Cheap Grocery

It’s important to balance cost and nutrition when looking for cheap grocery items.

Here’s 4 great ways to keep your costs down and your energy levels up:

- Eggs

Good eggs can usually be had for less than a quarter each. They’re healthy and make a great breakfast

- Apple

3 or 4 can be had for about a dollar, if separate through the day more than enough to complement all your meals.

Apples are also known to be anti-cancerous

- Oatmeal

Market prices under 75 cents per pound, this amount would make a few servings.

Coupled with a pair of eggs, and you’re still under the dollar and a half budget.

Oatmeal is great in fiber, and a cornerstone for any cheap grocery searcher!

Banana

If you’re walking by a grocery store and need a snack, walk in and pick one banana off a bunch and go up to the cashier. Usually it’s less than 14 cents, and will fill you right up with lots of energy.

Meat is a large part of both many people’s diets and expenses, and reducing the cost is a great way to ensure that you have a cheap grocery bill.

Here’s how to keep the cost down.

Wholesale clubs

Costco, Sam’s Club, as well as other warehouse clubs often have much better priced meat than you will find in your local grocery store – sometimes as much as 30-50% off.

Does this justify the cost of membership so that you can better find cheap grocery products?

That depends on your level of consumption, and your ability to freeze foods.

For two people or more, the cost usually justifies.

For the individual, here’s how to do a quick calculation.

Weekly meat budget: ______________

30% of Weekly meat budget (multiply by 0.3):  _____________

30% of weekly meat budget times 50 (number of weeks in the year less two, for the times you go out):

If this is higher than the cost the warehouse club membership, then it is worth pursuing.

There are, obviously, other benefits that can be realized outside of a membership club, however it is interesting that on a small weekly meat budget of $10, this would translate into annual savings of $150 on a membership that costs approximately $75.

Bulk up and freeze at discount time

If you don’t go the warehouse club route, there’s the option of looking for the “special price” red tag meat.

This meat is preferctly fine to buy – it’s to the grocer’s advantage to have it sold below cost before it hits the expiry date (when it will be required to be thrown away).

If you purchase large quantities of this meat, the savings can be decent, however remember that the expiry date is often within a day or two of your purchase.

If you’re going to freeze it, seperate it into portion sizes and freeze that day. Getting into a habbit of freezing food is essential to maximize your potential for a cheap grocery bill.