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If you are like me, you probably hate going grocery shopping and could use all the grocery store trip tips there are. Not only will it be crowded, but the cost of food and other household items has increased significantly.
Prior to COVID-19, I went to the grocery store weekly. I had a small list of the must-haves but figured I would walk the aisles until I found what I needed for the week’s meals. I would leave, looking down at my receipt in defeat… once again.
According to the USDA, more time and money are being spent on food-related activities. This included both grocery shopping, meal prepping, cooking, and eating out. According to the USDA, studies show that even with changing times, more women are still the ones doing these activities.
I would like to put a disclaimer here just incase my husband reads this one- my husband does 90% of the cooking in our house… then does the dishes 🙂
How could I have spent so much money on groceries for dinners that we may not even want to cook and eat that week?
Can you relate?
Once COVID-19 hit, my first baby was 9 months old, and bringing him into the grocery store without any facial protection was a scary concept. Like many people, I dove into grocery pick-up and delivery.
I decided that purchasing Walmart+ was worth it for the free delivery if I planned to do delivery long-term. For $99 a year, I could get free delivery! Be sure to read about other ways Walmart+ may benefit you!
You can get a 30 Day Free Trial here!
I still do use grocery delivery often, as it is definitely convenient.
Let’s dive into some tips!
1) Make a Grocery List
This one may be obvious, but if you know exactly what you are getting before you head into the store, you will likely save money.
Use my grocery list template here.
Sticking to your grocery list is a different story 🙂
You could also put your grocery list on the notes section of your phone. There is a tool in notes that allows you to check off an item when adding an item to the cart- check below!
Next, let’s find ways to save even more!
2) Research Lowest Prices
You could spend hours looking through newspaper inserts for different grocery stores to see who has the best deals on blueberries or milk, or you could work a little smarter!
Here are some apps I use to organize my grocery shopping each week!
Flipp– An app that allows you to flip through weekly ads for almost any store
Ibotta– An app that allows you to earn cash back on certain items! Just be sure to check in with the app prior to shopping and save deals. This app will save you money on much more than just groceries! For example, Carter’s just had 12% back and was have 50-80% off clearance! Winner deal!
Sign up with Ibotta here and use my referral code mytsgrm to start saving today!
Fetch Rewards– This allows you to earn points and possibly cash back on either e-receipts or paper receipts
Sign up with Fetch Rewards here and use my referral code 739RYF to start saving today!
Coupons– Exactly as it is called! Allows you to digitally clip coupons to save money on items you routinely buy!
Checkout 51– Similar to other coupon apps, allows you to save money on brands you shop; can snap a photo of your receipt and earn some cash back!
You can read more about these Money Saving Apps here!
3) Alternatives to Groceries
One thing I mentioned in a previous blog was meal delivery kits. This may not be the case for every family but it actually saves my husband and my money each week.
We are a couple who can’t decide what we want for dinner each night.
We try to discuss what we want for dinner prior to getting groceries but most of the time we can’t agree on dinner options or we are sick of the same old dinners. When this happens, we spend more money on takeout, thus unnecessarily spending money.
We originally started trying meal kits probably 5 years ago. We were both working the night shift and, on our days, off, we spent more time trying to catch up on sleep than worrying about what to get at the grocery store for dinners.
We had tried multiple meal kit boxes but found that when we were trying to save money,
Every Plate was the winner!
Every Plate is a meal delivery kit that uses less packaging allowing for prices to be more reasonable.
Their meal options are pretty great with a decent variety of foods. If you wish to take a look, you can find the information here.
Get $20 off your box of Every Plate with this link here!
Again, not everyone is into the meal kit option but for us, it just worked. We do not always use meal kits but find that using them in the winter months is great.
Meal kits save us a lot of money each week seeing as we do not buy dinner food at the grocery store. We also do not throw away uncooked and perished foods at the end of the week.
Another plus is my husband actually likes to cook these meals- no cooking for me!
Conclusion
If you have other ways to help save time and money on groceries, please comment below! I am always looking for any tips and tricks to save me from that dreaded weekly visit to the grocery store!