERE you shop.
Sams club & Costco
Any kind of wholesale club like these is a great place to shop if you have a larger family or have the storage space to buy non-perishables in bulk. We love buying things like rice, flour, canned goods, and frozen foods from our local Sam’s Club, because it's usually MUCH cheaper than the other options, and since we have the room to store it, buying bulk ends up saving us a lot of money throughout the year.
The foods we like to buy in bulk are:
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Baking supplies (flour, sugar, yeast, seasonings - we go through these very quickly in our home)
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Beans, Lentils, and Rice
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Frozen berries and veggies
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Oats and Grains
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Nuts and Dried Fruit
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Dried Pasta
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Peanut Butter and Cooking Oils (again, we go through these quickly)
Sprouts / Whole Foods / Trader Joe's
These stores tend to offer more options for fresh food and seafood in our area. Sprouts is our go-to for all salad items, fruits, fresh spices, and salmon. We don't typically buy a lot of our canned or dried goods at these shops though, because we can get those much cheaper at other stores.
Depending on your area, you might not have a ton of options for shops, but if you do have one of these three near you, it's likely one of the cheapest places to get fresh produce.
Grocery Stores (Publix, Hy-Vee, King Soopers, Safeway, Krogers, Albertsons, etc)
Specific meats, kinds of rice, or snacks are mostly purchased from big grocers like these. Couscous, marinades, cheeses, and single meal items are some of the things we purchase the most from these shops. These are also our go-to for last-minute purchases since we pass about a million of these on our way home from work.
Usually, we order as much from Sam's club as possible, get the fresh produce from sprouts, then order anything else we couldn't get at those two from King Soopers.
Mom & Pop Shops
We don't do this often enough (partially because there aren't a lot of options for these in our area), but we do try to shop local as often as we can. Our area doesn't have much in the way of grocers, but we do tend to buy home decor, gifts, and artisan goods from local shops. We also have a Mexican grocer nearby that is our go-to for certain spices, Mexican bread, and paletas (fruit ice pops).
Home-grown and Farmers Markets
Last and definitely not least are also local. We are super lucky to live near a lot of farms, so farm-stands, markets, and summer stands are all over the place. We love picking up pickles, jam, fruits, and green chilis whenever we're out.
We also get all our dairy from a local dairy farm, they deliver directly to us, so we get coffee creamer, milk, eggs, cheese, and other goods delivered once a week. They are about the same prices as a big grocer but they taste SO much better and everything comes in reusable glass jugs that they collect each week. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend looking into dairy delivery near you, many larger cities and suburbs offer them (at least in Colorado).
If you don't have farmers’ markets near you, it may be worth looking into Misfit Market and see if they're in your area. We use this service off and on depending on our needs for the week, but essentially you get "misfit" produce that wouldn't be sold in stores. It's WAY cheaper than most of the products we see in our area and it's reducing food waste in the process.
Instacart
I was already a huge fan of grocery delivery and pickup pre-pandemic, but since then, we've practically never set foot in a grocery store. Grocery delivery may cost a little more in fees, but for the value, I think it's well worth the money.
We use Instacart for our groceries because we can order from Sam's club, sprouts, and King Soopers all in one order. We live in a fairly large area for grocery delivery, so we usually get our orders in a couple of hours.
Although with grocery pickup and online ordering, we could easily do our shopping ourselves, I think Instacart is well worth the cost. We pay $99 per year for reduced fees and free deliveries and it literally saves us 5-10 hours every month on grocery shopping. With a toddler and one on the way, that time means a lot to us.
On top of that, using online ordering like this has greatly reduced our tendencies to buy brand-name items and it gives us the chance to find better deals quickly. Plus, we're not tempted by end caps and snacks in the checkout line.
Hello Fresh & similar services
I want to include this because Hello Fresh is something we use fairly often during busy seasons, but I would never flat-out recommend it to everyone, and there are a few reasons for that.
Firstly, Hello Fresh and similar services can be very expensive for large families. If you're a single person living on your own, it may actually save you money from ordering take-out every day or going out to eat. But, for a family of six, the cost would be pretty steep for things you could simply pick up at the store.
Secondly, there will be lots of trash and plastic waste, but often less food waste. If you tend to over-buy and then not actually eat your leftovers, this might actually reduce your waste. In our home, we rely on leftovers for lunches, so this isn't always the most practical option for us.
There are obviously some serious benefits to meal services, otherwise, no one would actually use them. For us, they are very convenient during busy seasons and much cheaper than going out to eat, which is what we tend to do when we're feeling overwhelmed. On top of that, they do have really yummy recipes that you can reuse, and we often do!
We only use Hello Fresh for a few weeks each year, but the flexibility it offers and decent costs are worth it for us at times. Our plan is to use Hello Fresh for the weeks after this second baby is born so that we don't have to worry about coming up with meals or bulk grocery shopping for a month. Pair this with some freezer meal prep and we'll save ourselves some stress for a month or two.
With all of these methods combined, we spend an average of $517 on groceries each month. That may seem like a huge or tiny number depending on your situation, but from a family who loves fancy foods, lots of fresh produce, and tries to keep as locally sourced and low waste as possible, we are really happy with that average.
