Grocery shopping is becoming more like a military maneuver with the planning that has to go into each weekly trip. Here are several tips to help you keep your costs down and not purchase more than you need.

Prior to leaving for the grocery store check to see what you already have so you don’t buy more than you need. Sounds logical but I know that most people just don’t take the time to do this one simple step.

Make a list and keep to it! Impulse buys at the checkout counter are killers for your wallet and your waistline.

It’s definitely easier to make a list (as in the above tip), if you prepare a menu for the week ahead based on what you already have a supply of at home. This way you only need to purchase the missing items to fill in where needed. You also make life easier for yourself when you don’t have to scramble each night to figure out what’s for dinner.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy at the convenience store as the prices are twice as much as the regular grocery.

If your town has a food co-op then by all means, sign up! A food co-op can greatly reduce your weekly food bill by as much as 50%.

Try and find out when your local store puts out the, what my husband and I call, “Calypso” food. (For anyone younger than myself, which takes in quite a few people, there was a singer in the 1960s and early 1970s named Harry Belafonte who had a hit with a song called “Day-o, Day-o..daylight come and I want to go home”. People called it the Calypso song.) So logically, or not, we call ‘day old’ food at the grocery…”calypso” food. No matter what you call it, find out when they put out the meat and fish as you can save a tremendous amount of money. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Our local store puts out the bakery leftovers, meat and fish on mondays after all the weekend shoppers are done.

Some people hunt for fresh produce this way also, but not me. I draw the line there as I don’t like bruised or soggy fruit and vegetables.

And last, but certainly not least, this has been said a million times: Don’t shop for groceries on an empty stomach because you’ll buy all the food you’re craving, which usually turns out to be the most fattening also.


About the Author: Pam Stinson is a retired educator who has always had an interest in saving money and living a simple lifestyle. You can learn more about frugal living and free budgeting tools at her site, Frugal Living Guide.