Guys. I feel like I’ve cracked the code. Over the last two months, I’ve brought our grocery bill from over $600/month to $300-$400/month, for our family of 2. With the skyrocketing cost of groceries and
overall cost of living, I wasn't sure this was possible. In my head I had admitted defeat and accepted that each ring at the cash register was taking us farther and farther from our financial goals. I eventually talked myself into doing the work of finding ways to grocery shop without sacrificing nutrition, financial wellbeing, or the planet.
Here's my secret sauce formula that essentially cut our grocery bill in half.
My Process:
Shop for food, not recipes. I honestly thought that meal planning and purchasing what I needed for the recipes was going to save my wallet. I was partially right - I stopped buying produce that would rot in the depths of the fridge. But..and it's a big but...I was buying out of season, exotic, and expensive produce. Good for neither my wallet or the planet. Now, I purchase produce mindfully and find recipes to accommodate my finds.
Big trip, small trip. My shopping trips are beginning to follow this trend: larger shopping trip (roughly $120) on week one, and a smaller shopping trip (roughly $50) on week two. The purpose of the second week is to focus on using up what's left in our fridge/pantry, and purchasing just a few items to help balance out meals. My favorite source for recipes using ingredients I already have is Supercook .
Choose the stores. I shop at the same three (yes, three) grocery stores. These are Aldi, Jewel (Albertson's), and my local neighborhood marketplace. I know where to find all my staples, and what prices to expect.
Scope out the best deals. Check out the weekly flyer and create a grocery list per store. If any of your favorite stores have an app, use it! I get crazy discounts, and even free, yes FREE, products by using the Jewel-Osco for U app.
Run, don't walk, to the discounted grocery section of your local market. This is the core of my secret. Although I don't see these at Aldi or Jewel, my local grocery market has carts full of deeply discounted shelf-stable foods such as spices, noodles, canned soups, juice boxes, etc. They also have a section with ugly or "eat me now" produce. Just this week, I bought three yellow dragon fruit for $1.50, along with roughly five pounds each of zucchini, eggplant, carrots and daikon radish for $1.50 each. We're talking 20 lbs of fresh produce for $6. You just can't beat that. These items, although wrapped in an absurd amount of plastic, are destined for landfill, unless purchased. Minimizing food waste is a big part of sustainable living, so I'll take the planetary and financial win. And no, none of the produce was spoiled besides one very sad Chinese eggplant.
Stick to the list. Unless it's a staple you forgot to put on the list, avoid the impulse purchase. The "it's only a dollar" mentality is going to make you gulp hard at the cash register.
It's ok to buy something 'expensive' if you're going to use it. Instead of olive oil, I use avocado oil. It's 2-3 times more expensive than other oils, but I genuinely prefer the taste. I also appreciate that it has a higher smoke point, as I'm deeply afraid of fire. And don't get me started on the health benefit. I have high cholesterol
(thanks, genetics), and have seen a noticeable improvement in my HDL cholesterol since making this my staple cooking oil. Some things are worth every penny.
Bulk up, baby. I bought a 20 pound bag of rice for $11. $0.55/pound? Yes please. We love rice in this household, so this shelf-stable staple was a no-brainer. Bonus: buying in bulk decreases overall packaging. Booyah.
Canned who? I used to buy canned beans. They're a cheap, filling, plant-based protein. I'd walk past dry beans, too intimidated to even look up how to prepare them. It's. So. Easy. Not to mention more cost effective, aesthetic (who know dried lentils & legumes make such nice decor?), and more shelf-stable than their canned counterparts. Plus, although packaged in plastic rather than tin, the packaging is minimal and produces less CO2 during transport, since it eliminates water weight. I scored a 4 pound bag of dried chickpeas for $6. Winner winner, chickpea dinner.
Pro Tips:
Try to find a multicultural marketplace. A lot of the time, you can find cheaper spices and legumes in these aisles (for example, I bought 14 ounces of crushed red pepper flakes for roughly $4 in the Indian grocery aisle, as opposed to $2 for 4 ounces in the spice aisle).
Instead of buying organic, consider a baking-soda bath to remove some (not all) of the pesticide residue.
Eat less meat. 14 oz of organic tofu costs $2.50 at Aldi. Not even the lowest quality
meat would be able to match the price of quality plant-based proteins. We eat meat once a week, using our subscription box from Wild Pastures. The $150 box lasts us about 3 months.
Look at the per ounce cost of products. This is especially helpful when it comes to rice noodles, which can be deceiving depending on how much air a package contains.
Shop in-season. There are 2 easy ways to do this. The first is using this guide. The second way is paying attention to what's on sale. Chances are, if you're seeing zucchini on sale at each market, it's in season.
Get real with yourself. Do you really like kiwis? Or do you like the idea of liking kiwis because they've been referred to as the fountain of youth by a social media influencer with flawless, filtered skin?
And that is the formula that cut our grocery expenses in half. I don't think I will ever go back to closing my eyes and accepting defeat at the cash register. Time to go make a hearty, cheap dinner.
Check out my book!
xoxo
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