As a personal financial coach I see a lot of people’s grocery budgets, and I can tell you two things:
- People spend vastly different amounts on groceries.
- People have a lot of set habits around groceries–so much so that our grocery habits can even be part of our identity.
And I totally get it–we all have certain things we like to buy, certain stores we like to shop in. We have rules about what things we only buy fresh, what things are okay canned, what things we buy organic and what things we get at the deli counter. Many of our habits are based on what we saw growing up. For example, if you lived in an “ingredient household” you are probably more likely to keep basic ingredients on hand than someone who grew up in a household with lots of prepared foods.
But if it was possible to save as much as 80% on groceries, would you be willing to change your habits?
First, a disclaimer
I absolutely do not want to tell anyone how much they should be spending on groceries! Nor do I want to make anyone feel like they should not be buying convenience foods, or organic foods, or premium brands, or foods that are needed due to food intolerances or allergies, or any type of thing they want to spend money on. If you need to buy it, or if you have the money and you want to buy it, go for it!
But for those who would like to save some money by making some changes to their grocery buying habits, I have put together three different sample grocery carts. All three contain similar foods, but the prices are vastly different.
The results
Yes, I’m giving you the results before you get to the end of the article!
All three carts include split pea soup, boneless skinless chicken breast, lettuce, bell peppers, rice, oatmeal with brown sugar, drinks, brownies and popcorn. This is a somewhat random selection, but it gets the point across–small savings really add up!
For four servings each of the nine things in the cart the costs are:
- Grocery Cart Number 1: $97.98
- Grocery Cart Number 2: $44.38
- Grocery Cart Number 3: $15.62
Cart number three costs 84% less than cart number one. Yes, 84% less! But how is this possible? The breakdown is below.
My three grocery carts
Grocery Cart Number 1
The first grocery cart includes the following items:
- Herban Ready-To-Eat Deli Split Pea Soup – $5.50 per serving
- 12 Oz. Bottle of Coke – $1.00 per serving
- Kodiak Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal – $3.29 per serving
- Diced Tri-Color Peppers – $1.33 per serving
- Perdue Short Cuts Chicken – $2.25 per serving
- Ben’s Ready Brown Rice – $3.99 per serving
- Earthbound Farms Green Red Leaf Lettuce – $4.49 per serving
- SkinnyPop Popcorn – $1.50 per serving
- Entenmann’s Little Bites Fudge Brownie Mini Muffins – $1.16 per serving
All of the things in this cart are pretty normal grocery store items, but it does include a lot of prepared and pre-cooked food. This can be a big time-saver, and of course it is still going to be cheaper than eating out. But … it adds up.
Total cost for four servings of each item: $97.98
Grocery Cart Number 2
The second grocery cart includes the following items:
- Progresso Vegetarian Split Pea Soup – $3.49 per serving
- 12 Oz. Can Store Brand Cola – $0.37 per serving
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal Maple & Brown Sugar – $1.30 per serving
- Stoplight Prepacked Bell Peppers – $1.00 per serving
- Perdue Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderloins – $1.25 per serving
- Minute Rice Brown Rice – $0.95 per serving
- Fresh Express Green Leaf Shreds – $1.77 per serving
- Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn – $0.47 per serving
- Ghirardelli Chocolate Supreme Premium Brownie Mix – $0.50 per serving
This cart still has some pre-prepared items and convenience foods, but less so.
Total cost for four servings of each item: $44.38
Grocery Cart Number 3
The third grocery cart includes the following items:
- Ingredients for homemade Split Pea Soup – $0.80 per serving
- Mio Water Enhancer – $0.21 per serving
- 42 Oz container of Oatmeal, bag of Brown Sugar – $0.44 per serving
- Green Bell Peppers – $0.50 per serving
- Family Pack of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast – $0.50 per serving
- 2-pound bag of Brown Rice – $0.27 per serving
- Green Leaf Lettuce – $0.62 per serving
- Popcorn Kernels (can still be popped in the microwave!) – $0.27 per serving
- Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix – $0.28 per serving
This does require you to do more prep work, but I know from experience (since this is what my grocery cart usually looks like) that it really doesn’t take as much time as you might think, and the price difference can be pretty substantial.
Total cost for four servings of each item: $15.62
How I did the comparison
Some notes about how I did the comparisons:
- All the prices (except for the ready-to-eat split pea soup) are from the Jewel website. If you don’t live in Chicago, Jewel is one of our local grocery store chains.
- I used regular prices, not sale prices. So if you shop sales you can do even better.
- I am comparing the cost per serving, not the costs of the actual items you would put in your cart.
- I have adjusted serving sizes so that I am comparing the same quantity of food (either ounces or calories), not just the number of servings listed on the back of the package.
- When comparing prepared food to ingredients I took into account volume lost during cooking and the costs of the other ingredients needed to prepare it.
- The items in the three carts are not exactly the same, but in my opinion are valid options for the same things.
Why save money on groceries?
We can get more out of life when we are intentional about our spending.
You might be someone who really values keeping things simple in the kitchen by getting prepared foods. If that fits in your budget, then that is fantastic and you should keep doing that with absolutely zero guilt.
But maybe there are other things you would rather spend your money on, like clothes, or vacations, or financial goals like saving for retirement or paying off debt.
Decide what is important to you and focus your money there.
That’s it. That is really the main take-away of this whole article.
Yes, it takes more time to make brownies from a brownie mix than buying pre-made brownies. But once you have done it once or twice you will see that it really does not take THAT much more time, and you get the amazing smell of brownies baking. Who doesn’t love that?
Other Tips for Saving Money on Groceries
1. Stock up when things are on sale.
If the salad dressing you regularly buy is half price, don’t just buy one bottle, buy as many as you can use before they go bad. The goal is to avoid as much as possible ever having to pay full price.
2. When planning meals, start with what is already in your pantry.
If you are stocking up when things are on sale this means you already have a cache of sale items on hand which can be the basis for your meal plan. So, start with your pantry, use that as the inspiration for your meals this week, and then go from there.
3. After shopping your pantry, plan your menu based on the store sale flyers.
I always check out the sales flyer or the grocery store app to see what is on sale before I go shopping. I may have in mind that I’m going to make broccoli cheddar soup, but if cauliflower is on sale and not broccoli, I’ll switch it up. Since I like them both just as well, why not?
4. Be realistic about how much fresh food you can eat.
I love fresh fruits and veggies, and when I see them on sale it is hard for me to not want to “stock up.” But this is one area where you really need to get only what you can use, unless you are able to freeze or in some other way preserve the extras.
5. Keep recipes simple.
Anyone who knows me knows that I travel to Italy a lot, and one of the keys to their cuisine is that they keep recipes simple. This allows the individual ingredients to really shine. One of their most famous pasta dishes, Cacio e Pepe, only has three ingredients: pasta, grated pecorino cheese, and black pepper!
One of the items in my sample grocery cart is split pea soup because homemade split pea soup is one of my go-to recipes. Carrots, onion, a bag of dried split peas and some seasonings are all you really need and it is absolutely delicious.
Seek out simple, inexpensive recipes that you like and keep a list of them handy so you have easy ideas of what to make.
How to really take control of your finances
As a personal financial coach I work with people at all different income levels to help them get in control of their money. In our one-on-one coaching sessions we go step-by-step through their finances, we deal with debt, budgeting, saving for the future, money habits and more.
In the words of one of my clients:
“Where was Sandra 20 years ago??? I just completed my 4th session with Sandra and wow. I am mind blown by her guidance, vision and her slides. Let’s face it, talking about money is not very comfortable, and talking to Sandra about it really gave me a different perspective. She really dives deep into your spending and puts together a personalized budget. The relationship doesn’t end here, I have work to do, and I must continue to show up but with the personalized tools Sandra has left behind for me I am 100% more comfortable to take control of my finances and FACE them…instead of avoiding ‘that’ topic. I HIGHLY recommend Sandra.”
– Mimi I., Chicago, IL
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