Grocery expenses comprise a large portion of most American’s budgets. According to data released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average middle-aged male spends just under $300 per month on groceries when following a “moderate-cost plan.” But, you can save money on groceries.
The average family of four, meanwhile, can expect to incur around $1000 worth of food expenses each month when following a similar middle-of-the-road strategy.
How does your family’s spending compare with how to save money on groceries? If you and your spouse have two children, do you fall above or below the $1000/month figure? If below, you can congratulate yourself on being efficient with your grocery purchases.
Of course, you can always strive to realize added cuts that can bring your spending into the low-cost range (around $800/month) and allow you to put more money into your online savings account. But, if over that mark, you might want to make a concerted and sustained effort to reduce your food budget, especially if money is tight. Doing so can amount to tremendous savings in the long-run.
With food prices on the rise and wages relatively stagnant so far for 2016, many families are looking for new ways to save money on their food budget. If you fall into this category, then read on to discover useful grocery hacks that will cut back your food budget at the grocery store.
Grocery Hacks To Trim Down Your Food Budget
Don’t Shop While You’re Hungry
You’ve probably heard the generic advice that you shouldn’t shop while you’re hungry, but did you know that there are actual neurobiological studies proving that shopping on an empty stomach makes you spend more money on groceries?
In this experiment, participants were either injected with ghrelin (a hormone that controls hunger) or saline (basically a placebo) and then they were asked to bid on both food and nonfood items in a lab. The participants with elevated hunger hormones were much more willing to spend more money on food, showing that humans are more prone to impulsive purchases in the grocery market when we’re hungry. To avoid this pitfall, either schedule your shopping trips after meals or eat a snack before you go.
Become a Couponing Ninja
Have you ever seen that TLC show, Extreme Couponers? Although the idea of getting tons of stuff for pennies may be alluring, it’s probably not worth all the hours of coupon clipping and discount hunting on the web.