Regular grocery visits are vital if you enjoy home-cooked food. Sometimes, the visits may be frequent if you have a large family, but the good thing is that you can optimize them with smart shopping habits. Whether it’s vegetables, dairy products, or frozen foods, you can minimize your shopping time and get more time to enjoy your meals with your family. Here are practical tips to help you.
Plan Well
Planning is everything when it comes to buying groceries. What is your weekly grocery consumption, and what’s your budget? When you plan well, you will save both time and money because you will have enough money for your grocery trip and be sure of what you will buy. You can plan to have a grocery trip once every two weeks and save the costs of traveling to the market every time.
Buy Online
Online shopping is increasingly becoming popular because of the convenience benefits it offers. You can consider reputable platforms like Amazon to shop for non-perishable grocery products and maybe buy them in bulk to reduce shipping costs.
Online shipping will save you grocery trip expenses and time and keep you safe from slip-and-fall accidents in busy markets. The National Flooring Safety Institute (NFSI) says slip and fall accidents are responsible for nearly one million hospital visits in the United States.
Improve Your Storage
You may not have enough grocery storage in your house, so you visit grocery stores every day. In that case, you can improve storage by buying more containers or refrigerators for perishable products.
Proper storage optimizes your grocery trips and keeps off American roaches, which can survive for up to four months without food or even a month without water.
Buy Local Groceries in Season
Local groceries tend to be plenty in season and are also affordable because of their availability. You can take that advantage to buy the fruits or vegetables in season and stock them well, assuming that you have a good storage area. By doing so, you will always have something in your grocery store, even if you don’t have the money or time to add more.
Buy in Bulk
Bulk grocery shopping is an excellent idea to optimize your grocery trip. Bulk buying requires less overall transportation costs because it’s only done at one time! The overall costs can be lower if you get a discount and you can use it for an extended period. However, you should avoid being tempted to buy things you won’t use, even if it’s bulk buying. You should only consider the types of groceries you use most.
Drink Water
Drinking water at home can save you substantial amounts and help you cut some grocery expenses. For instance, if you buy sodas, iced tea, or even tang when buying your groceries, you can consider buying water instead or simply increasing the amount of water you take from your home tap.
According to the U.S. Census American Housing Survey 2017, 13 million households and more get drinking water from private wells. The water is generally considered safe, and you can boil or take it directly from the tap and optimize your grocery trips.
Reduce Restaurant Eating
Perhaps you invest more in groceries and take most of your meals in a restaurant. While it’s okay to eat outside sometimes, the habit can increase leftovers in your house, and you may end up throwing a lot of food. Buy what you can finish, and take time to consume it.
Try Many Grocery Stores
Maybe you only shop in one grocery store because it’s affordable or easy to reach. However, you can get great grocery deals by comparing the different stores and checking their offers. Some might be cheaper, and others might allow the perfect bulk buying.
Now that you know how to optimize your grocery trips, apply the tips to your subsequent purchases. You may notice a reduction in your grocery trips and even save more money in the process! For more tips and hacks on grocery shopping, go through other articles on our website.
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