How to Prioritize Your Grocery Shopping To Save Money

Nearly everyone is aware that the price of food has gone up, and that food prices will continue to rise for awhile. People are searching for ways to save money on food and groceries. By prioritizing what you buy at the grocery store, you can save a lot of money.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• list
• money to buy food
• kitchen

1. Make a detailed list of everything you currently purchase at the grocery store. Include everything from pet food to diapers, toilet paper to potatoes.
2. Begin to prioritize your list, by how important the item is to your family.
   For example, for most people bread and eggs would get a high priority, while potato chips and ice cream are luxury items and therefore low priority.
3. Decide how much you can truly afford to spend, per month, for groceries.
   If you are now spending $400.00 a month, try to spend $300.00. That will save you $100.00 a month on groceries, but it isn't really too hard to cut back that amount on your budget for groceries.
4. Make a grocery list starting with the top priority items on your list, and then on down the list to the lowest priority items.
   
   Work on eliminating some of the frill, or low-priority items, from your list. Especially get ride of some or all of those low-nutrient, non-foods, like soda and greasy potato chips.
5. When you run out of your allotted food budget money, stop buying groceries for that month.
   
   Buying from the top of your list, working your way down from your high priority food items in other words, and then on to the lowest priority items, will almost guarantee that you eat better, cheaper, and that you have eliminated a lot of the foods that aren't healthy for you, or that just cost too much for the shopper who is on a budget.

Tips & Warnings

• Always take your list with you when you go shopping.
• Use coupons only for those items you actually buy already.
• Expect to experience a bit of depression when you have to cut down on or eliminate some of the costly food luxury items you are currently used to eating.