Individually, none of them will represent an enormous swing in your financial favor. But over time, these changes will add up. There you have it — a pain-free method for reducing your grocery bill.

All you need to do is make a few slight alterations to your usual routine and never forget why you started to read this guide in the first place: because you have plans. Not really. Never forget that Big Something, especially when the going gets tough and that steak burrito is calling your name.

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And it all begins with eating out. and I pledge that I will do it less often. This number represents your RMPM — Restaurant Meals Per Month. Pantry Days Occasionally, you should plan on skipping the grocery store altogether and instead make meals percent based on the food you already have.

What does this all mean in numbers? Take your time. Be patient with yourself. Celebrate the little wins and remember the big picture. Step 3 — Grocery Game Theory The best grocery gamers can do two things very well: they can plan meals and they can execute those plans.

But is that enough? Because here comes the final step. Prepare to be mildly inconvenienced. Step 4 —Cutting the cost of convenience We are constantly paying for convenience. Bring Balance To Your Budget.

Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site.

While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Inflation has cooled slightly so far in yet it still remains uncomfortably high as Americans continue to grapple with elevated prices of essentials such as groceries.

In fact, the price of food eaten at home rose Categories that saw some of the largest increases included cereals and bakery products, which rose With prices soaring on everything from meat and produce to canned goods and frozen foods, it can feel impossible to keep your grocery budget under control.

Here are 17 ways to save money on groceries. You can avoid waste and overspending by going to the grocery store with a list based on what you intend to cook for the week. Impulse buying can be one of the costliest habits at the grocery store. Crowds can have a negative impact on your grocery budget.

Depending on where you shop, ground turkey or even ground chicken might come at a lower price point than ground beef. Consider swapping your meat choice for one of the lower-cost options. If you normally purchase higher-end cuts of meat, consider reducing costs by swapping out some of it with more affordable alternatives.

In fact, some generic products are exactly the same as name-brands but with a smaller price tag. You can often find hygiene products for less at places like Walmart, Target or one of the dollar stores.

Grocery rewards credit cards offer cash back or points on purchases at the supermarket. Getting a little bit back from each shopping trip will help offset the costs of inflation.

These cards typically pay between 3 and 6 percent in cash back or other rewards. Some also offer rewards on money spent in other categories, including restaurants, gas and home improvement stores.

Use either your smartphone or a handheld calculator to add up the cost of your groceries as you go through the aisles. A lot of stores will also have discounts specifically for loyalty members as well.

Many stores let you choose between picking up your order curbside or having it delivered. You may find curbside pickup to be more cost-effective, since delivery fees can be expensive.

Some foods are significantly cheaper when purchased in bulk. This can apply to bread, meat, cheese and more.

Sale cycles generally run about weeks, which means your stockpile should contain about weeks worth of a nice variety of food. Furthermore, stockpiling does not mean your family has to only eat a diet of processed food. I have personally been a vegetarian for almost twenty years, which makes it a little easier for me to come up with creative meat-free meals.

However, since the rest of my family is NOT vegetarian, I do make an effort to cook meatless meals that even my meat-loving husband and kids can enjoy. I realize that not everyone wants to become a vegetarian, so when you do buy your chicken, beef, or pork, remember to stick to the principles above—buy only what is on sale, and stock up if it is a great deal.

Be sure to also check out these ideas for more great ways to save on meat. You may even find that maintaining a nice, varied stockpile by shopping the sales once a week saves you a whole lot of time, in addition to saving you from the expensive impulse and last-minute buys.

For those of you who normally plan your meals then make your shopping list based on that plan, this adjustment may be a little harder. By minimizing the number of non-sale items you need to buy each week you will find that you can plan your meals in advance and still cut your grocery bill in half.

One great meal-planning resource that I have been really impressed with E-Meals. You can also try it for FREE for two weeks! It is not by accident that using coupons is the last item on this list and not the first.

Coupons can and do save you a ton of money on your grocery bill, but only if you follow these other steps first. Doing this consistently, week after week, you can literally cut your grocery bill in half. Learning to match coupons to store sales is not nearly as confusing or intimidating as it might sound.

Another great option for those of you who learn by listening, not by reading, is Grocery University. This incredibly comprehensive coupon course includes 2 hours of downloadable audio files that walk you step by step through the process of saving money with coupons.

The course also includes a 40 page workbook and a bonus rock bottom price database. One of the most common complaints I hear about coupons is that they are all for unhealthy processed food. While this is to some degree true, there ARE coupons available for healthier food options too.

There are also plenty of coupons available for non-food items such as shampoo, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, and over-the-counter medicine. The important thing to remember is that coupons come last, not first. Wait for the sale, then use the coupon. Changing old patterns and shopping habits is never easy, but with these simple changes you really can cut your grocery bill in half.

If you love this resource, be sure to check out our digital library of helpful tools and resources for cleaning faster, taking control of your budget, organizing your schedule, and getting food on the table easier than ever before.

Click here to get full access to our Home Systems Toolbox now! Ever feel like you just can't keep up? Our Living Well Starter Guide will show you how to start streamlining your life in just 3 simple steps.

It's a game changer--get it free for a limited time! GET MY FREE GUIDE NOW. Thank goodness you have some advise that does NOT involve coupons. I am so not the kind of person to cut coupons and try to match. I have tried and got so frustrated because the items I was buying were not actually things we regularly bought.

So it was a further waste of time. Here in the UK the best way to save on groceries is to grow your own veggies. We have only a small garden, but this is a pretty universal principle everyone should try, you can grow something wherever they live.

Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper options Buy generic products Avoid buying hygiene products at the grocery store

Save money on food - Shop during the quietest days of the week Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper options Buy generic products Avoid buying hygiene products at the grocery store

No shame here. The first few days of the week are notoriously slow for restaurants. Move your Saturday night hang to the start of the week, and you can eat a meal you already love at a better price.

Fixed-price menus are becoming super popular for major holidays. Then, put that money toward a quality meal out with your special someone. Watch your sports at home, where the snacks are pre-purchased for the occasion from your favorite wings place or from a bulk warehouse store. Plenty of restaurants offer free or nearly free meals for kids under 12 on certain nights of the week.

Goodbye, stress. Goodbye, waste. Hello, savings. Okay, earlier we said to skip the appetizers. And we stick by that money-saving tip—unless you use this little trick. Grab dinner on the early side and eat half-priced appetizers as your entrée.

Yep, really. Just be sure to check ahead and see what time happy hour prices start. Every place is different. Do you have dinner plans with friends on Friday? Or pack yourself a meal for Saturday lunch to make room for a Sunday date with your spouse. A little planning goes a long way.

Set yourself up for success by keeping quick and healthy snacks in your car and stocking your kitchen with some frozen pizzas. Find other ways to cut back on your food cost like BOGO offers and coupons —but still be a good tipper. If you love going out but want to spend less doing it, eat at home and go out just for dessert and maybe a coffee.

You can get that restaurant atmosphere with a smaller bill. That means you may not be able to swing by the coffee shop every day on your way to work, accept last-minute lunch plans with friends, and take the kids out for pizza after soccer practice. The biggest tip we have for restaurant savings is this: budget.

Each month before the next month begins, sit down with your spouse or accountability partner and make a zero-based budget. And guess what? If you use an on-the-go budgeting tool like EveryDollar , you can set up a zero-based budget and keep on top of your spending with ease.

Hey, with EveryDollar and all these tips, you can find the balance you need with your food spending so you can start saving more. Ramsey Solutions has been committed to helping people regain control of their money, build wealth, grow their leadership skills, and enhance their lives through personal development since Millions of people have used our financial advice through 22 books including 12 national bestsellers published by Ramsey Press, as well as two syndicated radio shows and 10 podcasts, which have over 17 million weekly listeners.

Learn More. Learning how to budget might seem overwhelming, but hear this: You can do it. Here's how to make a budget in just five steps. Trusted Services. Free Tools. Sign In Get Started. We're Hiring! See Openings. How to Save Money at Restaurants 1. Save half of your meal. In order to only ever buy an item at its lowest price, you must buy enough of it while it is on sale to last until it goes on sale again.

This is key. Most items go on sale every weeks, which means you need to buy enough to last your family that long.

Let me make it more clear with an example. Say your family eats 2 boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios every week. Instead of buying only 2 boxes like you normally would for your weekly shopping trip, you buy 12 boxes—enough to last your family for the next 6 weeks at less than half the price you would normally pay.

At first it may seem counterintuitive to be buying more than you normally would instead of less. However, because you are shopping the sales each week, you will be buying a larger quantity of a smaller variety of items, which means your overall grocery bill will still go down.

Sale cycles generally run about weeks, which means your stockpile should contain about weeks worth of a nice variety of food. Furthermore, stockpiling does not mean your family has to only eat a diet of processed food.

I have personally been a vegetarian for almost twenty years, which makes it a little easier for me to come up with creative meat-free meals.

However, since the rest of my family is NOT vegetarian, I do make an effort to cook meatless meals that even my meat-loving husband and kids can enjoy. I realize that not everyone wants to become a vegetarian, so when you do buy your chicken, beef, or pork, remember to stick to the principles above—buy only what is on sale, and stock up if it is a great deal.

Be sure to also check out these ideas for more great ways to save on meat. You may even find that maintaining a nice, varied stockpile by shopping the sales once a week saves you a whole lot of time, in addition to saving you from the expensive impulse and last-minute buys.

For those of you who normally plan your meals then make your shopping list based on that plan, this adjustment may be a little harder. By minimizing the number of non-sale items you need to buy each week you will find that you can plan your meals in advance and still cut your grocery bill in half.

One great meal-planning resource that I have been really impressed with E-Meals. You can also try it for FREE for two weeks! It is not by accident that using coupons is the last item on this list and not the first.

Coupons can and do save you a ton of money on your grocery bill, but only if you follow these other steps first. Doing this consistently, week after week, you can literally cut your grocery bill in half. Learning to match coupons to store sales is not nearly as confusing or intimidating as it might sound.

Another great option for those of you who learn by listening, not by reading, is Grocery University. This incredibly comprehensive coupon course includes 2 hours of downloadable audio files that walk you step by step through the process of saving money with coupons.

The course also includes a 40 page workbook and a bonus rock bottom price database. One of the most common complaints I hear about coupons is that they are all for unhealthy processed food.

While this is to some degree true, there ARE coupons available for healthier food options too. There are also plenty of coupons available for non-food items such as shampoo, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, and over-the-counter medicine.

The important thing to remember is that coupons come last, not first. Wait for the sale, then use the coupon. Changing old patterns and shopping habits is never easy, but with these simple changes you really can cut your grocery bill in half.

If you love this resource, be sure to check out our digital library of helpful tools and resources for cleaning faster, taking control of your budget, organizing your schedule, and getting food on the table easier than ever before.

Click here to get full access to our Home Systems Toolbox now! Ever feel like you just can't keep up? Our Living Well Starter Guide will show you how to start streamlining your life in just 3 simple steps. It's a game changer--get it free for a limited time!

GET MY FREE GUIDE NOW. Thank goodness you have some advise that does NOT involve coupons. I am so not the kind of person to cut coupons and try to match. I have tried and got so frustrated because the items I was buying were not actually things we regularly bought.

So it was a further waste of time. Here in the UK the best way to save on groceries is to grow your own veggies. We have only a small garden, but this is a pretty universal principle everyone should try, you can grow something wherever they live.

We also use farm-shops, farmers markets, and swap with neighbours. We always check those. Buying in bulk is a great idea if you have the storage space. One final thing: check those pack-sizes! Hope this helps! I found it interesting when you explained that it is a good idea to buy foods in large quantities when you find that they are on sale.

My wife is currently pregnant with our first child, and our food budget is going to become a lot tighter when our son is born. These tips you shared are going to help us save a lot of money when we go shopping at our local market. The sharing on how to cut the bills you share is great.

I appreciate your way of doing this.

Save money on food - Shop during the quietest days of the week Swap expensive cuts of meat for cheaper options Buy generic products Avoid buying hygiene products at the grocery store

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Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate.

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While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Inflation has cooled slightly so far in yet it still remains uncomfortably high as Americans continue to grapple with elevated prices of essentials such as groceries.

In fact, the price of food eaten at home rose Categories that saw some of the largest increases included cereals and bakery products, which rose With prices soaring on everything from meat and produce to canned goods and frozen foods, it can feel impossible to keep your grocery budget under control.

Here are 17 ways to save money on groceries. You can avoid waste and overspending by going to the grocery store with a list based on what you intend to cook for the week. Impulse buying can be one of the costliest habits at the grocery store.

Crowds can have a negative impact on your grocery budget. Depending on where you shop, ground turkey or even ground chicken might come at a lower price point than ground beef.

Consider swapping your meat choice for one of the lower-cost options. For Capalad, that realization came while comparing prices on sparkling water. She found that the bulk option was about a dollar less than her usual purchase, but she was limited to two flavors.

Still have a few questions about saving money on groceries? Here are answers to some of the most common questions. Of course, cooking takes more time and effort. So if the other option is buying takeout or eating at a restaurant, then buying pre-packed food could be the cheaper alternative. Certain cash-back rewards cards offer a flat cash-back rate on purchases at grocery stores, while others might offer a rotating category you need to select each quarter.

Follow Fortune Recommends on Facebook and Twitter. This content has not been reviewed or endorsed by any of our affiliate partners or other third parties. We may earn affiliate revenue from links in this content.

If you have the storage space, buy rice in bulk as it's cheaper than buying it in smaller amounts. It costs around £2. Look for bulk bags of rice in grocery stores or the world food aisle at a big supermarket. Try to buy most of your fresh produce in the season that it's grown and harvested.

If it's grown close to home, with no transport or freight costs, the produce on offer should be competitively priced. Some greengrocers have bargain bins of produce or offer bulk-buying on certain items, such as overly ripe bananas or blueberries.

Supermarkets also sell off produce that's going out of date, so shop at the end of the day when the stock is checked and goods are reduced. Cured meats in small amounts can pack a punch flavour-wise, so try adding a few slices of chorizo or a spoonful of 'nduja to meals.

Cutting the amount of meat you buy will enable you to buy better quality meat in the long term. The difference in price between chicken breasts and thighs is bigger than you may think: about £7. The cost also goes up for organic meat.

Choose lamb neck over lamb chops, pork collar over shoulder and so on, to save money. Frozen veg comes ready prepped, so you won't discard any of the weight that you buy. Just stir into your pan of food and heat until cooked. This works especially well for coriander and keeps the leaves in tip-top condition.

I always try to make more of any evening meal I cook in the hope that there will be leftovers for lunchboxes the next day. Pasta, noodles or rice dishes are all good for making in excess and might save you having to buy your lunch the following day.

Using a pressure cooker cuts down on cooking time and allows you to buy cheaper ingredients that usually need a longer time to cook. These include beans and pulses which can be cooked dry or soaked and cheaper cuts of meat. A pressure cooker also makes the most of meat bones and carcasses, extracting every last bit of flavour from them for stock.

Frozen vegetables are often frozen soon after picking, so the nutrients are preserved. Something as simple as eating your cauliflower and broccoli stalks rather than throwing them away can be cost effective and save waste.

Trim any woody bits, or just peel and cut into slices or strips and cook along with the florets. Stale bread can be made into puddings or whizz into breadcrumbs to make crunchy toppings for bakes and pasta.

Dried beans and pulses are cheaper to buy than canned ones but you have to soak then cook them. Using the oven to cook two items at a time makes economic sense, so make use of that spare oven shelf by cooking a pan of beans along with your main meal. Bring the soaked beans or pulses up to the boil in a large pan, then transfer to a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid and bake in the oven until tender.

Listen to The Food Programme about beans on BBC Radio 4 while you cook. When making tomato sauce, I often make two or three times the recipe and freeze in portions for a quick pasta sauce or for adding to vegetable or meat dishes.

You can do the same with batches of fried onions or white sauce. A simple homemade oat cookie, flapjack or a cake that lasts in a tin for a few days will satisfy a sweet tooth.

Cut into small pieces so it lasts longer and is cost effective. Pop a stalk in a container of fresh water in a sunny spot in the kitchen and, with any luck, the stalk should reshoot with micro lettuce leaves after four to five days — that's enough to put in a sandwich.

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