Saving Money On Groceries

Saving money on groceries is easier than you might think.  One extremely profitable way of saving money on groceries is by buying generic brands names.  In the beginning there may be some things you will throw away until you know what brands you like and which ones you don’t.  I found a store that has canned goods about half the price of name brand and they are wonderful.  Yet I bought a generic brand of cheese crackers and had to throw them away.  Look for stores that have you sack and carry out your own groceries.  They have the lowest prices because they save on paying workers to do those chores.  In the long run the trial and error is worth it.  I have only had to throw away a few things.  Most items you can still enjoy even if you don’t want to buy them again.

Comparing the generic brand labels.

First there is something you need to know about any label.  The order the items are listed in is the order of the ingredients and how much is used.  For example, if the first two items are mineral oil and water then the products has more mineral oil than anything else.  Next would be water and so on down the ingredient list.

You can compare the generic label to a name brand one to save money.  I used to pay quite a bit of money for the allergy medicine Zertec.  I now use the pharmacy generic brand for less than half the cost.  Savings like these can really ad up over a years time.  I know it’s not groceries, but was just using it for an example.  I save $360.00 a year just on that one item.  Look for generic or store brands in all the following categories.

food

medicine

toiletries

cleaning supplies

If you can think of other areas please share with the readers of this blog.  Shopping this way has really lowered my spending on these types of items.

As far as food goes you can try it out on your family without telling them it’s not their favorite brand.  If you don’t hear any complaints or they ask for seconds then you know you have a hit on your hands.

Take a small calculator to the grocery store with you.  There is an easy way to tell if the size of the package or can you are buying is the best buy.  There may be times the name brand is on sell and the cost per unit may be better than the generic.  To find the unit price is done by taking the price of the item and dividing it by the ounces.  For example, if a medium can of corn is 15 ounces and it cost .89 then  the cost per unit is about 6 cents.  If the large can is 1.45 for 32 ounces then the cost per unit is 4.5 cents and is the better buy.

All these little things actually add up to hundreds of dollars per year.  Once you know all the good buys you won’t be using the calculator quite as much.  Feel free to coment and leave your ideas for saving money on groceries.

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