Reports of this food or that food increasing in price are regularly on the news as everything from fruits to frozen foods has seen dramatic price increases over the past year.  For those of us without a lot of wiggle room in our budgets or who are living on a fixed income, these price increases can be devastating and result in less choice and less food for the individual affected.  Although there is very little you can do to change the prices at the grocery store, there are some ways to lessen the impact of higher food prices on your disposable income.

Purchase Bulk Quantities

Many staple foods are available in bulk quantities that are much cheaper per unit than their smaller counterparts are.  If you believe that you will be able to use the entire amount purchased before the expiration date on the package, you can save a great deal of money by purchasing the larger quantity.  If you are purchasing perishable foods in bulk, you can extend the life of these foods by freezing them or canning them.

Use Coupons

Many stores and manufacturers regularly issue coupons for their products to entice more people into trying the foods that they offer.  These coupons can be for free items or give you a certain amount of money off your purchases.  People that tailor their grocery shopping list to the coupons that they have available may be able to save 30% or more off their total grocery bill.

Stock Up On Sale Items

Grocery stores always have some food items on sale and the specific items on sale rotate regularly.  You can save quite a bit of money by obtaining the sales flyer of the store you will be shopping at prior to your shopping trip and using it to plan your shopping list.  Large grocery chains post their sales flyers online for easy access and local grocery stores mail their flyers to homes in the local area or have their flyers inserted into the local newspaper.  Matching these sale items to your available coupons can save you even more at the grocery store.

Tags: money saving tips, save money, shopping

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 10th, 2011 at 11:05 am and is filed under Shopping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.