How to Grocery Shop on A Budget

Contributor

By Renee Hill
eHow Contributing Writer

Article Rating:

(3 Ratings)

Nowadays, everyone wants to shop for groceries on a budget. When you're done with this article, you will be able to buy groceries no matter how much you have to spend and feel like you've saved money.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Coupons
Telephone book
Newspapers
Weekly circulars
Paper
Pencil or pen

Step 1

Start your quest by making a list of things you need to shop for. This doesn't have to be all food items, because we all know you can buy everything from apples to zucchini in the grocery store and everything in between. Collect the coupons you may be able to use for the items you need most.
Step 2

After you've made your shopping list, look under salvage groceries in the phone book. A salvage grocery store sells cans of items that may be dented, boxes that may be crumpled or crushed and even jars of food that have no label. You may want to get your local newspaper and check the grocery ads to determine if they have good deals on meats and items you really need.
Step 3

Once you've located the salvage stores and the grocery stores with the deals on items you need, write down their location and the names of each store. Now you can begin your journey. If you have several stores you are shopping at, begin with the farthest away from your home. Then you can work your way in towards home.
Step 4

Get everything on your list at each store that you can find. If you have 30 items listed and can find 20 of them at one store, then you are more than halfway finished and have already saved money. The more you can buy in one place the better off you are. Once you get home, sit down with your receipts and compare the prices of items you bought. You will see you have saved on the average of 15 to 30 percent off of your usual grocery bill just by shopping around and locating salvage stores ahead of time.
Step 5

Check out the meat "specials." These may be meats that the store had to rewrap or is simply going out of date that day. These items can be a very good buy. Many stores have unadvertised "manager specials" every week. These specials may range from meats to milk and are usually an excellent buy as well. Price matching is also recommended. To price match, find out which stores match another store's price on the same item if you have proof of the other stores pricing. Example: A circular may advertise sodas, but when you go to another store, the price is almost double. Ask the manager of the higher priced store if they will match the circular's price from the competition store.
Step 6

Most salvage stores sell bread items and some bakery items. If you can't find them in the salvage stores, make sure you check out the bakery at your local market. Day old bread isn't always stale and can offer the same item for less money. Larger groceries offer pastries from yesterday at a remarkable discount. These too make very smart buys.