As a physical therapist and overall health advocate, general fitness and well-being is a priority in my life. When I set out on this journey towards financial independence, even before I knew what I was doing, I put healthy lifestyle as a category that I wouldn’t skimp on.
So this includes grocery shopping. This year, accounting for primarily just myself, I was able to keep my grocery bill at around $215 per month while eating primarily fresh produce and meat. Yes, every now and then I too mix in some processed cheap foods (peanut butter and Jalapeno kettle chips are my vice) but I primarily shop in the perishable food section which tends to be associated with higher costs.
I know there are plenty of people out there who manage to eat for even less than $215 per month, however, given that the average American spent around $372 per month on groceries in 2018 according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. I think I am doing okay.
With my current spending, I was able to save almost $2,000 in groceries this year compared to the average American. To put it in perspective, this money alone almost funds my HSA.
First Step Before You Cut Costs
Before you begin attempting to cut your grocery bill, I think it’s important for you and partner (if applicable) to sit down and write out what it is you value most with your food and your diet. Just like creating a budget, this then lets you create a priority list of what you are unwilling to take off your shopping list while also showing you areas you can begin to cut out with relative ease.
This is especially important if you are shopping for not just yourself. Because you may want to cut something that you consider fluff, but that Starbucks brand iced coffee may be something that your partner values significantly in their weekly routine. Yes, there are ways to still meet this value in a more cost effective way but by creating a value list, this let’s you discuss this topic rather than just cutting it out which leads to potential argument.
This value list also serves as a starting point to be able to look at what it is you truly value and get creative on how you can still meet this need while cutting costs. For me, I was buying several $2 protein bars per week as this is one of my primary snacks after working out or between meals. I was unwilling to give up this habit, but I was willing to invest in a Costco membership to buy the bars in bulk, cutting the bar price by nearly 150%.
Some of us value craft beer, some a nice glass of wine, some a weekly gourmet meal, some their coffee, and some prefer specific brand names. And that’s okay. Whatever it is you value, it’s okay to not cut nor adjust it. You need to enjoy your diet just like anything else in life. You won’t last long in your diet/shopping habits if you hate it just as it is with fitness.
But once you have this value list in place, you can begin to make small changes in your grocery shopping and meal preparation plans that can have dramatic effects on your monthly grocery bill and overall savings rate.
So how do I keep my food costs low and the nutritional benefits high?
1: Meal Prep or at Least Meal Plan
One of the primary ways that I am able to keep my cost down is through meal preparation at the start of each week. This controls exactly what I am eating each day while avoiding the costly and often unhealthy cheat meals.
Planning for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day often leads to decision fatigue which is one of the primary drivers for eating out or eating unhealthy after work. Think about it, when you come home and are mentally, possibly physically fatigued, the last thing your brain wants to do is plan out dinner and make it.
So it becomes that much more likely that you will opt for the easy option of ordering delivery, “grabbing” ready to eat food on the way home, or snacking on whatever is in the pantry. And when we are in this state, we generally tend to be much less cost and nutrition thoughtful. We are exhausted from making decisions all day, meal prep helps eliminate this fatigue.
And if meal prepping isn’t for you, at the very least, I think a meal plan is appropriate. You should know exactly what meal you are going to make for each day. This makes sure you know what food to buy and what food to prep that day, which again takes away the decision about what to eat after work.
2: Invest in Quality Tupperware
This seems irrelevant towards saving money and controlling your eating habits, but it matters, I promise. When you have nice glass tupperware, with solid, no leak lids in a specific size, it further decreases the barriers to eating healthy and spending less. Let me explain.
Often times when people meal prep a large portion, they leave this portion in a large bowl or container in the fridge to make their dish when they want it. Which for most, is after work or when they are getting ready for work in the morning.
Making your lunch in the morning, even if it’s just scooping it into a container, increases decision fatigue. You need to find a tupperware, find the correct lid, get the food out of the fridge, put the food in the tupperware, then likely wash the spoon or spatula you dished up with. All of which takes time, which is already precious for most in the AM.
This leads to increased chances that one decides to “just get something at work” because they are too rushed or stressed in the moments before work. With a prepped meal in a clear, glass tupperware, the decision is simplified. It takes seconds and you can see exactly what you are grabbing for the day if you prep multiple different meals for the week.
The other time is when we get home from work after a long day in which we are often starving and just want to destress. This makes it very easy to dramatically increase the portion size we plate. I know I am prone to this. However, by plating your meals at the start of the week, your portions are already set. Making your food last longer, while controlling your calorie intake. Often times, this normal sized portion is plenty to fill us up, we were just overly ambitious towards eating when we got home from work.
I try to have plenty of the exact same sized tupperware to again limit decision fatigue on deciding which tupperware to use. It also decreases the stress of finding the correct lid if they all match. I also prefer glass because it’s very sturdy, cleans easier, and allows me to see into each container without opening it. Plus the glass, makes it safe and easy to heat up. All of which helps decrease dishes, and time.
For me, the no leak lid is a must as well because anytime your lunch leaks it makes for a bad day. And the more of these bad days you have, the more likely you are to just bypass grabbing the dish altogether.
Okay I am officially done talking about tupperware. I didn’t realize I could talk about tupperware for that long, but here we are!
3: Only Buy Groceries Once per Week
Meal prep again fits well with this tip for saving money at the grocery store but applies to meal planning as well. If we have a set meal plan for the week, we only need to buy food and ingredients once per week. We have a set plan of what to buy in that planned one day of shopping which limits the opportunities we have to “slip up”.
What happens when we begin going multiple times per week to the store to just “grab a few items” is that those extra impulse purchases begin to sneak into the cart. We all know how hard it is to grocery shop when we are hungry, making multiple trips to the store is no different. The impulses start to win more often the more time we spend at the store which becomes hard on our wallet and our waistline.
The pro grocery planners can go once every 2 weeks or even once every month. I haven’t been able to get to this level of grocery shopper yet but I usually prefer to make my meals as fresh as possible.
4: Buy in Bulk
This one goes hand in hand with meal prepping as well because to meal prep you are planning on eating the same 2-4 meals for the entirety of the week. So to do so, you need to make increased portions of every meal which requires increased ingredients especially if you are cooking for more than just yourself.
When we shop, stores tend to already offer increased deals for those of us who buy multiple or large amounts. Stores like Costco and Sam’s club can be helpful for this especially when buying spices, dry ingredients, or meat as you can freeze the extra. However, I have found that often times buying produce in these amounts are even too large for the entirety of the week.
So I tend to buy produce with the meal prep plans in mind so that I can purchase exactly what I know that I will use for the week.
5: Shop on a Specific Day
This requires a little bit of research, communication in your community, or trial and error but most grocery stores have a day during the week where meat and produce tend to have the cheapest prices.
My current schedule looks like this. I try to shop on Fridays as my local grocery store tends to have the best deals on meat and produce these days. The deals vary but most of the time certain meats will be significantly discounted on that turnover day at the store. However, this day has often varied based on my location, so try shopping a few different days to find when the stores in your area have the best deals.
Then on Sundays is when I usually meal prep 2 large meals for the entirety of the working week. This covers my lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday while leaving me 2-3 leftover meals to consume over the weekend.
Added Bonus Tip (not included in original 5 as it is not for everyone)
6: Intermittent Fasting
To begin, intermittent fasting isn’t a diet, it’s just a way to pattern your eating. There are many different patterns but the most common and the one I use is a 16-8 pattern. Meaning 16 hours of fasting and an 8 hour eating window which you consume your calories for the day. You can drink water, tea, etc. outside of this 8 hour window but no food.
So I realize right away that this idea isn’t for everyone but I am a firm believer in the health and cost benefits. As a health professional, I try to stay very up to date on the research and intermittent fasting has been showing to have some very promising results for weight loss, reduced disease risk, and improved heart and brain health.
From a non-research point of view, I think it’s important to feel hunger. I think in today’s society we are so used to never feeling even a bit of hunger that it leads to a constant need to satisfy even the smallest craving. Which leads to increased eating/calorie intake which obviously leads to increased spending.
As someone who has always had difficulty eating in the morning, labeling my practice as intermittent fasting became very easy for me. However, with intermittent fasting, you can adjust your food intake window for your own typical eating habits . Because I intermittent fast each morning, I only need water from 6:30 am when I wake up until noon when I eat lunch which means I only need to prepare 2 meals per day and a few snacks which generally consists of fruit, nuts, or a protein bar.
This alone cuts the average person’s 1,095 prepared meals each year down to 730 meals per year which ultimately decreases my grocery bill significantly.
Conclusion
The grocery store is one of those places that is easy to over shop and overspend in. Unhealthy foods that add increased costs and negligible nutritional value tend to magically appear in our carts the more time we spend in the store. Even excess healthy, perishable foods seem to jump in the cart only to be left unused and thrown out at the end of the week when we shop without a plan.
By creating a weekly or monthly plan, it’s easier to bypass the junk that is on display in most aisles of the store. If anything, it’s best to just attempt to shop the perimeter of the store to avoid these temptations as the perimeter is where most of the perishable and healthier foods will be found.
Once you have a plan, you can then begin to utilize some of the other tips listed above. Like fitness, diet does not need to be static. You can play around with what works for you and vary your plan for the time of year or your mood that week. What’s most important is having your foundation of values as this is what will guide you even while you are tweaking your plan/diet.
Overall, there isn’t one tip for keeping a healthy diet and a healthy wallet. But it’s important to be aware of our food spending as this tends to be the next biggest category of inflated spending outside of housing and transportation. So getting a handle on your grocery bill can have dramatic effects on your retirement plan when those effects are compounded year after year.
How do you save money on groceries??
Feel free to comment below or if you have any specific questions, feel free to contact me here or email me directly at fiscaltherapist1@gmail.com.
