17 Frugal Food Shopping Tips To Slash Your Grocery Bill

Last Updated June 27, 2024 by Davina Kelly

Are you looking for frugal food shopping tips to keep your grocery bill down? In this post, I will share the best tips to stretch your food budget.

Food is one of our biggest expenses and with the current cost of living crisis and inflation, it is becoming more and more expensive.

Since I have learned how to be frugal with groceries I have saved money, avoided waste, and learned how to eat more with less.

This post is all about frugal food shopping.

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Best Frugal Food Shopping Tips:

1. Create a Food Budget

The first step when trying to reduce your food shopping bill is to create a budget. Having a budget will help you to manage your finances and will also hold you accountable.

Think of your grocery budget as a guide. Sometimes you will spend more, and sometimes you will spend less. Don’t stress about it, use your budget as a guide and over time you can adjust it.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, you can give yourself an amount to spend each month based on your average spending.

You can check your bank statement and see how much you have spent on groceries over the last few months. I recommend looking at 3 – 6 months to get a good picture.

When you are looking through your transactions pay attention to the items you have bought. Do you really need to buy three different chocolate bars? Are you eating all of the fruits you buy? Or are they going to waste? Going through this exercise will give you ideas of food items you can cut back on.

You can reduce your grocery budget by 10% to begin with, if you find that you can stick with it and have money left over you can reduce it even more. Over time you will figure out how much you need to spend.

2. Take Inventory Of What You Have

This may sound obvious, but sometimes we can forget. Before you go food shopping check your cupboards, fridge, and freezer to see what you already have.

It’s the worst feeling when you come back from grocery shopping and find you already have cans of baked beans and tuna in the cupboard. If you took the time to check before you went shopping you could have saved yourself some money.

Take a few minutes to check what you have and use that as a baseline for your grocery list. For example, if you already have chicken and pork in the freezer you don’t need to buy any more meat and you can plan your meals for the week around those items.

3. Plan Your Meals

When you are trying to be frugal with groceries, you need to plan your meals for the week. This is one of the best grocery shopping tips that gets overlooked.

Planning your meals can save you time and money and stop you from overthinking about what to have for dinner. Who wants to think about that after a long day of work?

Once you have your meals planned for the week you will know exactly which ingredients you need to buy. This way when you go food shopping you have a clear plan. There is no need to impulse buy, It doesn’t matter if your favourite chocolate bar is on offer, stick to the plan!

To keep it simple I recommend choosing three breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. You can make a list of the items you need for each meal and this will form your frugal food shopping list.

If meal planning isn’t for you consider trying the $5 dollar meal plan. This meal planning service will send you easy meal plans and grocery lists straight to your inbox for just $5 a month. Each meal only costs $2 – $3 so it’s a great way to be frugal with your grocery shopping.

You can try it out completely free here for 14 days.

4. Buy Food In Bulk

There are many benefits of buying food in bulk. It is cheaper, it lasts longer, you reduce waste and shop consciously.

When you buy food in bulk it costs less money because you are just buying the product and not having to pay for excessive packaging. Also, the price per unit is cheaper so you can get more for less. You can check online for your nearest bulk foods or wholesale store.

Not all food should be bought in bulk as you need to be mindful of the expiry date to avoid spoilage. The best food to buy in bulk is dry items for your cupboard. Here is a list of some items you can buy.

Rice
Pasta
Oats
Dried beans & lentils
Spices
Canned tuna
Dried nuts
Oil
Canned soup
Tinned beans
Flour
Sugar

5. Shop During Quiet Times

When you do your food shopping during quiet times you can take your time and have more space. You have time to check the options and think properly.

You don’t have to dodge people or worry that food items will be out of stock and you won’t have to queue up to pay. Also if you go towards the end of the day there are usually reduced food items you can buy.

Weekends are the busiest time regardless of what time you go. I recommend going during the week Monday to Thursday, during the early morning or towards the store’s closing time.

I started doing this after the pandemic and it has been a game changer. It has saved me so much time and made my food shopping experience pleasant.

6. Buy Frozen Food

Buying frozen fruits and vegetables is cost-effective and it lasts longer. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a short shelf life, so if you don’t use them you will have the throw them away.

Frozen fruits and vegetables taste just as good and they save you time because they are pre-chopped. When you need them you can just take out what you need and put the rest back (zero waste).

You can also buy some of your favourite treats like pizza, chicken strips, chips, etc frozen. These items are a lot cheaper than the fresh aisle, you will also save money as you won’t need to buy takeaways. If you fancy a pizza you can just put one in the oven. Why spend $25 on a takeaway when you can spend less to buy the frozen options and get more out of it?

7. Eat Leftovers

People throw away a lot of food which is such a waste. Another way to be frugal with food shopping is to eat leftovers.

When you are cooking dinner, why not double up the portion and have lunch and dinner for the next day? Meals like soups, and curries are great to cook and have for leftovers. You can put it in a container and store it in the fridge. If you are cooking a whole chicken to have a roast dinner you can use the rest of the chicken to have other meals like wraps and sandwiches throughout the week.

8. Batch Cook

Batch cooking your food is a frugal food tip that is often forgotten. When you cook food in bulk it makes your life so much easier and saves time. You only need to cook once and you will have meals in the fridge or freezer for when you are busy or don’t want to cook. Cooking food in batches is also a great way to use up your ingredients which will avoid waste.

There are a few ways you can do this. You can cook meals like stews or chilli and freeze them. Or you can cook a carbohydrate and protein source in bulk, use some for different meals throughout the week and freeze the rest.

For example, you can cook two cups of rice, a packet of minced meat, and some chicken at the beginning of the week. You can use the rice and half of the mince to have taco bowls and freeze the rest. Then you can have the rest of the rice with the chicken for another meal option.

9. Shop Once For The Week

Doing one big food shop at the beginning of the week can set you up for success. If you have planned your meals and have a grocery list based on those items you won’t need to do any top-ups throughout the week. The small trips to the supermarket during the week can end up costing you more than planned.

10. Keep Updating Your Grocery List

The best way to maintain frugal food shopping habits is to keep your grocery list updated. You don’t need to wait until the end of the week to update your grocery list.

Throughout the week you can top up your list. For example, if you use the last egg or the last bit of ketchup you can add it to your grocery list straight away. This way you won’t forget anything.

Can you imagine you made a nice roast chicken sandwich and went to get some mustard, but there wasn’t any? That would be disappointing. If you added mustard to your grocery list it wouldn’t happen again. You can use the Notes app on your phone for this or you can print out the grocery shopping list I have included in this post.

11. Eat Before You Shop

Going food shopping while hungry is not a good idea. If you are hungry while food shopping you will end up buying way more food than you need.

This is because you will be shopping based on your hunger, not what you actually need. Don’t let your hunger guide you lol you will end up making poor choices.

12. Buy Generic Brands

Most people view generic store brands as lower quality, but this isn’t always true. Sometimes the store brand tastes just as good as the popular brands.

I know it can be hard lol but be brave and try the store brand. You can buy a smaller size and do a taste test. If you can’t taste the difference you can make it a permanent swap.

I have done this myself, I love mayonnaise and always used to buy the Helman’s brand. I tried the Aldi store brand and loved it, so I made it a permanent swap.

430 ml of Helman’s mayonnaise costs £2.65 in Sainsburys, but in Aldi 470 ml costs £99p. This is a £1.66 saving, plus I am getting 40 ml more and it tastes better in my opinion.

Next time you are food shopping give it a try.

13. Save Up Your Reward Points

First of all, if you don’t have a rewards card you need to sign up for one now!

Many supermarkets allow you to collect points every time you shop, for example, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and even Asda now have reward cards.

Some of these reward cards will allow you to buy some food items at a discounted price and still collect points.

You can save up these points throughout the year and use them to do a larger food shop at Christmas or Easter. This is a smart way to get the best deals and save money on your food shopping.

14. Try Different Supermarkets

Some people assume budget supermarket foods are low-quality, but this isn’t true. If you have never done your food shopping at Aldi or Lidl you need to give it a try.

You could be missing out on a lot of savings.

If you have an Aldi nearby, challenge yourself to do a week’s worth of food shopping there and see how you get on. If you don’t notice a difference in quality you can make the switch to do your food shopping there. Or you can have the best of both worlds. For example, if you prefer the taste of Sainsbury’s fresh items like fruits, salad, etc you can buy your fresh items at Sainsbury’s and buy the rest of your groceries at Aldi.

15. Store Foods Correctly

Two of the reasons why people throw away food are because we buy more food than we need or don’t store food correctly.

We have covered overbuying food, so now let’s talk about storing food correctly.

Most meat should only be stored in the fridge for about 2 – 3 days so if you don’t plan to consume it within that time you should freeze it.

A tip is to clean and season all of your meat on the same day you do your food shopping. Keep the meat you plan to consume in the next 2 days in the fridge and freeze the rest.

This will save you time as when you defrost it, it will be ready to cook and it will also save you money as you will avoid wasting food.

16. Overlook Best Before Dates

Before you roll your eyes hear me out lol

The best before dates on food items are important to consider, but if the food looks and smells okay you can still consume it.

Items like bread can last a little longer if you store it in the fridge and potatoes tend to last a little longer than their use-by dates. Also, fruits and vegetables past their due date can be used to make soups or smoothies. I have noticed a lot of supermarkets are now removing the use-by dates on some of their food items so there is something to this.

17. Stay Focused

When you go food shopping with your grocery list in hand stay focused on what you need and don’t get distracted.

If the item wasn’t on your list you don’t need it. I know the two for one offers can be tempting, but don’t give in. Stick to the plan!

Frequently Asked Questions

How To Be Frugal With Food Shopping?

To be frugal with food shopping you can follow my tips in this post, as well as the following tips.

Eat what is in season
Cook at home
Create a budget & stick to it
Make coffee at home
Skip meat once a week

How To Survive On 20 pounds a week?

Surviving on a small budget for the week is challenging, but not impossible. You will need to think outside the box and focus on getting more for less. Here are some tips below.

Plan all of your meals
Buy store-brand foods
Go frozen
Fill your meals with fruits and vegetables
Eat less meat

Final Thoughts

Being frugal when food shopping does not mean you have to be cheap and sacrifice quality. It is about making smart choices and getting the most value for your money.

In the beginning, it may seem daunting as you are used to doing your food shopping without a plan. It will take some trial and error in the beginning, but if you stay consistent you will figure out what works best for you. When you go food shopping this week think about the purchases you are making and follow the tips I have listed.

Have you found these food shopping tips helpful? Which tips will you try next time you shop for groceries?