Shopping on a Budget 

WIC Café

Being a smart shopper can be tricky. Stores are always promoting sales and it is sometimes hard to know what the best deals are. Fortunately, there are ways to buy healthy food while staying within a budget. You can save money by taking the time to decide what your family really needs. There are many tips to help you save the most as you purchase healthy foods for your family. Smarter shopping saves time, money, energy, and can improve what you eat.

It is important to remember that what you buy is what you will end up eating. If you are trying to improve what you eat, you need to make sure you buy healthy foods. Know where these healthy foods are located in the store and shop in those areas. Plan your menu ahead of time and write out a shopping list and stick to it.

• Decide How Much You Can Afford to Spend on Food
• Always Make a Shopping List Before Going to the Store
• Finding the Best Value and Price
• Limit the Number of Trips You Make to the Store
• Shop Alone
• Become Familiar with the Store Where You Prefer to Shop
• Purchase Nutritious Foods With a Budget
• Convenience Foods
• Links to Shopping on a Budget
• Community Resources to Shopping on a Budget

Decide How Much You Can Afford to Spend on Food

Money is a concern for most people and buying food can be a big expense if we’re not careful. There are ways to save money, spend less, and provide nutritious foods for your family.

• Remember, buying cheaper foods in bulk is only beneficial when your family will eat the food before it spoils.
• Grocery stores often place good buys at the ends of the isles to attract attention, but these may not be the best prices.
• Usually generic companies make products that are very similar to brand name products. Test these foods to see if they are acceptable for your recipes and meals.
• Usually cheaper items are located toward the bottom of the shelf.
• Clip coupons from the newspaper because those extra pennies you save will really add up.
• If you do not feel rushed as you are shopping, you can take the time to look over all of the options and find the biggest savings.
• Examine food labels to make sure that serving sizes are consistent. If the serving size is one cup, but you always eat two cups, then the amount in the container might be half as much as you are expecting. Take a calculator with you to figure out how much you are paying per serving. For example, some vegetables are cheaper to buy in frozen packages, and other times, fresh produce will be the better buy.
• You may also want to take a notebook as you are shopping. Then you can write down the prices of your family’s favorite foods. You will be able to compare these prices with other grocery stores. This helps you learn where you can save the most money.
  

 

Always Make a Shopping List Before Going to the Store

This simple practice will help you stay focused as you shop. It will also remind you of the things that you need to buy. Plan meals in advance that you would like to eat during the week. You are more likely to stay within budget if you stick to your shopping list.

 

Finding the Best Value and Price

Some strategies for smart shopping include checking mailers for seasonal discounts, using coupons, comparing price per ounce, and actually reading food labels while you are shopping. The following are tips are tricks for these strategies.

 

COUPONS

Something to be careful with when using coupons is that often the coupon is for a brand name which is often more expensive than the store brand, even after using the coupon. This is often the case with cereals, cheeses, and many other foods. A brand name cereal box may be $5 and the coupon saves you $1 so you end up paying $4. However, the store brand cereal box may only be $3. In this case, you actually save more money if you buy the store brand over the brand name, even if you have a coupon for it.

 

FOOD LABELS

As you become more familiar with food labels you will be able to quickly identify which foods are high in fiber, low in fat, cholesterol, and sugar. By reading food labels you can choose healthy foods for your family to eat.

 

MAILERS

As you look through different stores’ mailers you will find that one may have cheaper apples while another has cheaper carrots and a third has cheaper potatoes. Most likely, going to three different stores to get the cheapest foods will not end up being very cost efficient. You will probably waste unnecessary time, effort, and gas going to multiple stores. A smarter approach is to go to the store that is cheaper for the majority of the foods you will buy.

 

PRICE PER OUNCE

Be careful with buying food in bulk. It is not always cheaper, especially if you won’t be able to eat the food before it goes bad. Most stores will place the price per ounce in small font below the actual price of the food on the shelf label. Use these numbers to compare prices and decide what your best buy is.

Use these strategies to help you get quality food for the best price. Buying healthy food will help your family have healthier meals to eat.

 

Limit the Number of Trips you Make to the Store

Do not make shopping trips for only a few items. This will save you time, gas, and avoid extra spending on items you see, but do not really need.

• Try to have more time between shopping trips by eating the food you already have. This will help you avoid storing large amounts of food that you will never eat.
• Before shopping, always check your refrigerator to see which ingredients you already have.
• Never shop on an empty stomach. When you are not hungry, you will not be as tempted by sugary and fatty goodies.

 

Shop Alone

This is a good idea because you are less likely to be distracted by others. Children may ask for items that are not on your shopping list. When you are alone you can focus on what you need to buy from your list and not add unneeded items to it.

 

Become Familiar with the Store Where You Prefer to Shop

If you know where things are in the store, you can save time while shopping. Gather items in an orderly manner instead of running back and forth between isles. Create your shopping list by grouping foods together that are located by each other.

 

Purchase Nutritious Foods With a Budget

Some think that they can’t afford healthy food because it is too expensive. This doesn’t have to be the case. There are many tips to saving money on healthy foods besides using just coupons and sales.

• Knowing which fruits and vegetables are in season. These are less expensive.
• Canned tuna-fish is a cheaper form of protein that can be safely kept in storage for a long period of time.
• If a recipe calls for milk, use less costly evaporated or non-fat dried milk. 

 

Convenience Foods

When you purchase convenience foods, you are often paying extra money to save time. Sometimes that may be necessary. But the pennies will really add up. If you are willing to prepare a meal instead of buying quick, ready to eat meals, you can save money.

• Buy unseasoned rice and add your own special spices. Commercial seasoning packets are usually very high in salt. You can control the amount of flavor that is appropriate for your family.
• Heads of cabbage and iceberg lettuce are less expensive than pre-packaged salads.
• You will save money by slicing your own carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, onions, and celery.

 

Links to Shopping on a Budget

NCPAD—http://www.ncpad.org/nutrition/fact_sheet.php?sheet=395&PHPSESSID=0
Shopping Smart on a Budget—http://people.bu.edu/SALGE/shopping/index.html
South Dakota State University— http://extfcs.sdstate.edu/cyfar/budgeting/index.cfm?page=Food%20Budgeting
The Cooperative Extension Service—http://www.fcs.uga.edu/pubs/PDF/FDNS-NE-501.pdf

 

Community Resources to Shopping on a Budget

Family Nutrition Program
Utah State University Extension
http://www.unitedwayucv.org/org/1416981.html