Save Money on Groceries

A recent trip to the grocery store fetched me $33 worth of groceries for just $16. While some may see this as minor savings in today's market without double coupons it is pretty darn good. I always enjoy it whenever I can get away with spending less than I've saved. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to save yourself some money on your next visit to the grocery store.

Competitor Coupons

One way to save money is to see if your local grocery stores will accept competitor coupons. I know that my local Albertson does and it saves me both gas money and time by using coupons at Albertsons as opposed to driving all over town to fetch the best deals.

Buy a Freezer

Purchasing a freezer doesn't have to be expensive. You can often find them on sale through garage sales or on Craigslist for cheap. By having your own freezer you can take advantage of meat sales or sales on other products which are able to be frozen. Some items you can freeze are cheese, milk, bread, etc.

Compare Name and Store Brands

Store brands can often be purchased for a cheaper price than name brand with a coupon. You may have to experiment with store brands to find which ones taste the best to you. You could also read reviews on many different food products, name and store brand, by following this link. But don't just purchase store brands thinking you are getting a great deal. Sometimes you can find name brand products on sale for the same price or cheaper than the store brand version.

Clip those Coupons

You may think that clipping coupons can be a waste of time, especially if none of the grocery stores in your area accept double or triple coupons. But, you are wrong. Even if you were only to save $3 a grocery trip, on average once a week, that number would add up to $12 per month, or $144 a year. While it may not seem like much savings remember that every penny counts. Asking friends and family for coupons they don't use could save you even more and help you to create a stockpile which will save you from having to buy items at full purchase price.

Skip Online Grocery Savings Services

The Grocery Game is a website that gives its users a list of the best deals at their local grocery stores for a fee. Many grocery shoppers use this service because they don't want to take the time to scour through ads and coupons to find the best deals on their own. Truth is it doesn't take quite so long to do the research on your own. As for myself I can usually research the best grocery deals through ads and coupons in less than half an hour. I once had a trial membership to the Grocery Game and found that all of the deals listed were easy to find on my own. Why pay someone to do a job that I could do myself?

If you don't want to do the work yourself you could always pay a visit to the Coupon Mom website and join for free. The website lists deals for grocery stores around the nation as well as offering you the chance to print out online coupons, if your grocery store accepts them. The only problem with this free service is that you will not find every state or store listed on the Coupon Mom website. To find out if stores in your area are listed visit CouponMom.com.

With a little effort on your part, and an initial investment in a freezer, you can save yourself some serious grocery cash. Just be sure to try and save the money that you save at the grocery store, otherwise it wouldn't be considered as savings, would it?