How to stretch your dollars at the grocery store
The grocery store checkout counter has increasingly become a venue for stress for many Americans. With Inflation rising, many are finding it hard to feed their families.
Here are some ways to re-strategize your grocery shopping habits to get the most for your money.
Sign up for your local store apps
Major Grocers such as Kroger, Walmart, Stop&Stop and more have store apps where you can receive exclusive in-app promotions for select products. Make sure to check those promotions as you shop to get the most for your money. Digital coupons can be clipped directly to your store card, greatly reducing the price of many items. Don’t skip this essential step, as you might be losing dollars every time you leave the checkout.
For example at my local stop&stop there was a promotion for family-sized packs of chicken at $1.99 per pound. By simply going on the stop&shop app and clipping a digital coupon, I was able to buy the same product for $0.99 Per pound. 1 minute of my time saved me over $4.
Check the Clearance Aisle
Did you know you can get Pastries, fruits and vegetables for over 75% off. Here’s how.
If your local grocery-store sells bakery items, and fruits and vegetables, it is likely that there is a section of the store offering these products at a greatly reduced price. You can often find breads, bagels, cakes and other bakery items for over 75% off one to two days before their sell-by date. As for vegetables, many store also feature a small section of reduced price produce. It is not always obvious where these sections are unless you are looking for them, so make sure to ask your local grocery store employees the next time you shop.
When I used to live near a Kroger, I would only buy my breads and vegetables on clearance. As a rule of thumb, If you see a certain large quantity of fruits or vegetables on sale, it will often end up in the clearance aisle shortly afterwards.
Check for discounted items
If you keep your eyes peeled while shopping, you will often find hidden discounted products on the shelves. Look for “Reduced Price” “Discount” or “Managers Special” stickers on Items while shopping to get the most value on products you would not see on sale otherwise.
In my local Stop&Shop these items are marked by a yellow sticker that says “Managers Special.” Figure out the verbiage and marker used at your local grocer to become more aware of these finds.
In my experience, this strategy works for finding the best value for meats and dairy products that are close to their sell-by date.
Check for coupons
Before I buy any product, I almost always check if there is a manufacturers coupon I can apply to my transaction.
Stores such as CVS have made this easy by allowing you to send manufacturer’s coupons straight to your card in-app, but you have to select them in order to get your discount. More than once I have checked out only to realize seconds later I could have saved $2-$3 if I had only checked for coupons.
Always check.
This can be as simple as searching your product name into google with “Coupon” next to it. I would recommend using this strategy to save money on laundry detergent products, as more often than not, manufacturers coupons can easily be found online.
Another way to find coupons is through coupon strategy websites, for example thekrazycouponlady.com. I often go on this website before any shopping trip to see what deals I can anticipate before I even arrive.
Sign up for rewards programs
Multiple brands have rewards websites that you can sign up for to receive benefits for buying their products. If you happen to be a brand loyal consumer, this is a great way to receive some cash back for your everyday purchases. Here are some of them (List is live and websites will be added as they are discovered)
Maximize your cashback deals
There are multiple apps such as Fetch and Ibotta that will offer you a percentage cash-back on certain items in your grocery list. Simply download the apps, create an account, and scan your receipts to start building in-app points.
These points can be redeemed in the future for giftcards. Although these points can take some time to build up, it is still a nice reward if you are already spending the money. Besides, scanning a receipt takes only seconds.
how do you make the most of your money at the grocery store? Share your tips below.
