I’d like to gripe about the rising cost of food! You must agree that going to the grocery store these days is almost as painful as doing your annual taxes. I’ve noticed my food bills going up sometimes $10 to $20 per visit on food I typically purchase.

Yikes, what can we do about it? We can’t stop eating!

We could grow our own food…but that takes time, land, and from my experience, you need some gardening skills to be successful.

A better solution, I think, is to pay more attention to what we buy. I’ve come up with some simple solutions to help you save money on groceries. I hope they help you save a few dollars on your next trip to the grocery store.

7 Simple Solutions To Save Money on Groceries

1. Purchase multiples of food items when they are on sale.

This will, of course, cost you more money up front, but you’ll save in the long run, especially if the prices continue to rise. You can also save money if your local grocery store offers case-lot sales. However, check that you have space in your pantry for extra boxes of food before you buy too much!

2. Eat the food that’s already in your pantry and freezer.

It’s smart to use up food before it goes bad. Take a look at food you already have in your kitchen, find a recipe for it, and make it.

For instance, I recently purchased cornmeal for a tamale pie, which I made for dinner the other night. I purchased a bag of cornmeal, but only used 1/2 cup, which left me with almost a whole package. So, I decided to make cornbread.

If you aren’t sure how long food has been in your refrigerator or pantry, put the date on it after you open it. It’s tough trying to remember how long condiments have been in the refrigerator or how long those bags of rice and pasta have been in your pantry.

This is why we’ve created new date-opened food storage stickers to put on jars, containers, or packages of food when you open them. Check out these colourful, practical stickers in the Recipes To The Rescue shop here.

3. Meal plan to save money on groceries.

When you plan ahead, you can be more efficient with the food you purchase. For instance, if you intend to make hamburgers for dinner one night, you could buy the family pack of ground beef, which is cheaper, and use the remaining ground beef for a chili on another night.

Plan your side dishes ahead of time as well. If you buy a big bag of spinach for a spinach salad one night, you could plan on having a stirfry another night and add some of the extra spinach.

4. Shop for your groceries online.

There is sometimes a small charge, but it’s worth it because you’ll eliminate impulse buys—like the pecan pie I purchased the other day. It appeared to be full of pecans, and I love pecans, so I bought it. Big mistake. First, it looked better than it tasted. Second, it only had pecans on top and was filled with a sweet gelatinous filling. My impulse buy was a flop, a waste of money, and sadly, no one ate it.

If I had done my grocery shopping online, I would not have seen the pie and would have eliminated my impulse buy.

5. Do not shop when you are hungry.

When I shop on an empty stomach, I tend to buy lots of food that looks yummy, but I don’t need (like pecan pies). These often end up sitting in my cupboard or in the refrigerator and never get eaten.

6. Create a shopping list before you go to the grocery store.

This way you won’t end up with food you already have. Take a look in your pantry before you go shopping to see what you have and what needs to be replaced. Create a grocery list and avoid purchasing unnecessary food.

7. Check the price of food before you purchase it.

We often buy the same brand of food out of habit. However, before you throw your favourite food into your grocery cart give a brief glance at the competitors’ prices, they may be cheaper. For instance, I had to buy chili powder recently, but the price of the brand I usually buy was over $9, which I felt was too expensive. After looking at all my options in the spice aisle I settled for a different brand that was less than $4.

Even though our grocery bills are increasing daily, I’m hopeful prices will soon level off so we don’t have to start growing our own food! With a little planning and patience, we should be able to grocery shop within our budgets.