- Grocery shopping without a plan almost guarantees that you’ll forget to buy things you need while simultaneously buying a bunch of things you don’t.
- You don’t need to devote your life to couponing to save money with store apps on your phone.
- Comparing similar items across brands while you’re at the store will save you additional money.
- Knowing where to shop for the specific items you need at the best price is half the battle.
By now, you know it’s a terrible idea to go grocery shopping when you’re starving.
But there are plenty of other strategies — like knowing when to save and when to splurge— that will help you keep more money in your wallet.
Avoiding the following common mistakes will help you stick to your budget.
Not going in with a plan
Making a grocery list is like drawing yourself a map. It helps keep you on task, so you don’t end up with a basket full of seven flavors of Oreos and completely forget that all you wanted was milk, bread, and bananas. But how do you know what should even go on that list?
The way to get the most bang for your buck in terms of time is to plan your meals, then use those plans to guide your list-making. Think of your upcoming meals as different addresses on that map, and your grocery list as the route you’ll take to get to those addresses or meals.
Everyone likes to organize themselves differently. Your favorite pen and a great notebook might be your jam, or you might prefer any of the handy grocery list apps available for your phone.
I’ve been using Mighty Grocery for years (Android only, though the developers are planning an iPhone release in the future).
Not taking advantage of stores’ apps
If you have a smartphone, and you aren’t using apps for some of your favorite stores to save yourself money, you’re missing out.
Keep in mind, not every store has a good app — or even an app at all. One store I love has a terrible app that only exists to redirect you to the weekly ad flyer on their webpage. No thanks.
But it’s not only the big grocery chains that have apps. Some great local independent stores might have useful apps, as well. Take the time to check out what’s available for the places you like to shop. This Epicurious guide from 2016 is still pretty useful, but take a look at the App Store or Google Play to see what else is available in your area.
Some apps let you clip in-app coupons, then redeem them at the checkout by using your rewards card (or phone number). Others might let you peruse weekly ads to see what’s on sale so you can plan accordingly. Both types are useful in planning what to buy and when to shop.
Do you know that you need to pick up one specific thing on your way home from work, like some butter? Check out My Grocery Deals and type in your ZIP code to find out what store has the best price at this exact second. It works for many fresh produce items as well — avocado fans, this one’s for you.
Not taking a moment to look around in the store and compare prices
Chances are you have some brands you love. Maybe you only like to drink Simply Orange, or you can’t imagine your life without Dunkin Donuts coffee.
That’s fine, but does it really matter what brand of frozen vegetables you buy, or which canned — or dried — beans go in your basket? After all, you probably don’t pay a lot of attention to specific brands of fresh produce — you just want what’s freshest?
Assuming that you’re not purchasing expired food — which you definitely shouldn’t — a Consumer Reports test revealed that quality levels are pretty comparable between store brands and name brands.
Buying canned goods that have BPA in the liners is a bad idea at any price, but more and more food producers at all price points are switching away from those bad cans.
Here are some good rules of thumb for comparing like items across brands while you’re in front of the shelf or cold case:
- Check that the items you’re comparing are exactly the same. For example, “petite diced tomatoes” are not the same as “tomato sauce with Italian seasoning,” although they’re probably right next to each other in the same section.
- Check that the weights match on the items you’re comparing. Two 48-ounce cans are comparable, but a 28-ounce can should be significantly less expensive than a 48-ounce can.
- Don’t be afraid to do a little math. If an item you like is sold in different sizes, and only one size of that item is on sale, you can compare it to the other sizes to determine your best value.
For example, say there’s a 29-ounce can of chickpeas, but only the 16-ounce cans are on sale. If a 29-ounce can is less expensive than two sale-priced 16-ounce cans — assuming you can use all those chickpeas before they go bad — the 29-ounce can is probably the better bargain.
This game becomes an especially fun challenge with items that are freezable, like butter and cheese.
Buying everything you need in one place
Shopping the sales in your area will naturally lead you to different stores — maybe even some you’ve never visited before. By walking around and observing, you’ll start to get a feel for what places have the best deals on specific categories of items.
For example, you’ll begin to notice that store A always has ridiculously overpriced peanut butter, while store B always has cereal you like on sale.
But no matter where you shop, if you buy all your groceries in one place, you’ll be spending too much on some items.
Buying toilet paper and cleaning products at most grocery stores is almost universally more expensive than getting those items elsewhere.
Not knowing what to buy in bulk
Anyone who has worked in the restaurant business knows about #10 cans. They’re a standard food service size, and are as common in most restaurant kitchens as deep fryers. Weights of items in them vary, but are usually around 109 ounces — or 6.8 pounds.
Some grocery stores also sell items in these cans, like tomatoes and chickpeas. These can be a huge bargain by weight — that is, if you know for sure that you’ll use them in a short period of time.
Food waste is a significant problem. Buying in bulk might save you money per ounce at the time of your purchase. But remember, it saves you nothing if you end up throwing most of it away because it went bad before you could eat it.