How Busy People Save Money On Their Grocery Budget

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When you are looking at places to save money, one of the most common places to cut spending is the grocery bill. What can get frustrating about cutting spending here is the time it takes to really make an impact like finding coupons, perusing the store circular, or going to multiple stores to find the best deal.

With the lack of time most of us have to make a dent in our grocery budget with those strategies (but more power to you if you do!), we need quick and efficient ways to seamlessly integrate saving tips into our lives. These tips are the perfect way to help you save money on your grocery budget no matter how busy you are. All of these tips can be done while you are on the go and do not require a ton of time.

Use the Ibotta app. This app is so simple and easy to use. It is not going to save you a ton of money, but over time you will get some cash back. In the last year of using it (and not being as diligent with it as I could be), I have earned $80 back that goes straight to my Paypal account. You can easily use it on the go as you just click the discounts you want and take a picture of your receipt. Done!

Ibotta does require you to reach a $20 threshold before it will pay out and I average about 50-75 cents a week, so it does take some time to get there, but it is real money back into your hands.

Use your grocery store app. I cannot speak to other stores, but the Kroger app is amazing. Not only does it store a list of our most frequently bought items so I can quickly add them to a shopping list, but it lets me know when a coupon for a specific item is available for more savings.

If your store does not have an app, then keep a running grocery list in your phone’s notes section or in Google Keep. That way you can quickly reference your list and add to it while you are on the go.

Stick to your list. You made a grocery list and now you need to stick to it. Not only will this help you meal plan for the week, but you will not be putting things randomly into your cart only to have them go bad, break the budget, or take you away from your nutrition goals.

Another great way to stick to your list is to use a grocery store pick up or delivery service. That way you are not wandering the aisles putting impulse buys into your cart and going over your grocery budget.

Have a few inexpensive go to meals. When you have no time to meal plan, having a mental list of meals you can quickly make for cheap will come in handy. You will be able to avoid opting for more expensive take out while using what you have on hand. Some of my favorites are:

• One Pot Cheesy Vegetable Pasta
• Dinner Egg Bake
• Taco Salad – Just brown some ground turkey, add some taco seasoning, and add it to some chopped vegetables like cucumber, tomato, lettuce, and peppers. Add some sour cream, shredded cheese, and avocado if you have it.
• Grilled Chicken Salad – Grill some chicken breasts (with or without a marinade) and slice to serve over a salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pepper. A little cheese and dressing and you are done!

Make more than one serving at a time. If you actually have the time to cook something, make more than one of it. Whether you freeze it for a future dinner in a week or two, or bring it for lunch throughout the week, you are going to be so glad it is done.

Pack your own lunch. Unless your company is giving you a stipend for daily lunch, you should be packing your own. The average lunch out costs about $10 and if you eat out each day of the work week, you are spending $200 a month. Is there another area of life where you could use that money? You can pack your own lunch for a fraction of that cost by utilizing dinner leftovers, meal prepping a few salads, or batch cooking (quinoa, shredded chicken, etc). I do highly recommend you get quality food containers with lids you can find if you start packing your lunches to avoid spills and keep things fresh.

Use a store loyalty card. These cards are free and car holders get extra discounts on certain food items. Our store even offers fuel points, which saves us more money at the gas pump. I would recommend getting a store loyalty card for any of the stores you go to, even if you do not frequent them often. For instance, we shop mostly at Kroger, but have a Safeway card for those random times we end up there.

Invest in an Instant Pot. We just got one a few weeks ago and are still learning its true magic, but are loving it so far! Part pressure cooker and part crockpot, you can cook just about anything in it in a fraction of the time. Two things I love about it so far: 1. You can cook meat quickly even if you did not have time to defrost anything, 2. You do not have to stand at the stove and stir. Throw it in the instant pot and get something else done like chopping, laundry, playing with your kids, or that last minute work project.

Buy on sale (but only if you will use it). When there is a good sale on something we eat often, I like to get more than one. Yes, it increases the grocery bill for that week, but it will even out later on. A word of caution on this so you do not get caught up in sale prices: only buy multiples of sale items if it is something that you and your family will actually eat. Otherwise, you get the rush of savings, but not the actually benefit when the food just sits there. My favorite items to buy on sale are things like pasta, pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, shredded cheese, fruit (which we can freeze), and RX Bars.

Buy in bulk. Another excellent way to save money is to buy certain items in bulk when they are less expensive than individual servings. This is another great place to utilize your freezer, but also a place where you should only buy what you know you will eat. Items we consistently buy in bulk:

• Meat – chicken breasts and ground turkey
• Fish – Mahi Mahi and salmon
• Bread
• Shredded cheese
• Yogurt
• Tortillas
• Tortilla chips
• Salsa
• Berries
• Cucumbers
• Potatoes
• Cereal
• Chia Seeds
• Nuts
• Raisins

If you start implementing these strategies you are guaranteed to start saving on your grocery budget no matter how busy you are!

What are some of your tips for saving money on your grocery budget when you have limited time?