For some people a sumptuous meal at a luxurious 5-star restaurant is their idea of heaven and worth paying a month’s rent for. Others find the act of eating nothing more than a basic need to be gotten through as fast as possible. Heaven forbid that they would have to cook something. Most people lie somewhere in between but, at the end of the day, the fact remains that no matter how you feel about food you have to eat and, for the average American family, that comes at a cost of almost $800.00 a month.
The average American family could very well cut 15 to 25% off of this food bill if they wanted to however and, with that in mind, we’d like to offer a few Tips on saving money on food. We want you to eat well, don’t get us wrong, but we also want you to be able to save money for other things like college and your retirement.
One of the best supermarkets, if you have them in your area, is Aldi. They have some of the best prices on groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables and a moderate assortment of frozen foods and dairy as well. Indeed their selection, based on their size, is quite large. They’re a ‘low-cost’ supermarket and they don’t carry very many national brands but at the end of the day their food is just as good or better than the ‘branded’ supermarkets and more importantly 30 to 50% cheaper. Just remember to bring your own bag because they don’t supply them for free.
Always check what you have in the fridge before you go shopping so that a) you know what you have and b) you know what you don’t have. This will help you avoid foods going bad because you had so much that they never got eaten and also save you trips back and forth to the store. A shopping list is essential and, if you have a mobile phone, there are apps that make shopping lists easy to make and update right from your phone.
Of course if you buy a lot of national brands it’s essential that you clip and save coupons. At least this way you’ll get a little bit of a discount off of they’re already inflated prices.
If you buy a lot of fresh fruits and veggies make sure you use them before they go bad too. This may neam buying less and running out occasionally between trips to the grocery store but the other option is that they go bad and are wasted, which won’t help your budget at all.
Of course splurging on a good meal every so often is a nice treat but, if you’re doing your best to stick to a budget and you need ways to save there are plenty when it comes to groceries so use them and put the money you save somewhere else important like savings or towards your retirement plan.
