Grocery shopping tips to help you save money and eat healthier

Here's how to save money on groceries at the store:

1. Make a grocery list

2. Only buy things on your list

Grocery stores are set up to make you want to buy things you don't need. They only make a little bit of money on each item sold, so stores try to trick you into buying more than you need so they can make a profit.

Here's some tips to protect yourself from getting tricked at the grocery store:

Always shop with a list to prevent impulse buys.

Tip #1: Make a meal plan and shop with a list

If you go into the grocery store without a plan, you'll end up wandering around the isles picking up things that look good. Stores try to make the most expensive items look really good. Avoid getting tricked into buying the most expensive foods by going in with a plan.

Making a menu and shopping for that menu also helps you make healthier choices!! If you have a plan for eating healthy, you are less likely to stock up on frozen pizza and chicken nuggets.

Always compare unit costs, especially on foods like cold cereal.

Tip #2: Always compare unit costs.

I always buy the items at the store that cost the least amount of money per ounce. Usually that means buying the store brand.

Let's start by looking at cereal. The small number next to the bolded price is the unit cost, or cost per ounce. Great Value brand costs 13.9 cents per ounce, which is half the cost of regular cheerios which are 26.2 cents per ounce!!:

If you look at canned beans at Smith's:

S&W Brand: $1.00

Simple Truth Organic: $1.25

Goya: $1.99

Kroger Brand: $0.89

Every can has 15oz of beans, so Kroger brand beans are the least expensive, but it can be hard to find the best price when foods some in different sized packaging.

For example: Look at the cheddar cheese choices from walmart.com

The little number next to the price shows you the cost per oz.

The least expensive option per ounce is the 2 pound bag of Great Value shredded cheese (23.4 cents per ounce).

The bag of Tillamook cheese costs less for the entire bag, but is actually double the price of the Walmart cheese at 49.8 cents per ounce!

I always buy food that is the least cost per ounce. It might only save you a few cents per item, but over the long run, those cents make a big difference.

For example, if you buy 2 pounds of the expensive cheese every week for 1 year (52 weeks), you'll spend $828 on cheese. If you bought 2 pounds of Great Vaule cheese every week for a year, you would only spend $389. Buying the cheese with the lowest cost per ounce could save you $439 per year just in cheese!

Always buy the items that cost least per ounce.

3. Only buy in bulk if you eat in bulk.

Only buy in bulk if you know you'll eat it all before it goes bad, otherwise you'll end up throwing food away.

Sometimes stores have deals where you buy a certain amount to get a better price. They want you to buy in bulk so that they make more money.

For example, if you buy 5 boxes of crackers, you can get them for $1.00 less per box.

If you eat a lot of crackers this is a great idea!

If you don't eat a lot of crackers, you won't end up saving any money because the crackers will go bad before you eat them.

Also, you might end up eating more than you want if you buy too many. This especially applies to foods like chips and cookies. Avoid buying those foods in bulk!

If it's an item like cheese, you can freeze the extra for future use. If it's a large box of oranges, there's a good chance you won't be able to eat them before they go moldy, and oranges do not freeze well.

Only buy items in bulk if you have a plan to use them or freeze before they go bad. If you don't think you'll use it before it goes bad, you'll just end up throwing food away.

Throwing food away = throwing money away.

Don't get tricked into buying more than you want or need.

Only buy in bulk if you eat in bulk.

(and prevent yourself from eating junk food in bulk by never buying it in bulk!)

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Those are my top 3 tips for saving money at the grocery store: shop with a list, buy the least expensive item per unit cost and only buy in bulk if you know you will eat it before it goes bad.

Next week I'll talk more about how to make the most of grocery store deals by using your freezer. See you next week!

Until then, here is my meal plan for the week:

Saturday: Veggie Noodle Soup for lunch, pomegranate + grapefruit

Sunday: spaghetti with kale and meat sauce + green salad + roasted brussel sprouts + oranges

Monday: South West Pasta Salad + frozen mangoes

Tuesday: Antipasto Salad + Lasagna (using leftover meat sauce from sunday) + oranges

Wednesday: Hashbrowns w/peppers + onions, Eggs, frozen berries

Thursday: Lentil Soup + whole wheat bread + apple slices

The most important meal planning advice

The most important meal planning advice is to Start where you are and use what you have.

Take foods you already like, and write them out in a menu.

When I provided weight loss counseling, people often wanted me to just give them a menu to follow.

I would never give someone a menu to follow.

Why?

No one would actually follow it.

To write a menu you would actually want to follow, I would have to know what you like, how much time you have to cook, how well you know how to cook, where you shop, what cultural limits you have and how much money you have to spend.

You know all those things about yourself, so the best person to write out your menu is YOU.

Ask yourself the following questions if you want to plan a menu that you will actually follow:

#1. How much time do I realistically have/want to cook?

Some people hate cooking and want to spend as little time as possible doing it.

Some people love cooking and spend too much time doing it.

The key to having a successful meal plan is to look at how much time you will honestly spend cooking.

The time you have to cook will dictate what you can cook. Also think about cleanup time.

If you only have 30 minutes, lasagna is not going to work, but there are sooo many easy healthy meals that can happen in 30 minutes. (see my recipe page)

Every time I menu plan, I sit down and write what will be happening the next week so I know how much time I have to spend cooking each day.

Here's what that looks like for me the next week:

I have zero time to cook between 4:45 and 6:30 every day, so I either do something fast (like quesadillas), make ahead (like soup), or we eat early in the day (like 4pm).

You might be working full time. You might have to pickup kids from daycare at 5, sit in traffic until 6, and then muster some real superhuman powers to make dinner while taking care of little kids. If this is you, fast easy meals that come together without much fuss are going to be required!

Just do what you can with what you have and make a realistic eating plan based on your time restraints.

#2 What do I already have that needs to be eaten?

Always plan your menu around foods you already have lurking in the fridge and pantry. This will save you so. much. money.

Before I plan my menu, I go through my fridge and figure out what needs to be used and write it on my menu plan somewhere (circled in the photo).

I just do this on a piece of paper because I'm a paper and pencil person, but you could totally do this on your phone or with an app.

#3 What do I feel like eating this week?

Do you love mexican? Italian? Salads? The cook should cook what they feel like eating.

I love greek food. I had leftover parsley in the fridge. So I put tabbouleh on the menu.

I love soups in winter, I had leftover bacon, so we're having soup that calls for bacon.

Will my kids complain? Maybe. That doesn't matter. I'm the adult, I'm the one who knows about nutrition, I'm the one who does the shopping, I'm the one who does the cooking (mostly) and I also need to eat, so I choose the menu.

Kids can learn to eat what we eat (as long as they can safely chew and swallow it). You don't need to put chicken nuggets and mac+cheese on the menu just because you have kids. But if YOU like those foods, then go ahead!

#3 What can I add to make my meals healthier?

Every meal needs the following 4 things:

Fruit

Vegetable

Whole Grain

Protein

After I've planned my menu, I go back and make sure each meal has all 4 parts.

This usually means adding in a fruit and and a whole grain bread (see items circled below).

I'm pretty savvy on what's in season. If you aren't sure what's in season, just look in the ads for whatever fruit is a good price/on sale and buy that. More on how to save money on produce in the next blog post.

#4 What else do we need for breakfast/lunches etc?

Once I've written down everything I need to make my planned dinners, I'll add on things I need to buy for lunches/breakfast.

That's it! My menu is planned! Time to head for the store!

How long does this whole process take? About 15 minutes. Sometimes 30 if I'm using a bunch of new recipes.

Seems like a lot of time upfront, but it will save so much time later in the week when you don't have to go to the store a million times or dither about what you are making for dinner!

The next step is to go to the store. I've got some tips on that in the next post.

See you next week, happy menu planning!

The #1 most effective way to save money and eat healthy

Happy New Year!

If you are like half of all Americans, you probably made a 2024 New Years Resolution to

1) spend less money

and

2) get healthy by exercising more and eating better

https://www.statista.com/chart/29019/most-common-new-years-resolutions-us/

In my 16 years as a dietitian, I've learned that the #1 most effective goal you can make to save money and eat better is to:

Meal plan

Kinda boring huh?

If you.....

Plan 5-7 days worth of meals (using some tips from a dietitian)

Only buy the foods you need to make those meals

Cook the meals you planned (don't go out to eat)

You will eat healthy and save money.

But if you......

Plan meals

buy ice cream and soda in addition to what you need at the store

go out to eat instead of cooking what's on your meal plan

You won't save money or eat well

The trick is to have self control at the following 2 points in time:

#1 at the store (when you don't waste money on food you don't need)

and

#2 at home (when you actually cook what you planned to cook, and prepare lunches/snacks to take to work so you aren't tempted to eat out)

Easier said than done right?

The key to successful meal planning is to have a Registered Dietitian help you.

If you are interested in meal planning ask your Family Advocate to schedule a free visit with the DDI Vantage Registered Dietitian.

You can also Subscribe to this blog (hover on the word "blog" at the top of the page) to get an email every time I post a blog about meal planning. I plan to post about meal planning every Tuesday for the next 4 weeks in January 2024.

Happy New Year!

PS

Here's my meal plan for the week.

Saturday: taco soup for lunch, early new years party snacks for dinner

Sunday: Big green salad with apples, pecans, sweet potatoes and homemade croutons

Monday: cheese fondue with apple, mushroom, broccoli and whole wheat bread dippers

Tuesday: elk stew + homemade whole wheat cornbread + orange slices

Wednesday: spaghetti squash topped with ground elk goulash + orange slices

Thursday: broccoli + walnut stir fry over brown rice + pineapple

Friday: meal plan grocery shop

I'll go through it piece by piece over the next 4 weeks to show you everything I think about when planning a menu so that I'll actually cook what's on it.