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Of course you can save money on groceries by using coupons. Below is an explanation of how to best do that. Don’t want to clip coupons? Me neither, and there are other ways to save. Those can be found here as well.

Coupons usually only save you money if you use them on things you normally buy or things that can replace what you normally buy. In other words, if you use a coupon to buy a new sugary “fruit” snack that you don’t normally eat anyhow, you didn’t save money, but spent more. Getting a different brand of orange juice for less with a coupon, or getting the same brand you normally buy for fifty cents less – that makes sense.

Coupons become especially valuable if you have stores in your area that offer “double coupon” days. They limit the doubling to coupons of fifty cents or less, though, and you need to use them the right way to get the most out of them. The “right way” is to buy the smallest size you can find of the coupon item.

Why? It is a matter of getting the lowest per-unit cost. For example, a doubled 50 cent coupon saves you $1 off a $4, 12-roll package of toilet paper, meaning it cost you $3, or 25 cents per roll. Use that coupon to save a dollar on the $1.39 4-roll package, though, and it costs you just 39 cents, or less than 10 cents per roll. Find dollar-size products that you have fifty-cent coupons for, and they are free.

Is it all worth it though? Clipping coupons and analyzing per-unit costs? Maybe, maybe not. There are simpler ways to save money on groceries, though.

Five More Ways To Save Money On Groceries

1. Never shop hungry. That’s all there is to this tip, and you can figure out why this will save you money.

2. Try store brands. Some are as good as name brands and some aren’t, but usually all are cheaper, so why not at least try them, but maybe without telling the kids.

3. Stock up during sales. Read more…

Unlike a fixed monthly cost such as your mortgage or car payment, the amount you spend on groceries each month is somewhat flexible. While the common advice of clipping coupons and buying generic brands to save money while shopping is sound, by far the best way to truly keep your grocery shopping expenses under control is by understanding how grocery stores entice you to spend more than you really want. By fully understanding the ways grocery stores encourage you to spend, many of which you probably never even noticed before, you can combat their strategies and spend money only on the merchandise you really need.

Although a grocery store may appear to be simply a place to purchase food and other household necessities, in reality it’s a cutting edge example of “how to sell more than consumers really need.” Since you are the consumer, it’s important that you realize these sales tactics so that you walk into a grocery store to get only what you need while avoiding everything else that the grocery store wants to sell you. Here are some ways that grocery stores manipulate you into spending more than you had planned and some simple steps you can take to counter them:

Smell: One of the first things you’ll notice when you enter a grocery store is the mouth-watering smell. There is a specific reason why grocery stores smell of freshly baked goods, and also why the bakery is almost always found near the store entrance. The reason is that a bakery making bread and desserts gives off an enticing smell, and that smell is likely to make you hungry. The grocery store also knows that if you feel hungry while you shop, you are likely to spend more money – a lot more – than if you are not hungry.

A simple way that you can combat this is by going grocery shopping only after you have had a meal and are full. If timing doesn’t allow for you to do this, at least drink a couple of glasses of water before leaving to make you feel full before shopping. Shopping while you’re full makes it much easier to resist the great smelling temptations that the grocery store will flaunt in front of you.

Overall Store Layout: Did you ever notice that when you only need to buy a few staple items, you have to travel the entire grocery store floor in order to get them? While one might assume that the convenience of putting basic staple items in the same general area would make happier customers, grocery stores know that the longer that they can keep you in the store, the more money you are likely to spend. They also know that making you walk as far as they can inside the store will make it more likely that you’ll pick up impulse items. Stores are specifically designed in such a way as to make you spend as much time as possible inside them and walk the entire store floor to get the basic staples that everyone needs.

Although there is no way around going to the far corners of the store to get the groceries you need, you can avoid the trap of impulse purchases on the store floor by taking the time to make a list of the items you need and sticking to it when shopping. Getting into the habit of making a single trip once a week to take care of all your grocery shopping needs instead of several smaller trips throughout the week will also greatly reduce your time in the store and the chances that you’ll buy items you don’t really need.

Item Display Layout: Manufactures of brand named products pay hefty stocking fees to stores to have their merchandise placed on the shelves at adult eye level (and child eye level in the case of products aimed at children such as cereal). Manufactures are willing to pay these prices because they know that you are much more likely to purchase something that you can easily see as you are walking down the aisle than something you have to stop and search for. The result is that the products placed at eye level are usually the most expensive.

Before grabbing the first item you see, take a few seconds to look at the upper and lower shelves. Similar products are placed together and simply looking will often reveal the same product at a much better price.

“Sale” Merchandise: Grocery stores will advertise a certain number of items at rock bottom prices (called “loss leaders”) to get you to come to the store. While these can be genuine bargains, don’t get fooled into thinking that everything that has the words “sale” or “bargain” above it is really that. While aisle ends are reserved for these “bargains,” they aren’t always the deals they seem to be and the discounted products are often displayed along side higher price products. You can sometimes even find similar products in the regular aisle section that are less than the end of aisle “sale” merchandise.

The important thing to remember when grocery shopping is to focus on the price of the product Read more…

We’ve all heard about certain ways to cut your grocery bill like avoiding the grocery store when you’re hungry, using coupons on double coupons day, and buying only the items on your list. These are all good tips and we should keep using them. However, I’ve found a few pointers that might help you save even more on your grocery bill.

The first thing you need to do after you’ve made your grocery list is to try to figure the total cost of your grocery bill. Make sure you’ve got everything on the list that you’ll need because after you’ve made an educated guess you’re going to go to your purse (or wallet), take out the cash and leave the rest behind. Believe me, this will definitely cut back on the unnecessary extras because you won’t have the credit cards to fall back on. And if you’re like me, you’d rather be hung upside down by your toe nails than be found short at the check out.

Don’t be afraid to look on the day-old bread rack or in the “about to expire” section of the meat department. You have to be careful, but you’ll probably be able to tell whether the item is good. Just make sure to use it right away, don’t let it sit in your refrigerator for a week. Who knows, it just might “meat” your expectations and save you money in the process!

Another thing to think about is the time of day, time of week and even time of month that you are shopping. I’ve found that early in the morning and in the middle of the week is when the grocery stores are less busy and you’ll be able to get more efficient shopping done. Be careful not to go on the first day or two of the month. Some stores have been known to raise prices because that is the time that social security and welfare checks go out.

Buy in bulk when it makes sense. If you’re shopping at Costco or Sam’s Club you still need to comparison shop. I’ve found that some of the Read more…

Do you read the labels when you choose your food? Do you think you understand what they really mean? You may have to change your thinking. Here are some of the grocery shopping secrets you need to know.

Grocery Shopping Secrets – Lying Labels

Read labels much and you’ll notice that almost all packaged products have hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oil in them. This is the stuff scientists give to mice to cause heart disease when they want to study that disease! The good news is that, due to consumer demand, some brands have stopped using it in some of their products. The bad news is that it is still in well over half of all packaged grocery products.

Look at those labels when you’re grocery shopping, and you’ll also see that sugar is showing up in almost everything. It is even added to most brands of kidney beans, which used to be packed in just water and salt. Why add sugar? Two reasons. The first is simply that our taste buds have come to crave sweetness. This, however, doesn’t explain why it is in things like kidney beans. That is a bigger secret.

Sugar is added to kidney beans, peanut butter and many other products that don’t need it for taste because these are convenient places to dump it. You see, sugar is cheap – cheaper than the other ingredients. Government subsidies have helped produce so much cheap sugar that growers need to dump it into as many products as they can. This works well for the makers of food products. More sugar and less of the more expensive peanuts in that peanut butter means more profit.

Here an even nastier secret: Manufacturers are lying about the amount of sugar they put in their products. You may be aware that they have to list the ingredients on the label in order, according to how much of each their is. What if they have a product that has more sugar than anything else? They don’t want it at the top of the list where everyone can see that it is the primary ingredient, right?

This is how they hide it: They put three types of sugar into the product, so that no one of them is a larger amount than whatever “healthy” ingredient they want to appear at the top of the list. For example, suppose you read on that juice bottle label, “cranberry juice, corn syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup and vitamin C.”

It looks like the primary ingredient is just natural juice. Perhaps the real story is: 27% juice, 25% corn syrup, 24% sugar, 23 % high fructose corn syrup, 1% Vitamin C. The Read more…

The average family?s grocery bill is usually one of the higher numbers on the family budget. There can be an enormous difference in what each family spends on their groceries, depending on many factors, such as whether they buy name brand, more meat, etc.

The good news is that this allows for a large amount of savings if we decide to be frugal with our shopping. Following a few simple tips will have you well on your way to saving a few bucks.

1.) Make a meal plan. You?ll know exactly what you need from the store before you go.

2.) Watch for specials and coupons in store newsletters, and plan your meals around them.

3.) Make a list and stick to it. If it?s not on the list, don?t buy it.

4.) Don?t shop when you?re hungry. That way you won?t be tempted to buy things that you don?t need.

5.) Shop alone. Count on your bill being higher when you bring your spouse or children.

6.) Only buy things you know you?ll use. For example, if your family doesn?t like broccoli, don?t buy broccoli in the hopes that they?ll Read more…

Whether you are unemployed or not, any tips on saving money is worth reading and applying. I say that because not a lot of people are able to save money. There are credit card bills, rising cost of utilities and other bills that people are dealing with that prohibit them from saving money.

The only way people are going to be able to save is to take a stricter approach when it comes to managing their money. The key is consistency not so much a large amount. Let?s say while you are unemployed, you decide to give up cable for an entire year. For us the costs of cable is roughly $48.00 a month. Take $48.00 times 12 months and you get $576.00. If you begin saving this amount per month then at the end of the year you will have saved that amount. Maybe that does not sound like a lot, but let?s imagine if you have no savings at all.

Another one I like is recently I purchased some French fries in the frozen food section at the grocery store. Well the kids really liked them. Prior to finding these, usually five out of seven days I was spending $2.79 for their French fries. Well at the end of the week that was costing me $14.00 which does not include gas. Over a months time that is $56.00. The bag of fries at the grocery store is two for five dollars. A bag last me two to three days. So I would have only spent $5.00 for the week versus $14.00 This puts me $9.00 ahead for the week and $36.00 ahead for the month.

When you begin looking at ways to cut cost in a realistic manner, you will begin to see just how much money you can save. If you took the $48.00 plus Read more…

After your mortgage or rent and your utility bills, food is generally the biggest expenditure for the household. Therefore, if you are looking to save money your grocery shop is good place to start. There are plenty of measures you can take to cut down on the cost, none of which involve resorting to measures such as living on porridge or beans on toast, or other wise compromising on the quality of your meals. Also remember that even if you are only saving as little as ?10 per shop, over the year that weekly saving will mean ?520 extra in your pocket.

Check local newspapers as many include supplements from local supermarkets containing money saving coupons and details of multi buy offers. Take advantage of offers and buy in bulk if this practical. But remember, do not be tempted to buy something you would not usually consider if it wasn?t on a special deal, as this is just going to increase your weekly shop rather than helping you save your pennies!

Take a look at money saving websites as some include promotional codes for either getting discounts on online grocery orders, or getting free delivery.

Join club card promotions. For instance, Tesco give you points for every pound you spend on your shop. Discount vouchers will then be sent to you on the basis of how many points you have earned. Or get a Nectar card which can be used in multiple shops, such as Sainsburys, to save money on your shopping.

Before writing your shopping list, draw up a meal plan for the week. By doing this you will know exactly what food you do need, rather than guessing what you think you might want during the week. Once you have made the list stick to it, and do not be tempted by additional luxury items while you are walking round the supermarket.

Try to avoid shopping when you are hungry if you have no will power when it comes to impulse buying. The hungrier you are, the more likely you are to add unnecessary items to your trolley!

Shop around. Supermarkets are always competing with each other to offer the best prices Read more…