Save money on groceries - Grocery Saving Secrets & Tips

Have you noticed how big of a chunk your groceries take out of your budget?
Learn how to save money on groceries and slash your grocery bill with these simple tips and see how GrocerySavings will help you with each tip.

1. Know your grocery prices. Not everything advertised in the flyers are actually "deals", know what a good price is and you won't be ripped off.
   GrocerySavings has a grocery price book that is continously growing on a daily basis. A price book is a journal of grocery prices; compare the current price to past prices to easily find out what a "good" price is.
   
   
2. Make a grocery list of all the things you need before you head out to the grocery stores. This way, you can just quickly pick up the groceries on your list and head right out. The longer you stay in the store, the higher the chance that you'll be buying more than what you came for. Also remember to stick to your list!
   GrocerySavings can easily help you create a printable grocery shopping list. Simply choose the on-sale groceries that you want to create your grocery list, you can even add non-sale groceries to your list by typing it in. Your grocery list will be sorted by grocery stores and a total spendings for each store will be displayed. You can even email your grocery list to somebody to help you pick up the groceries.
   
   
3. Pre-shop by looking through the grocery store flyers to see what groceries on your shopping list is on-sale.
   Also, try to plan your meals around groceries that are on-sale that week. GrocerySavings allows you to easily pre-shop and compare grocery flyer prices with 2 features:
   1. Search by typing in your grocery list
   • Type in your grocery list and find out which groceries are on-sale this week
   2. Browse through this week's available flyer deals
   • Not sure what your looking for? Browse through the grocery store flyers like how you would with a physical flyer but with the benefits of being able to browse by category. Simply add the groceries you want and quickly find the cheapest prices.
   
   
4. Look for online printable grocery coupons.
   GrocerySavings has a coupons section to save you the trouble of finding coupons on multiple websites.
   
   
5. When you find a rock bottom price on non-perishable or freezable groceries, stock up! GrocerySavings has a grocery price book that is continously growing on a daily basis. Simply type in your grocery to find the history of prices to see what a "good" price is.
   
   
6. Ask for rain checks if the item is sold out. Rain checks allow you to take advantage of the sale price at a later date even after the sale has ended. Most rain checks expire 30 days after it has been issued, the conditions should be stated on the rain checks. Not all stores issue rain checks, check with the customer service counter to see if they are available.
   
   
7. Beware of quantity pricing. Quantity pricing is when a price is advertised for more than one quantity of the item, eg. 2/$4. Unless it explicitly states that you have to buy a certain quantity to get the sale price, you can buy only one of the item. So if the advertised price is 2/$4, you can buy one for $2, you don't have to buy two.
   
   
8. Get familiar with the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code. The code states that if the scanned price of an item at checkout is higher than the price displayed in the store or than advertised by the store, the lower price is honoured. If the correct price is $10 or less, you get the item for FREE and if the correct price is more than $10, you get $10 off the corrected price.
   Here is a sample list of companies that have adpoted this code: Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaw, Sobeys, Metro, Wal-Mart. Find out more about the scanning code of practice and see a full list of companies that have adopted it.
   
   
9. Don't take the kids to the grocery stores. The kids will make you buy unneccesary items which are not on your grocery list and prolong your stay at the grocery store. Your goal is to get out of the grocery store as fast as possible.
   
   
10. Do not grocery shop on an empty stomach. When you're hungry, you will probably buy more and make impulse purchases because everything looks so appetizing. Have a quick bite to temporarily satisty your hunger beforing heading out to the grocery stores.
    
    
11. Don't stay loyal to brand names. Brand names are generally more expensive unless they are on-sale, try out the generic brands and you may not even taste the difference while saving some money.
    GrocerySavings gives you the option to ignore the brand names so that you can find the best available prices regardless of the brand.

Let us know if you have a tried and true way of saving money on groceries or any questions on how GrocerySavings can help you save on grocries.

17   Responses

Guest commented on Apr 24 2008 7:12AM

Ask for rain checks if the grocery item is sold out.

charmaine commented on Jun 11 2008 12:48PM

i'm trying to find the cheapest ricotta cheese

admin commented on Jun 16 2008 8:10PM

Unfortunately, ricotta cheese is not on sale this week. I've noticed that Food Basics usually have the Silani ricotta cheese on sale, the last time it was on sale was on May 22/08, 800 g for $5. You can quickly search through the weekly deals to see if it's on sale or look through the price book for a history of prices.

sharon nestor commented on Sep 19 2008 7:31PM

i love to shop and sometimes i get bad deals

Kathy commented on Nov 10 2008 12:44PM

What great potential this site has. I hope Canadian grocery shoppers make it their 'go-to' site for weekly grocery shopping. Great concept!

Kathy commented on Nov 10 2008 1:06PM

Tip: always check unit prices. Don't assume that the larger sizes are a better deal. Lately I've been noticing that the unit prices on many bulk packaged items are actually higher than on the smaller packaged item.

Admin commented on Nov 13 2008 9:44AM

Great tip Kathy. What're you're saying is definitely true, maybe it's a good idea to carry a mini calculator to the grocery store with you. One thing that I've noticed is that the grocery stores often change the measurement units from week to week, eg. clementines will be sold in kg and the next week it may be sold in lb. This tactic leads me to believe that they are trying to make it harder for consumers like us to calculate the unit price. If the grocery stores are making an effort to do this, it probably is a good idea to pay more attention to the unit price.

Nico commented on Jan 12 2009 8:06PM

Where can I find cheap ricotta cheese?

SUSANA commented on Apr 2 2009 5:24AM

Ricotta cheese, try Grande Cheese, there are several locations in the GTA and richmond hill. They make their own excellent quality and if you spend so much money they give some to you for free. Otherwise No Frills normally has the tub for bewteen $3-$4 for normal price.

T commented on May 31 2009 11:21AM

Here is a tip for everyone trying to cut grocery bills in half. Walmart will match all advertised prices. If Food Basics is having their 1$ days and No frills have some items on sale, before you go to 3 or 4 stores just bring the flyers with you to walmart and they will honour the advertised price. this will save you gas and time and you can stock up on all the Items you need in one store.

Leanne commented on Jul 18 2009 12:48PM

Carry your coupons with you because sometimes stores have in-store promotions that are not advertised usually due to products becoming outdated soon. Also even if you don't have a coupon for a product check your usual product purchases for in-store sales. I have gotten eggs half price frequently due to soon to be outdated product.

Ekim1 commented on Aug 1 2009 8:05AM

If you have a computer, make a spreadsheet, and each store to a list, side by side, and price, I find that it is the best way to save.

brenda strickland - lady commented on Aug 10 2009 2:30PM

WE HAVE A SUPER DISCOUNT GROCERY STORE WHERE I LIVE.THINGS ARE ALOT CHEAPER,BUT BEFORE THEY TOTAL EVERYTHING THEY ADD AN EXTRA 10 PERCENT TO WHAT YOUR GROCERYS ARE .PLUS TAX.. CAN THEY LEGALY DO THIS.NRRD HELP

Michael Jenkins - Great commented on Aug 25 2009 4:44PM

This site is a copy and should be taken down. It does not save you any money at all.

Cassandra Cook commented on Sep 16 2009 12:37AM

New to the site..looking forward to saving a little $$4. Just went to G.T. in my area...1st timewow!

jeff commented on Nov 25 2009 3:38PM

I always look when iam going though the check out i still shop with a priced list and always ask for rain checks i used too work in a store

Helen - thanks for sharing commented on Feb 3 2010 1:58AM

Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. I came across the articles describing similar rules or tips one should pay attentiom to while doing such important things like buying things by rapidshare SE and must say was really impressed. If possible, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful and beneficial to your readers.