Saving Money on Your Grocery Bill

Recent surveys have shown that the average American family spends well over $100 a week or more on groceries each week or more. For some families, it's just more convenient to pay for meals on a daily basis - by planning for their dinner on their lunch hour, they can save the effort of doing so at home, and don't have to spend hours shopping in stores. This mindset, although convenient for some, costs a lot of money. Many grocery stores take advantage of this mindset by offering conveniently packaged meals for "on-the-go" families - but offer them at such high prices that it shouldn't sensibly be worth it. Yet, some families pay these high prices to keep their lives in balance, and their "convenient" lifestyle in relative harmony.

Most families, however, don't realize that by buying in bulk, and freezing the leftovers, that you can quite easily cut your grocery bill in half - or even more. Most stores have problems selling bulk items because of the high prices that it takes to make a profit - as a result, they give discounts on bulk items to give consumers incentive to buy them. Other stores offer discounts on items that are "store-brand", instead of "name-brand" as more incentive to buy their own products instead of the products they buy from name-brand companies.

It's those discounts that allow consumers to save hundreds of dollars a month on their grocery bills.

The next time you go out grocery shopping for yourself, or even your family, keep these tips in mind:

1. Buy in bulk whenever possible. When buying groceries, always keep in mind that things you buy in bulk can easily be frozen - especially meats, as the price per lb. of meat is a lot lower when buying in bulk. If you know you're going to eat 15 pounds of hamburger throughout the next week or two, buy that bulk package - anything you don't use immediately can safely rest in your freezer until you need it. Buying cereals, as well, is cheaper when buying in bulk, especially if you buy the bulk bags of cereal instead of boxes. Quite frequently you'll see bags of cereal that are two or even three times the size of a standard name-brand box, offered at the same price!

2. Use coupons. Many families would save almost a hundred dollars a month just on coupons alone. Newspaper clippings are relatively easy to come by, and allow you to save money on more than just food - household necessities such as toilet paper, laundry detergent, and other needed items have pages of coupons devoted just to them, and are readily available to any family. There are also various websites on the internet that offer online coupons, printable and ready to use at your local supporting supermarket. Combined with buying in bulk, you can get groceries at effectively rock-bottom prices that'll last for entire weeks. All it takes is ten to fifteen minutes of your time to sit down at the dining room table to find coupons that you can readily use on your next shopping excursion.

3. Balance between "convenience" and "price". Quite frequently, grocery stores offer convenience packages of items, but as stated earlier, these are risky to buy because of their high price - although they should be avoided whenever possible, convenience cannot always be sacrificed. Sometimes, paying that extra $1 to have your meat pre-diced for that stew you wanted to make might be worth it. Always remember to balance between whether or not you can afford to pay the price to get the convenience. Ask yourself, "Do I really need this?"

4. Make a list to avoid "unnecessary" purchases. Ever have that moment where you go to a store to buy one or two things, and walk out with ten? So do most other Americans. Making a list helps keep you "on track" when you're out shopping, and allows you to avoid spending money on all those unnecessary purchases that appeal to your eyes as you walk down the grocery aisle. Impulsive purchases are a huge reason why people spend more on their grocery bill than they need to.

5. Plan meals that use ingredients more than once. Common products such as potatoes, hamburger, and pasta noodles are excellent items to buy in bulk, because you know you can use them for most every meal. Potatoes can be sliced, baked, or mashed; hamburger can be made into patties, used in box meals such as Hamburger Helper, or crumbled into stews and other random meals; pasta noodles can be cooked with a variety of different sauces or for entirely different meals - or eaten on their own. Meals that are planned ahead to include similar ingredients means less leftovers that rot in the back of the cupboards and beg to be thrown out.

By keeping these simple tips in mind when you shop, grocery bills become a lot less of a hassle - which leaves more money for you to use on yourself, or for other bills.