Smart Shopping: How to Save Money on Groceries

Hey, hey and happy Thursday! I was thinking about things I have recently altered in our lives and grocery shopping came to mind. I repeat this regularly, the best thing to come out of COVID time was grocery pick up. It is my jam. It saves me so much time and dare I say it, MONEY too.

Since switching to online grocery ordering and pick up, I feel we’ve really refined our grocery budget. Do I feel lazy sometimes that I can’t just get my butt to the store and shop, yes, but why not save myself the time and money by just keeping my backside at home getting other things done. We are at a phase in our lives that this is just a no brainier with all the things we have going on – so this switch has worked wonders for us. Also one thing to note – our local grocery chain does not charge a fee for this feature.

Here’s why I feel grocery pick up is a smart way to shop and help with budget:

STICK TO THE LIST

I find myself less inclined to grab random little finds all around the store. Therefore saving money! The app shows me my previous order recommendations, I generally start out by adding all those weekly essentials to my cart then check out my meal plan for the week. Which brings me to my next point…

LESS FORGETFULNESS

I love that I always have what I need. When I step in the store, I find myself rushing around and without fail, I forget an item or two – generally something essential… Adding to cart right on my phone eliminates the need for me to stroll down every aisle looking for my groceries. Plus, I have a chance to add to my order if I do forget for hours leading up to the shopper shopping.

TIME SAVER

The amount of time I save with grocery pick up – a couple hours a week at a minimum. No waiting in lines, no wandering around the store, no need to argue with kids when they try to add all the snacks to the cart. No need to touch my groceries 3 times before loading them into the fridge.

I CAN SHOP SALES

My local grocery chain has a tab “Shop on Sale” – I really have utilized this feature and will generally tailor our weekly meals based around what is on sale. I used to review paper ads and make lists for multiple stores way back when I was really strict on our grocery budget.

LESS WASTE

I feel like our fridge is “leaner”. We use what we have on hand and waste less letting things rot in our fridge or sit forever in our freezer. I love that we have space in our freezer now, it used to be packed with excess dinner options that I would forget about.

SEE THE TOTAL BEFORE CHECKOUT

For strict budgeting, this feature is great. I’ve been trying to keep our weekly grocery under a certain dollar amount (as a test to see how well I can do!), and being able to see the final cost before checkout allows me to make any changes to my order.

So, if you’re looking for ways to save some extra cash look no further than online grocery pickup! Since switching, we’ve saved at least $150 a month on groceries. NOT HUGE, but definitely an easy way to save. If you’re anything like me, you might not enter a grocery store for quite some time…