1 - Choosing Sale Items
Even though food inflation keeps rising, grocery stores still have regular sales on a wide variety of items. The trick is to stock up on the items you need while they are on sale to avoid having to buy them at their new inflated prices. Pantry staples like rice, dried beans, canned goods, and baking mixes have long shelf lives, allowing you to buy a lot and use what you bought over time. Foods with a shorter shelf life, like meats, fruits, and vegetables, can be purchased frozen and stored in the freezer for a long time. Perishable foods that are purchased on sale should be used quickly to prevent them from going bad before you can use them.
2 - Using Coupons
Using coupons has always been one of the most popular ways to save money on groceries and with grocery prices inching higher, coupons have become even more important. However, the days of hovering over newspaper inserts with a pair of scissors are gone, with many grocery stores now offering digital coupons that can be selected online and loaded directly onto your loyalty card. When you use your loyalty card at checkout or for online orders, the coupon discounts are automatically applied to reduce your balance.
3 - Switching To Store Brands
Another effective way of coping with food inflation is to switch from buying name brands to store brands. While store brands are often cheaper than similar name brand items, they are subject to the same food safety rules, so they are just as safe. In most cases, the store brands are very similar to the name brands, with minor tweaks to the recipes or manufacturing processes that make the store brands taste slightly different. After switching, you may find that you like the store brand better than the name brand or that you cannot tell the difference between them at all.
4 - Buying In Bulk
As food prices get higher, it has become more beneficial to buy products in bulk instead of purchasing individual units. Bulk purchases typically get you a lower cost per unit than buying the same items in smaller quantities. Some stores, like Sam's Club and Costco, have made bulk purchases their business model, passing on the savings from purchasing larger quantities on to their customers. If you are unsure whether the bigger quantity is the better deal, look on the price labels on the shelves beneath the products for the "per unit" prices to see if they change significantly between smaller and larger product sizes.
5 – Avoiding Impulse Purchases
Ever go to the grocery store for a few things and all of a sudden you have a cart full of items? Many people do this and some stores try to increase the chances of this happening by placing high revenue items where they can be seen and picked up impulsively. The best way to avoid this is to make a list of the products you need before heading out to the store and sticking to the list while you are shopping. Save even more by going online or on the store's app to see what deals are available while making your list.
These are just some of the many ways people have found to cope with high food prices. With food inflation expected to ease in the coming months, grocery bills may come down a bit, but there is little chance that prices will fall to the levels we enjoyed before. Finding ways to save money on groceries is a good way to reduce your monthly expenses and have more money to spend on all of the other things inflation has affected.
