Save Money On Groceries!
Need to save money on your grocery bill? Each week I’m sharing one simple tip that you can implement to start saving on your grocery bill right away.
Many of the tips will be familiar, but if you join us for the Save Money on Groceries Challenge and take the step each week, you will start saving right away!
[Click here to see all the tips in this series.]
Today’s Tip: Choose a shopping day.
Take a look at your schedule and choose one day out of the week that you can consistently dedicate to grocery shopping. Maybe Saturday mornings will work best for you because Dad can spend time with the kids, or maybe you get off work early on Wednesdays and can shop on the way home.
If you have an ever-changing schedule, you can choose one day at the beginning of each week, but I encourage you to choose a specific time and stick to it.
Why This Works
It may seem simple, but scheduling grocery shopping into your week on a consistent day causes you to acknowledge that food is a priority in your life, and that you need to do something about it. You can avoid last minute drive thru runs and those impulse purchases you make when you go to the grocery store two or three times a week.
You can take control of your shopping and meal preparation so it doesn’t control you.
Having a deadline each week also helps to motivate you to plan for your shopping trip, which we will talk more about in a future post.
Resources
Download a FREE printable calendar here. Just fill in your shopping day for each week, print the calendar and post it on the fridge. 🙂
For more ideas to save money on groceries, check out my ebook Save More–Clip Less: Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half Without Extreme Couponing.
Click here to see what others are saying.
[Click here to see all the tips in this series.]
If you’re joining us for the Save Money on Groceries Challenge, leave a comment with your shopping day. 🙂
I have a chronic illness that keeps me at home most days. It’s difficult to pick a shopping day because I never know how I will feel from one day to the other. However, I try to make my shopping day Tuesday. 🙂
I shop either Wednesday or Thursday morning depending on if I have a scheduled play date for my kids one of those days. I like this day cause its right in the middle. Not too far from beginning of the week not too far from the end of the week. Plus it’s not crowded on weekday mornings and I like to shop and get out since I have two young kids.
I do my grocery shopping on Thursday. Mainly because this is payday and I’m already out paying bills. Also we tend to get together with our homeschool group that day. So doing everything on the same day helps me save a little gas. Which is always a good thing!
I usually shop Saturday or Sunday after church.
I shop on Thursday or Friday. No choice of stores here…we have a non-Super Walmart and a local chain grocery. That’s it!
That sounds really limiting, but hopefully you can at least take advantage of the sales each week at the grocery store.
I normally shop on Saturdays too. I have been using the sales fliers more now and trying to combine that with coupons to some degree. Its kinda fun but it is time consuming. I wish I could just shop at one store. Normally I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi but there are some products they never carry, like ricotta cheese and there is only one brand of yogurt I’ll eat (that’s on me)(Aldis doesn’t carry it either).
I know what you mean Mary. I tried shopping just at Aldi one week, but there were a few things that I couldn’t find. It is time consuming to base your menus on the weekly sales, but I think it’s worth it.
My shopping day is on Saturday .
I’m a couponer so I shop on Wednesdays, when the new ads for Publix and Bi-Lo start. The CVS stores in my area restock late Tuesday nights, so this is the best day to go if I want everything to be in stock at all three stores. I can typically hit all three in an hour or so. However, I am due with twin boys in a few weeks so I’ll probably have to switch to Saturdays so daddy can watch the babies. Publix restocks on Saturday mornings though and that’s my main store, so it should still work just fine!
Aw, congratulations on your new babies! I imagine it would be easier to shop while they are having fun with Daddy, so it sounds like a good plan. 🙂
Winn Dixie has 3 day Sales starting on Sunday quite often. I am trying to wait until Sunday before I do any grocery shopping.
That’s a good idea… I do that with laundry too!
I’m horrible about waiting until the last minute and ordering pizza or going through a drivethru.
I try to shop on Thursday and Friday. I do multiple stores and Thursday is produce day at the salvage grocery store. I go everywhere else after that.
I will shop thursday night so i will have great stuff for the weekend when the family is all together
That sounds like a good idea Tammie. 🙂
I shop on Saturday because I can shop 2 stores on that time. One of my stores switches to new ad on Thursday and then other on Mondays. I take time throughout the week to scan both ads and do my coupon matching and making my lists. I then plan my menu based on the sale items.
Thank you for these tips…I know this is one area I can save more money!!!
I have been shopping on Saturday mornings after my daughter’s gymnastics class. It’s early so lines are short and I chose between one of 2 stores to go to (one has great meat sales, one has great everything else sales and better produce). But I’ve been trying to only go once a week (after reviewing their weekly Wednesday circulars) then once a month to the evil Walmart for non-food items.
Thanks for all your tips! Grocery shopping is a miserable and expensive endeavor!
You are very welcome Jessica. 🙂