Looking for frugal hacks to save money on your grocery bill? By committing to frugal grocery shopping and cooking, it’s possible to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year on your groceries and meal prep.
Read on to learn about frugal hacks in the grocery store and the kitchen.
What is Frugal Living?
Simply put, frugal living is a lifestyle where you cut out luxuries and only buy and consume things that bring you joy. This includes food, clothing, electronics, entertainment expenses, and more. When you practice frugal living, you’re focused on saving money. However, you are also paying attention to the value of items. Just because something is cheap doesn’t mean you’ll buy it.
For example, a frugal person will compare the price and quality of two pairs of shoes. A person shopping frugal is happy to buy the higher-quality, more expensive pair of shoes if he or she knows it will last longer. On the other hand, a cheap person only looks at price and tries to buy the cheapest item possible. The main difference between practicing frugal living and simply being cheap is that a frugal person will save money without cutting corners.
Why Undertake Frugal Grocery Shopping?
Why bother trying frugal hacks at the grocey store and in the kitchen? It’s time-consuming, isn’t it? The process of comparing prices, making a frugal shopping list and going to more than one store to find the cheapest price can cost you hours of your time. However, frugal grocery shopping is worth it. When you build good habits, you’ll get into a routine. After time, frugal food shopping will become second nature. $10, $20 or more saved really adds up over time. Over the course of a few years, you can save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars! If you take this extra money and invest it, you’ll accrue compound interest over time.
In addition to the obvious benefits of saving money, frugal living is good for your mental health. When you see how much money you’ve saved without sacrificing the quality of what foods you eat, you’ll feel good about yourself. Your happiness will be infectious and others will want to be around you!
Frugal Grocery Shopping
1. Always Meal Plan Before a Frugal Grocery Shopping Trip
If you’re serious about frugal grocery shopping and cooking, always have a plan. Each week, set aside a few hours out of your schedule to create a frugal meal plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner. To make it easier, why not choose two meals each for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Not only will you cut down on time required to think about what you’ll eat, you’ll spend less time pushing your cart around the grocery store. Less stuff to buy means less time spent in each aisle.
If you’re feeling stuck on what to make, check out this article for some frugal dinner ideas. Additionally, you can browse Pinterest for more frugal dinner ideas.
Since you’re making of each meal with less ingredients, you’ll have more room in your cart to buy larger packages of food. While it initially costs more money to purchase, larger packages of food and other goods generally cost less. Therefore, if you can afford it (and you have room in your trunk or can carry it on the bus!), buy in bulk.
2. Create a Grocery List and Check What You Already Have
Once you’ve created a meal plan, it’s time to create a grocery list. Hold on – before you do that, make sure to check what you already have in the fridge! Of course, it’s really easy to just throw away that spoonful of beans you have or that small serving of cooked pasta – no big deal, right? While it might not seem like a lot, when you throw away ingredients every day, you’re literally throwing money down the drain!
Be sure to check your fridge, freezer and cupboards for foods that are close to expiry. Commit to eating leftovers as soon as possible. If you’re bored with leftovers, why not repurpose them? You can use the mashed potatoes from last night to assemble a Shepherd’s pie or make a pasta bake with those leftover rotini noodles.
Regarding what’s in your cupboard: be sure to check the expiry date on each canned good. Consume the canned goods closest to expiry. To ensure you prevent letting canned goods go bad, put the oldest foods in the front of your cupboard and the newest foods at the back.
Once you’ve taken inventory of what leftovers you have and what you need to use in your fridge, freezer and pantry, go ahead and create your grocery list with the remaining items.
3. Price Compare at Supermarkets
After having created a meal plan, carefully checking your fridge, freezer and pantry and and preparing a grocery list, it’s time for the best part – the shopping part! Why does comparing prices matter? Grocery stores usually stock the same product but at different prices. Even the store that’s generally more expensive may sometimes have an item that’s cheaper. If you have access to a vehicle or can hop over to a second grocery store, it’s worth price comparing using an app such as Flipp to find the lowest price on each item.
4. Cut Meat Out of Your Diet
One of best the frugal cooking habits one can undertake? Swapping meat for vegetarian dishes. Vegetarian meals are usually a lot cheaper than meat-based ones. Committing to a vegetarian diet can help you save tens, if not hundreds of dollars on cooking per year. Additionally, if you’re aiming to prepare healthy meals, going vegetarian will automatically help you out – so long as you limit processed ingredients and dairy.
If you aren’t ready to completely go vegetarian but still want to commit to frugal eating (you can’t possibly stop eating your favorite beef stroganoff!), try the Meatless Monday challenge. After succesfully sticking with meatless meals one day per week, add one or two more days.
Still not feeling vegetarianism? No problem. Add plant-based alternatives to your grocery list and integrate them into your meat-based dishes. Items such as rice, lentils, peanut butter and beans are some of the best frugal foods to add to your list as they’re filling and cheap. These ingredients are also easy to work with and you can make many dishes with them. Remember: the cheapest meals usually aren’t that complicated to make! Add in spices and try different cooking methods to mix it up, including baking, boiling, stir-frying and eating raw!
5. Do a Frugal Friday Challenge
Don’t want to commit to vegetarianism and need some motivation to get into the routine of frugal shopping and preparing frugal meals? Do a Frugal Friday challenge where you commit to preparing frugal meals that you’ve planned ahead of time. Choose 3-5 ingredients to use in every single dish for that day.
For example, you can commit to using oats in each of your meals. For breakfast, do a a baked blueberry oatmeal. For lunch, try out savory oats with spinach and eggs. At dinnertime, why not try a dinner oatmeal with roasted vegetables? A Frugal Friday challenge if a fun way to see if you can make 3 meals with one ingredient. Additionally, this challenge allows you to try some dishes you’d never taste otherwise!
If you’re doing really well with the Frugal Friday challenge, why not try a Frugal February challenge where you commit to prepping meals every single day and using 3-5 ingredients per dish maximum? Try your best to use the same ingredients in most of your dishes. Does this mean you have to forgo buying any other ingredients to garnish your dishes such as cilantro or green onion for your chilli? Definitely not! The key is to try and be as frugal as possible without sacrificing quality, health or personal enjoyment.
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4. Buy Store Label Brands – Frugal Grocery Shopping Made Easy
Did you know that store-bought brands are generally just as nutritious and tasty as the store-bought variety? Next time you visit the grocery store, look above and below eye level. Grocery stores are profit-driven so they want you to see the most expensive items first so you’re more apt to buy them. Find the store brand of your favorite soup or pasta sauce. You won’t notice the difference when your favorite pasta sauce is sautéed with garlic, onion and other veggies along with noodles!
If you truly want to make frugal meals, it all starts with how much your ingredients cost. Buying generic brands can help you save a lot in the long run. If you buy 10 canned goods per week and save an average of $0.60 per item, you’ll have saved $6.00 per week. In a year, you’ll have saved over $300 ($312 to be exact) simply by purchasing the store brand! While this isn’t a ton of cash, when combined with other frugal grocery hacks, you’ll be able to save a lot more than you did before.
5. Price Compare and Calculate the Cost Per Unit
Buying in bulk is another frugal grocery shopping method that will help you save in the long run. When you buy a larger package of toilet paper or bag of frozen fruit, the cost per unit is generally lower than the smaller package or can.
For example, let’s say you’re comparing two bags of frozen blueberries. One bag is 350ml and the other is 500ml. The 350ml bag is $3.00 and the 400ml bag is $5.00. While the 500ml bag is pricier, the cost per unit is lower. Let’s do the calculation to show you how:
Cost Per Unit = Price / Unit
300ml bag = $3.00 / 300 = $0.01 / ml
600ml bag = $5.00/600 = $0.0083 / ml
$0.01 – $0.0083 x 600 ml = $1.02 saved per bag.
While saving just over a dollar on a bag of fruit might seem silly, again, it adds up. If you save an average of $15 per week just by calculating the cost per unit for each grocery item you buy, over the course of one year, you’ll have saved over $750… $780, to be exact!
Frugal Hacks in the Kitchen
1. Put Oldest Items at the Front of Your Cupboards, Freezer and Fridge
Looking for more easy kitchen frugal hacks without cutting corners? Always pull your oldest items out of the fridge and put your newest items in the back. While it takes some time to build good habits, it’s worth it. When you make a habit of eating the oldest food first, you’ll be a lot less likely to let food go bad!
Make it easier to remember by doing a weekly cupboard, freezer and fridge clean out on a designated day. Take out all the items and put them on the counter. Next, check the expiry date on each item. Ensure the items with the expiry date closest to today’s date are placed in the front of your fridge, freezer and cupboard. When you create a habit of pulling the oldest foods from the fridge, you’ll be a lot more likely to eat foods before they go bad.
2. Make Use of Leftovers
An easy way to save money – and another easy way to waste it if you aren’t careful – always consume leftovers before they go bad! Even if you only have a small amount of leftover rice, put it to good use. If you can’t stand the thought of burritos for a fourth night in a row, why not make tacos or a stir-fry instead? There are tons of ways to reuse ingredients from previous meals, so you have no excuse! Another added benefit of using leftovers: when you commit to using all leftovers before making a new meal, you’ll be cooking less often. A win-win for your wallet and schedule!
3. Invest in Spatulas and Store Jars Upside Down
Picture this: it’s Sunday evening and it’s time to make pasta for dinner. You open your fridge and see a jar of pasta sauce. You open it, only to see that there’s a little bit left. May as well throw it out, right? Who has time to scrape out the sauce – that’ll take 5 minutes. Hold on for a minute! Tip the jar upside down, wait 5 minutes and scrape the sauce out.
Next time, invest in several spatulas of varying sizes. Additionally, once you see jars that have about 1/4 of sauce left in them, turn them upside down so you can get the sauce out of them next time. When you use what you already have, you’ll save money in the long run.
4. Flash-Freeze Vegetables and Fruits
Another frugal hack in the kitchen: buy fresh fruits and vegetables and flash freeze them. Flash freezing entails buying fruits and vegetables at peak ripeness and freezing them for later usage. Flash freezing is a great way to buy cheaper fruits and vegetables in bulk. Produce that’s in season will generally be cheaper, so take advantage of what fruits and vegetables are in their prime season. Cut up the fruits and vegetables and portion them into large containers or freezer bags.
Frozen fruits and vegetables will not only save you money, but they’ll save you time. When you’re in a pinch, all you have to do is pull out a bag of prepped broccoli for your weekly casserole. Fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, blueberries and avocados are perfect for smoothies.
If you’re short on space in your freezer and you have the room in your basement, consider investing in a large freezer. While there is an upfront cost with the initial purchase of the freezer, by committing to buying in bulk, you’ll save money and time! Again, remember to check your freezer regularly to ensure you’re using food before it goes bad. In the case of frozen foods, you’ll want to ensure you’re consuming them before they get freezer burnt.
5. Save Vegetables and Meat Scraps for Broth
So you’ve got a large pile of celery stocks and soup bones from your roast chicken. Don’t throw them away! They’re perfect for making chicken noodle soup or stock for another dish such as a pot pie. Choosing to save leftover foods and repurpose them is one of the easiest frugal kitchen hacks. Stock up on reusable glass containers and save.
Conclusion – Frugal Hacks at the Grocery Store and In the Kitchen
Frugal hacks at the grocery store and in the kitchen take some commitment. However, when you build good habits and make a commitment to frugal living, you’ll be well on your way to saving money.
Choose meals you enjoy making and eating. Additionally, make grocery shopping, meal planning and prep a family affair. When you make frugal family meals together, you’ll not only see your savings start to pile up, but you’ll see how much your family enjoys the meals you’re making. This combination will help you stay motivated to keep going. Cooking frugally is fun!
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
