This is Part 7 in a series on saving money on groceries that even a very beginner can master this month. This is an extra 10 bonus tips. Whether or not you are trying to eat healthier,  feed your family more nutritious meals, or just get that paycheck to stretch until the next paycheck we could all save a little money on groceries. My hope is that after you have learned and implemented my tips into your grocery shopping plan you will not think that eating healthy is too expensive and will be able to feed your family more nutritious meals at less than the cost of what you have in the past.

I’ve found that groceries can be a HUGE chunk out of your family’s monthly income, but with a few strategies up your sleeve you can greatly reduce that monthly cost.

In case this is the first time you have came to my blog my name is Shannah Holt and I’m a mom of 8 kids (and 8 furbabies; we had 9 up until a few months ago and unfortunately lost one). I’m also a SAHM that has homeschooled for about 15 years now, so living on one income and sometimes less than that with a large family I’ve had to learn the hard way how to stretch that paycheck to survive. I just want to share my tips so you don’t have to go through as much struggle as I have.

The video explains this tip really good so it would be better if you can just watch, but I will include the main points below.

Today I am sharing 10 More Bonus Tips

1. No going to the store hungry. Eat before you shop (and feed your kids). Being hungry will make it harder to ignore those smells I talked about in Saving Money on Groceries Part 6. You will be less apt to buy all those extras just because you or your kids are hungry.
2. Get in and out as quickly as possible! Less time in the store is less money spent. If at all possible leave the children at home. They do always tend to slow you down and want things not on the list. Know the layout of the store.
3. Shopping from the list. Even a well made out plan won’t prevent you from forgetting everything. Sometimes you ran out of something after you made the list. What we do is keep a dry erase board on the fridge to keep a running list of things we run out of or area almost out of. If you have already made the list just snap a picture of the list on your phone to take with you.
4. Know what you are spending. If you have a budget to stick to it is best to keep a running total on a calculator or on the back of your list while you shop. It will also help you avoid making splurges or last minute decisions on items not on your list.
5. Reverse the plan. Instead of creating a menu plan like the tip I discussed in Saving Money on Groceries Part 1 sit down with the grocery sales papers and make your plan based on what is on sale.
6.  Substitutions-For higher priced items try to substitute lower priced items in their place. As in the video I talked about how we use ground turkey instead of ground beef, and when our recipe calls for 2 lbs of ground meat we use a package of mushrooms chopped and cooked with the other ground turkey. We save about $2.50 and it is healthier.
7. Cut back on food waste. By planning your meals ahead of time you may be able to use leftover baked chicken in the next night’s pot pie, soup, or enchiladas. You can also plan to have a once a week leftover night where everyone just heats and eats whatever is leftover in the fridge then dump and start over the next day.
8. Avoid freezer burn. When you are using the tips from Saving Money on Groceries part 2 and stocking up on items at their lowest you will find that you need to freeze most for later, but if you don’t package it well it will end up with freezer burn and it doesn’t taste so good. You might want to invest in a Food Saver machine that will souck out the air before freezing. You won’t have to buy freezer bags either since you will be using the Food Saver sheets. This is the one I have and recommend from Amazon.

Food Saver

9. Chew on gum or mints while shopping. It will also keep you from impulse foods because you see or smell them.

10. Check out your stores online to see if they offer special deals, coupons, rebates, apps with specials, or a texting program.