Tips for Cutting Your Grocery Bill Despite Increasing Costs
Eats, Featured, Food, Saving Money, Tips
Rising flood waters in the Midwest mean something else will be going up: your grocery bill. Recent flooding across Iowa (http://www.flood2008.iowa.gov/) ruined millions of acres of crops. Record rain fall drowned fields, taking with it one million acres of corn and two million acres of soybeans according to crop experts with Iowa State University’s agricultural extension service (http://www.extension.iastate
Even before the floods came, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (http://www.bls.gov/CPI/) reported a 4% increase in overall grocery prices last year. Experts warn another 4-5% increase this year, partly because of the destructive flooding in Iowa.
Cut Your Grocery Bill
Despite experts’ predictions, there are ways you can cut your grocery bill. Here are seven ways to save money.
1. Have a game plan. One day a week (Sunday works well) pick out a few recipes. I try to select recipes that I have 75% of the ingredients for already. That way I’m not spending a lot of cash on each meal.
2. Get the secret weapon. The secret weapon comes in the Sunday paper. To save the most money you’ve got to clip coupons.
3. Stay organized. I use a small plastic filing case that is about the size of a wallet. It’s divided into sections like “Meat” and “Snacks.” I sort the coupons into each section.
4. Make a list of needs. These are the items that you must buy in order to make the recipes you’ve selected. Go through your coupons and see if anything matches up.
5. Figure out what you want. You already have your list of needs. Now, pull out coupons for items that you may want or be able to use in the near future.
6. Use leverage. The grocery store I shop at puts lots of items on sale each week. When I find items on my list of “wants” that I have coupons for, I typically only buy it if it’s on sale that week. That way I can leverage my coupon by using it on an item that is on sale. For instance, let’s say Honey Nut Cheerios (https://honeynutcheerios
7. Refuse to pay full price. Once I did that my savings jumped significantly. I’m not going hungry and I’m still getting great items. I’m just paying a lot less for them.
