The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for June offered more bad news for Americans: the price category for "food at home" rose 12.2% between June 2021 and June 2022. Many people have been obliged to spend significantly more than they would like on groceries as a result of the persistently high prices of food. There have even been reports of people using food banks for the very first time.
According to the survey, the prices of five out of the six most common categories of food found in supermarkets climbed, including those of dairy products, fruits, and vegetables.
Because it is not anticipated that there will be a decline in the cost of food in the near future, you will need to use strategic purchasing practices in order to get the most out of your grocery budget.
7 Grocery Store Savings Tips
You can reduce the financial strain of grocery shopping by incorporating apps and couponing into your strategy. This will not, however, completely eliminate the financial burden of grocery shopping.
Consider putting these seven savvy shopping strategies into action if you're ready to experiment with apps for saving money on groceries and other in-store strategies for saving money.
1. Useful Applications for Shopping
The fact that supermarket rebate apps can be used in addition to shop coupons is the primary advantage of using these applications. You can redeem both digital and paper coupons in the store because the rebate is processed after the purchase, and then you can submit a claim for the additional rebate when you get back to your house.
Try as you might, not every mobile app you download will function properly for you. There is a possibility that certain applications will provide you with discounts on items that you do not regularly purchase. To get started, try out a few different possibilities, and then settle on one or two that work best with your lifestyle.
Bear in mind that these apps make money through affiliate agreements; in other words, they are designed to encourage you to purchase a product so that the developers may make money. You shouldn't give in to the temptation to buy something you don't require just because an app promises a discount on it.
Fetch
When you purchase certain brands, Fetch will immediately credit your account with the corresponding amount. It is simple to use; all you need to do is take a picture of the receipt that you have. You may buy gift cards to major merchants with the points you earn in the Fetch app. Your points will build as you use the program.
Fetch only pays rewards on well-known brands that are readily available at most grocery stores. Generic brands, which are typically sold at lower prices and can be more cost-efficient, are not included in the rewards program offered by Fetch.
Ibotta
You can receive cash back for purchases made at almost all grocery merchants when you use the Ibotta app. You have the option of adding offers before you go shopping or scanning products while you are there to discover whether or not they qualify for a rebate. After making your purchase, you will need to provide a picture of your receipt in order for it to be validated.
Keep a watch out for bonuses of $3, $5, or $10 when you redeem a specified amount of offers over a specific time period. These bonuses are only available to certain users. When you have earned $20 worth of cash back, you have the option of redeeming it via bank deposit, PayPal, or selecting a gift card good at a selection of different merchants.
Ibotta gives you the opportunity to earn cash back from a variety of major shops, like Best Buy and Old Navy, amongst others. You can receive cash back or a discount on your purchases by booking travel, making online purchases, or even paying using the app.
National Consumer Panel
The National Consumer Panel, often known as NCPMobile, is the initiative that requires the greatest work. It will ask you to scan each item in your order and provide further information about your method of payment as well as information about any retail specials that are currently available. Through the NCPMobile portal, members can easily exchange their points for a variety of gift cards and products.
You will also be invited to take part in surveys in order to have the chance to gain points and be put into a sweepstakes.
Shopkick
You can earn points, sometimes known as "kicks," by scanning products at a store using Shopkick even if you don't make a purchase. When you have enough Kicks, you can trade them in for gift cards to prominent retailers like Walmart or Target.
The idea is to encourage you to spend more time in a store than you normally would, browse at goods that you might not typically buy, and potentially add those items to your cart; however, it is important that you keep to your shopping list in order to avoid spending any additional money.
You may also earn kicks simply by being present in the store by checking in and letting the app know where you are.
Shopkick provides an additional advantage in the form of the opportunity to passively accumulate points. When you shop at participating merchants and pay for your purchases using a credit card that is linked to your account, you will automatically earn kicks for every dollar that you spend.
2. Customer Loyalty Cards for Grocery Stores
Download the customer loyalty app for the stores where you shop the most frequently. You can skip clipping physical coupons and instead add discounts straight to your loyalty card. this option is available. After that, cost reductions will be deducted immediately from the total when the transaction is made. Additionally, your app may personalize coupon offers to correspond with things that you have already purchased.
If the business you shop at offers combination discounts, such as "buy five, save $5," the app can assist you in organizing your shopping trips so that you make the most of these discounts. If the grocery store you shop at also has a gas station affiliate, you may be able to earn gasoline points that can be redeemed for discounts at the pump.
3. Plan Meals Around Sale Items
Browse the produce that is in season and make sure to look through the clearance sections. Items are sometimes marked down in price to encourage sales immediately prior to their expiration dates. As a general rule, these sales tend to cycle, which means that it is unlikely that you will find deals on things that are all comparable to one another in the same week.
Check out apps like Flipp or My Grocery Deals if you're the type of person who likes to prepare their meals in advance. You may avoid the hassle of sorting through circulars by hand by using these applications to compare rates in the comfort of your own home.
4. Pick the Right Shopping Day
Wednesday is often the last day that sales from the previous week are valid, and the first day that sales for the following week begin; however, this is not true for all supermarket chains. However, it is typically the case that Wednesday is the day. If you shop on Wednesdays, you will increase the likelihood of finding sales on more of the goods on your list. If you want to discover more about the sale rotations at your favourite retailer, you should contact them.
5. Ensure You Have Enough of the Basics
When an item that you purchase frequently goes on sale, it can be beneficial to purchase two or three of the items in question. One thing to keep in mind when it comes to stockpiling necessities is that more is not always better, and in addition, you will need storage room for the additional items.
Be sure to check the unit price before you make any large purchases if you intend to stock up. There are several goods in which the smaller package offers a cost save. Also, make sure you don't stock up on things that could end up going to waste.
6. Get started on Your Menu Planning
If you are someone who has trouble coming up with ideas for meals and as a result makes too many unplanned excursions to the grocery store, spending too much money, then meal planning is something that can help you keep your food budget on track.
You can save money on groceries by making a menu in advance and then going shopping all at once for several days' worth of meals. This allows you to take advantage of sales on specific cuts of meat or vegetables that are in season.
There are apps that can assist take the stress out of the process of meal planning, which, despite the fact that it might sound intimidating. For example, Whisk gives you the ability to build a personalized menu for each week of the week. The application establishes a connection to major supermarkets, such as Walmart and Kroger, and generates an ingredient list that can be used to place orders for products straight from the supermarket's website (or you can save the list to reference while shopping in person).
When you go grocery shopping during the week without having a plan for what you'll be eating, you'll be more likely to incur unanticipated charges than when you have a plan for what you'll be eating ahead of time.
7. Stacking Savings
After you have some experience with a handful of these different ways to save money, you may begin to combine them with one another.
Keep an eye out on supermarket rebate apps for things that you frequently purchase so that you can earn cash back. It's possible that many other apps are running identical offers, in which case you'll be able to collect rewards on both apps for the same purchase. If you locate a deal for an item that you use frequently, select the retailer where you can purchase it at the lowest price and then make a purchase in bulk. If your supermarket provides this perk, using your loyalty card to earn petrol points is another way you can benefit from using it.
If you buy your groceries with credit, you should make sure you have one of the credit cards that offers the highest percentage of cash back on purchases made at grocery stores.
Is It Really Worth All of This Effort?
None of these strategies, on their own, will shield your spending plan from the effects of inflation, particularly when it comes to the cost of groceries. But over time, even minor adjustments can have a significant impact.
Spending some time clipping coupons, scanning receipts, or assisting with market research can help relieve some of the financial strain that people in the United States continue to feel under the weight of persistently high inflation. Everything is contingent on the amount of time that you are both willing and able to devote.
