The painful act of saving money can be hard. After all, most of live on relatively tight budgets already. However, there are few things we can do that will help increase our savings balances quite a bit.
With the approach used by our family uses, we save on our grocery bill by using coupons for groceries. If you are serious about saving; give them a try.
Some of the best ways to help boost your savings are:
Be sure sales are sales. Store frequently place certain items on sale during set times of the year. Two for one sales are popular. However, a 2 for 1 sale doesn’t save money if the store increased its price while placing it “on sale”. Be aware of stores who constantly have insufficient stock. The hope is the shopper will buy what is on the shelve. Ask for rain checks. Some of our best buys are when we combine doubled coupons with 2 for 1 sales.
Check expiration dates of print grocery coupons. Some sale items have dates soon to expire. It isn’t a good deal if the date goes out before it can be used.
Be careful about sale conditions and limits. Do you have to buy $25.00 worth of groceries to get the sale price? Is there a limit to the quantity? Is the sale only for Friday – Sunday? It’s not a deal if you have to buy more than you need to get one item.
Match your weekly menu to reflect what’s in season and what’s in your pantry. If you have to go back to the grocery to get one more item, you’ll more likely to buy at a higher price. If it’s out of season it will cost more.
Whole wheat is only whole wheat if it says exactly that. “Wheat flour,” “unbleached wheat flour,” and “wheat,” all just mean some variety of processed white flour. “Wheat” bread is nothing more than white bread with enough whole grain thrown in to color it. “Wheat blend” pasta is yet another trick to make you think you’re buying whole wheat.
Frozen fruits and vegetables, when tested against “fresh” fruits and vegetables, usually have more vitamin content. It makes sense. They are flash-frozen shortly after being picked, while the “fresh” foods are in trucks for days, exposed to heat and air. Then they sit at the grocery store for days, then in your refrigerator for days. Buying frozen fruits and veggies, then, can be healthier, and they are even cheaper at times, like when the particular fruit or vegetable isn’t in season.
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