How to Save Money on Your Grocery Budget

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends!

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Let’s face it! Groceries are costing us more and more. Pre thanksgiving I saw a Turkey at Costco for $75. And where I live a 2 pound block of tillamook cheese (if you know you know) used to be $8.99 and now it’s $12.99. When I see tillamook cheese go on sale, I stock up!

I wanted to share with you the ways I save on our grocery budget. Our budget isn’t huge but we make it work. We’re going to discuss 13 ways you can save on your grocery budget.

Please, Try these budget saving ideas and let me know what you think!

Budget saving tip number 1: buy in bulk: 1 for now, 2 for later… using this mindset allows you to slowly work within your budget to keep adding to your pantry. It allows you to take advantage of sales or discounts buy purchasing more that one item.

Budget saving tip number 2: buy in bulk (part 2): buy the bulk bag! When you look at the overall price the bulk bag will be more expensive (only due to more volume) BUT BREAK IT DOWN & compare the price per ounce (or pound) to the smaller size and you’ll see that you end up paying less (because you bought more)

Budget saving tip number 3: utilize bulk stores like Sam’s, Costco & Azure Standard. Our closest Costco is over an hour away. When I’m in town I’ll grab a few things but I do the bulk of my bulk shopping (pun intended) through Azure Standard. Azure is an online grocery store offering an incredible amount of goods made by them or small businesses. You can get anything from toilet paper to 50 pound bags of flour, 5 pounds of cheese to sheep minerals. You name it, they probably have it.
a few quick notes on Azure Standard, do you need to have a membership? NO! Do you need to shop monthly? NO! You can shop when you need to. I opt for a monthly order. Do they ship just to the PNW? No! They ship all over! Is there a shipping fee? It depends upon the location. Where I pick up yes, but the bigger town an hour away doesn’t have a shipping fee. But I feel like it’s cheaper for me to pay the shipping than the price of gas. You can read more of my thoughts on a bulk pantry by reading this blog post.

Budget saving tip number 4: when you buy in bulk, learn tips on how to store properly for longevity. Let’s use a bull bag of einkorn berries. If you bought the einkorn berries from Azure Standard they’ll come in a paper bag. Paper isn’t protective for long term. Paper can get wet which can lead to your berries actually growing and turning into grass or fodder.

INSTEAD do this: store in a mason jar! Vacuum seal if you’d like (the vacuum seal from For Jars is a good place to start, plus my code FLOUR10 helps you to save)
• if you bought the BIG bag of Einkorn berries, use a food safe bucket & gamma lid to store. (You can find these at Walmart or I like the buckets and lids from Azure Standard)
• wheat berries store just fine as is and don’t require an oxygen absorber. When you do need oxygen absorbers and Mylar bags, my choice is wallaby goods (code sow5 helps you save too!)

Budget saving tip number 5: check your stores for sales/ads and use it as an opportunity to 1. know your local prices and 2. choose if it’s a good savings and 3. check clearance aisles (don’t be afraid of the scratch and dent section) 4. sales help you choose items that are in season helping you make the shift to eat more seasonally.

Budget saving tip number 6: shop local farms & ranches: you’ll get to make new connections, new relationships and supporting local. Many ranchers will sell you shares if meat which as a whole breaks down to savings on overall cuts. You’ll also be able to learn more about what grows best in your area. My state is known for potatoes, legumes, hops, and cattle.

Budget saving tip number 7: learn the skill of butchering: whether it’s breaking down a whole pork loin into chops, roasts and bite sized pieces to butchering an elk, being able to break down meat will allow you to really save! Did you know… a T-bone steak had ✌🏽 cuts on it: the strip steak and tenderloin.

Budget saving tip number 8: don’t keep running to the store for 1 or 2 items. Learn to make do without. Learn the art of substituting. Hear me out, I’m not saying to go without food. What I am saying is that, if you’re making beef and broccoli for dinner and you forget the potstickers, don’t go to the store just for potstickers. Dinner may not be as planned but it won’t be ruined.

Budget saving tip number 9: buy pantry staples and learn to bake and cook from scratch. For one it’s so much healthier but two it’s so much cheaper! A loaf of sourdough bread is starter, water, flour, salt. That’s it! We’re talking under a dollar to make a loaf of bread. For a ciabatta style bread, water, yeast, honey, olive oil, flour, salt. Does cooking and baking from scratch require your time, yes. If you have the right mentor (me), recipes, tools, it really is quite easy.

Budget saving tip number 11: shop the pantry and fridge/freezer. This goes back to not running to the store for one or two items, rather it teaches you to “shop” what you have on hand.

Budget saving tip number 12: learn the art of food preservation. There are so many techniques to learn but a few mentionables are: canning, dehydrating, freezing, freeze drying, fermenting, etc.

Budget saving tip number 13: meal plan! Be flexible but have a plan. Maybe it’s theme nights (hello taco Tuesday!) or you have a method of cooking night (like traeger/bbq or slow cooker). Some nights what you plan may not sound good, but if you meal plan, you can have a rough outline of what you’re making, what you’ll need, and what can be done ahead of time.

ok friends! I hope this is helpful. Let me know in the comments if you have questions, comments or other ideas I may have missed.

xoxo, Boots

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.