In our quest to save money these days it seems like the question most often asked is, “How can I save money on groceries?” I’ve got all the best tips for you. I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to saving money on groceries. In all the areas of spending, it’s where I feel like I have the most control. Are you wondering how you can possibly save more money on your grocery bill? I’m here to share all the tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years. Check out the following 10 tips and you will be saving in no time.

Write a grocery list and stick to it

One of the easiest ways to save on your grocery budget is to make a list of the items you need. When you are shopping in the store, make sure you stick to the items on your list and don’t impulse buy. The only time I put something in my cart that’s not on my list is when I see something and remember we are out of it. For example, a basic pantry item like mayonnaise, tortillas, pasta, etc. You may think putting a few extra items in your cart is no big deal. Until you get up to the checkout and your bill is $20 more than you were intending to spend. Do this a few times and your overspending can add up fast. By writing a grocery list you are more likely to only buy the things you need and stick to your budget.

Use a grocery list app

Take writing a grocery list one step further and use a grocery list app. Using a grocery list app is seriously a lifesaver for me. I love that I can add items to it whenever I think of them. There’s also no more forgetting the grocery list at home because I always have my phone with me. The app I use is called Grocery IQ and here are a few things I love about it:

• All of your items are sorted by each section or aisle in the store. Dairy, produce, meats, canned goods, etc. You just enter your items on your list and the app automatically sorts them for you.
• As you are putting items into your cart in the store, you can “cross the item off your list”. You just check the little box next to the item and it moves it down into the “purchased” section.
• You can have lists for as many stores as you want. I currently have lists for 3 of my favorite stores that I shop at. I have certain items that I buy at each store so I can keep each list separate for my weekly shopping trips.

There are many grocery list apps available to choose from. There are even ones that let you sync with someone else’s phone. This makes it easier to share the list with your spouse if you need them to pick up groceries on the way home.

Get to know your prices

This is one tip that I cannot stress enough. It is very important to know the regular non-sale prices on the groceries you buy on a regular basis. That way if an item is on sale, you’ll know if it’s a good deal and if you should stock up on it. Get to know the prices of the items at all the grocery stores you shop at. It’s good to compare prices. You never know when you can find an item for cheaper somewhere else. And that brings me to my next tip.

Stock up during sales

If you have certain items that you use all the time, the best way to buy them is when they are on sale and stock up! Why pay full price if you don’t have to? This works great for toiletries, laundry soap, canned goods, pasta, etc., but it’s not just limited to pantry items. If you have an extra freezer then you can also stock up on perishable items. Whenever there’s a good sale on butter, ground beef, roast, or bread, I stock up and put the extras in our garage freezer. Cheese and coffee creamer have a long shelf life so I will stock up on those too. Be careful with this strategy and know your limits. Don’t go broke buying something just because it’s on sale. Only stock up on items that you use on a regular basis.

Make a meal plan

This is another huge part in saving money on your grocery bill. When you make a meal plan for the week or month you will save both time and money. Not only will you have a list of meals to refer to when you’re trying to figure out what to make for dinner, you will also be more likely to make a grocery list and only buy the items you need. When I make my weekly menu plan, I make a list of all the ingredients I need to make those recipes. I double check the items I have in my fridge and pantry to make sure I don’t buy something I already have on hand.

For tips on how to create a menu plan and how it can save you money, check out my posts:

Weekly Menu Planning

How to save money with meal planning

Grocery store rewards system

If your local grocery store has a rewards system, you should definitely be using it and benefitting from all its perks. Sometimes they will offer coupons on items that you purchase regularly. They might offer points towards saving money on fuel at your local gas station. You might even get a rewards rebate every few months. Whatever it is, be sure to take advantage of this easy way to save money.

Check your receipt before you leave the store

After going through all the work of saving money on your groceries you would hate to discover that you accidentally paid more than you should have for an item. Every time I go grocery shopping I make sure to look over my receipt before I leave the store. I double check that all my coupons went through and that I paid the correct price of the items that were on sale. This has saved me so much money over the years. There have been a few times where I’ve made tiny little mistakes like how many items I was supposed to buy, or I grabbed the wrong size box. Machines and technology are not perfect all the time either. There have also been times when I was charged full price for items instead of the sale price. By double checking my receipt and kindly talking to customer service, I have saved anywhere from a few dollars to $20 per shopping trip over the years. If you nicely explain the situation, the store is usually more than willing to help you out and try to get you your savings.

Double your savings with coupons

Another way to save extra money on groceries is to use a coupon on an item that is also on sale. This is an old school method of saving money on groceries, but it’s tried and true and it works. You are doubling your savings when you do this. Before you start thinking about how boring and annoying it is to clip coupons, hear me out. There are ways to use coupons without clipping them. Like I mentioned before, if your store has a rewards system they probably have coupons that you can add to your card. If you use your card every time you shop, you are automatically saving money. The rewards system will also start to recognize the items you purchase regularly and offer more coupons for them. I save anywhere from 15 to 60% on my grocery bill with sales and coupons.

There is also the coupons.com app. It lists all the coupons in the app. You select the ones for the items you’ll be purchasing and scan your receipt after you’ve gone shopping. Coupons.com will then automatically send cash back to your PayPal account.

Use the Ibotta app

The Ibotta app is a way for you to earn cash back on items that you already buy. You simply search for offers from your favorite stores, select the items you will buy, and then take a picture of your receipt once you’ve gone shopping. You will receive your cash back in the app within 24 hours. Once you reach $20 can transfer your cash to a PayPal account, your bank account, or to your choice of the gift cards they offer. There are offers from hundreds of grocery and other retail stores and online stores, including Amazon. Click on the link below to download the app.

Earn money from buying groceries

Yes you read that right. There are ways you can actually earn money just from buying groceries. There are several cash back and points apps that you can earn from just by scanning your receipt. Check out how you can start making money from your groceries in this post: Apps you can make money from

Buy in bulk

Sometimes it is cheaper to buy in larger quantities. If there are items that you buy multiples of like yogurt cups, granola bars, baby food, etc., check to see if they have larger packs of them. Often the price of the package of 6 is less than if you would have bought 6 of that item separately. If you were going to buy several of that item anyway, then it’s cheaper for you to purchase the 6 pack.

This is where having a membership to Costco or Sam’s Club comes in handy. Even if you don’t have a big family, you can still save a lot of money by shopping at these stores. You can save on everything from toilet paper to canned goods and dairy products. Another thing I love about Costco is that they have a lot of gluten-free and dairy-free items for cheaper than you can find anything else. Just be careful though, this is one of those stores where you have to remember to stick to your list and don’t get sucked into buying things you don’t need.

Check the price per unit

This is a tip that you may not have thought of. Make sure to check the price per unit of items. Take a package of tortillas for instance. You might have the option to buy a package of 10 or a package of 20. The package of 10 costs $1.70 so the price per unit is .17. The package of 20 is on sale for $2.40 so the price per unit is .12. So it is cheaper to buy the package of 20. This can also apply to boxes of granola bars, cereal, flour, sugar, or anything that you use all the time and will last a little longer in your pantry or freezer.

Amazon Subscribe and Save

If you have an Amazon Prime membership there are some savings you could be missing out on for household and grocery items. One of the best ways to save on groceries with Amazon is through Subscribe and Save.

The way Subscribe and Save works is you basically have a subscription to items that you use and they are sent to you automatically every month. Amazon offers the Subscribe and Save option on pretty much everything you can think of. I use it for diapers & wipes, vitamins, toiletry items, collagen powder and powders and syrups to make my iced coffees. We even have it set up to have our refrigerator water filter sent every few months. That way we never forget to order it! You can save anywhere from 15 to 20% on items through Subscribe and Save.

If you do not yet have an Amazon Prime account you can try it free for 30 days by clicking on the link below.

Recommended post: All the benefits of Amazon Prime

Start saving money today

Start using even a few of these tips to save money on your groceries and you are sure to see a difference in your grocery bill. I save hundreds of dollars per year in our grocery budget by using all of these money saving strategies.