Save on food: spend less on groceries

How much do you spend on groceries? With food prices continuing to rise, paying for groceries can make anyone cringe, making it seem impossible to save money on food. How can you save money on groceries? Try some of these ideas to win the grocery games.

While brand-name items might be preferred for some things – such as healthcare or hair styling products– giving generic or store-brand items a chance can save your household hundreds of dollars per year on groceries. If you’re skeptical of the quality of generic items, try the generic version of plain items like bread, flour, sugar and other staples that are comprised of a short list of ingredients. When you develop an idea of how well a store-brand can be trusted, you can purchase more of that label’s products and compare its taste to the brand name counterpart. Over time, you’ll save a significant amount of money.

If you’ve ever shopped with a child, you know it gets difficult resisting her appeals for what she sees. But it can be easy to forget that as adults, it's easier for us to spend more money when we're hungry, tired, or stressed. Over time, buying an extra box of this or that can add up to a lot. Making a list before you shop and planning your trip in advance will help you resist impulse buys and spot savings more easily.

Generic or store-brand merchandise is already cheaper than the national brand, but you can get an even better deal if you know where to look. Clearance merchandise is often placed low on the shelves where it’s more difficult to see. Look down – literally – as you walk the aisles to see if what you need has been marked down. The items that are placed low on the shelves and marked down instead of being taken to the clearance area are generally faultless items that the store just wants to get rid of more quickly.

Whether you use a mobile savings app or you love cutting paper coupons, remember to take them to the store! You can save as much as 50 percent on your grocery shopping if you consistently plan what you’ll buy and use coupons to buy it. Shopping with coupons is a great strategy for households with money problems to move towards a better future and for others to keep money problems away. There are healthy limits to using coupons and it does not have to take up excessive amounts of time.