Grocery Hacking: How to Get Food Costs Down Without Coupons

One of the most consistent, largest monthly expenses my husband and I have is food. Whether that be food we purchase at the grocery store or food we consume eating out. Before we started budgeting, food accounted for nearly 30% of our monthly expenses. Which wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing if our monthly expenses were low. But they weren't. When we decided to get out of debt, we took drastic steps to reduce our monthly expenses as much as possible. Our food budget, therefore, went from $800 to $400 per month. Needless to say it was VERY difficult at first.

Here are some things we learned which helped us cut our grocery bill in half:

First, we stopped using debit/credit cards for groceries. Instead we put $400 in an envelope labeled "food" for the month. Once that money was gone, it was gone. This was extremely difficult to do at first, but we quickly learned we spend less with cash than when swiping a card. I am also more likely to be creative and look for deals when I can physically see the money going away, which helped keep us on track financially.

Second, we made grocery lists. This was unfortunately something we did not do well at first. Making a list of the items we needed prevented us from buying things we didn't need, and in turn prevented us from spending money we didn't need to spend. Somewhat related to grocery lists is communication between you and your spouse. Many times I would go to the store to get the things I needed, not knowing my husband had already bought them earlier in the day. This meant we had twice as much food as we intended. Some of it would last; some of it would go bad before we could eat it, thus wasting our money (and good food). When we made lists and began communicating when we were going to the store, we instantly saved money.

Third, we minimized the cost per plate of our meals. We became very strategic in calculating costs of certain dinner combinations per plate versus others, and eventually figured out which combinations were the cheapest. This further stretched the efficiency of our money and also kept our bellies full for the month.

Fourth, we learned which items in the grocery store were the cheapest. Grocery store brands are almost always cheaper than name brands. For example, compare Kroger brand cheese slices at $2.99 versus Sargento at $5.99. Same number of slices but a $3.00 price difference. That can add up quickly.

Comparing packaging methods of foods proved to be financially fruitful as well. For example, frozen veggies were cheaper than canned most of the time at our local store, and boxed foods would sometimes be cheaper per unit in a pack of five compared to a larger "value" pack of ten.

We would pay attention to the cost per item or ounce, then buy the cheapest option.

Fifth, I paid attention to expiration dates on the perishable goods we routinely purchased. Grocery stores will usually mark down prices on items expiring soon, so if you can consume them in a reasonable amount of time, this makes for a great way to save money. Take pre-made salad kits for example. I would make a note on my phone of the salad's expiration date, and a few days before the item expired, I made a trip to the grocery store to purchase the kit for 50-75% off. This made for a really cheap meal when adding some canned tuna to the salad mix.

Sixth, I got creative if we ran out of grocery money before the end of the month. Usually we would have rice, veggies, and some kind of frozen meat left over. This would make a good amount of food to get through the rest of the month, and if not, we could finish our peanut butter and jelly to make PB & J sandwiches. Whatever could be thrown together from the freezer or pantry is what we ate the last few days of the month. The main thing we learned was that there was always food somewhere that could be used if needed.

Also, keep in mind that many grocery stores have a clearance area separate from the normal sale items. It may be in the back of the store tucked away, but always look here first to see if there's something on your list you can get deeply discounted. Stick to your list though; don't just buy an item because it's on sale. If you buy something you weren't originally intending to buy, you're not actually saving money; you're spending more than originally intended. I've done this so many times, not only with groceries but also with clothes.

I hope these tips help you save money on your next grocery visit.

Next time we’ll talk about how and when we used coupons on groceries.