How to Spend Less for Grocery Shopping

Before I retired last year, I tended to think about the money that I would be "losing" and sought ways in which to make up those lost funds. I found that I would not really be "losing" money, if I became more frugal in the manner in which I spent the dollars that I had. I am a selfish person, I want my time and the life style that I was accustomed to and I intended on maintaining that life style. What I did was plan ahead and actually sit down and look at what I spent each month, and then figure out ways to maintain my life style and still be able to retire. One topic that I looked at was how I spent money at the grocery store. Here are some things that I learned.

Low-Cost Shopping and Healthy Eating
- Buy in quantity and freeze meats, bread, and butter.

- Avoid costly convenience foods that are precooked, presweetened, spiced, instant, or individually packaged, these are more expensive, make your own individually packaged.

-Eat before shopping to avoid impulse buying. Make a shopping list and stick to it.

- Buy nutritious snacks for children such as apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, celery, raisins, peanut butter, and popcorn. They are healthier and cheaper than most sweets.

- For a sweet tooth, buy graham crackers, animal crackers, or gingersnaps.

- I hunt for coupons, and use coupons only for items that I would normally purchase.

- Since I don't want to waste my time I shop on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings when there are the shortest lines.

- Sam's Club and other discount food warehouses are great ways to save money especially if you have the storage area, I buy in bulk whenever possible.