The joys of budgeting… right? Or should I say, the eternal struggle of family finances. You are one among many people wishing to save money on groceries. Good news is, there are some concrete and easy steps you can take to cut your regular spending without compromising on health and nutrition. Follow these tips and slash your weekly grocery budget!

Plan your meals

Meal planning makes a world of difference. It deserves first place in this list because it’s the main key to success. Meal planning saves you:

• money, because you buy what you need and nothing more (you also cut on food waste);
• time, because you limit grocery shopping trips;
• stress, because don’t have to spend time thinking about what you’ll cook for dinner and you can plan easy meals on busy days.

If you like to improvise, you can still do the meal planning and mix up meals according to your mood.

Cook from scratch

Say goodbye to processed food. Not completely, but aim at cooking most of your meals from scratch. It can be a tough habit to change if you are used otherwise, but you can. Start small and stick to progressive goals: first aim at cooking from scratch 2-3 times a week, and slowly increase your goal. Processed foods are full of preservatives, sugars, and salt. Their main ingredients are often low quality and have lost all their nutrients. Cooking from scratch takes time, but it is a healthy habit and it teaches you to truly appreciate food items, their natural flavours and properties. And it spares you a lot of money, which is the focus of this post.

Keep yourself in check

Grocery shops are designed to make you buy as much as possible. I know because I worked in the sector and I know how much retailers invest in terms of technology and psychological tricks to maximise sales. This is a thousand times more powerful in online shops where assortment is literally designed for you. When you walk around a shop, you need to repeat a mantra in your head: do I need it or do I want it? Meal planning is a great help to stick to the list, but there will be temptations. When you see them, try to avoid succumbing to them without a fight. It’s okay to buy yourself something nice or some extra snacks, as long as they remain a small portion of your shopping trip.

Test different brands

I am not saying you should always go for the cheap thing, but take time to really test brands, including new ones. When I was in school, we went on a trip to a factory. There I found some brands share production factories (they literally sell the same product or with a tiny variation) but the final product on the shelf has a completely different price tag. This is definitely valid for the brands of distribution chains (like Pirkka). Similarly, there are cheaper products that offer a perfectly acceptable level of quality. What I am trying to say is, don’t buy brands out of blind habit. Test, experiment, and take informed decisions.

Buy and cook in batches

You can save money on groceries by buying food and items in batches and exploiting discounts. Remember discounts can be a trap for overbuying: stick to what you need or plan your meals around discounts (I find the Lidl app useful for this). Similarly, you can cook large quantities and freeze portions, another trick to save on time beside money. I regularly freeze pasta sauces, meat or fish stock, fresh pasta like ravioli, meatballs, cutlets, soups, and more.

Research cheap meal recipes

A trick in my sleeve is to check the cost per person for my meals. Several recipe websites mark recipes as cheap / average / expensive, although you always have to localise them. For example vegetables are cheap in Italy, but costly in Finland. There are many YouTubers posting “meals on a budget” content and once in a while I go and note down new recipes.

Reduce meat consumption

Meat is expensive and not environmentally-friendly. I am not asking you to become a vegetarian, but you can reduce your meat intake (find my tips on how here). This will help you save money on groceries, as well as reduce your carbon emissions and take care of your body. Meat consumption is too high in many countries, including Finland. It’s a health hazard and an unsustainable habit. The recommended weekly amount for an adult is 500g. Meal planning will also help you control how much meat you buy. If you commit to learn and try 2 new recipes every week, you will soon build a wealth of vegetarian or fish alternatives.

Cut on alcohol and sugar

Alcohol and sugar are killers for your budget and your health. Here in Finland, they are highly taxed products. Cut on sodas, energy drinks, candies, cookies, and so on. Limit alcohol intake. Your body and wallet will be grateful.

Featured photo by nrd on Unsplash.