You can easily save money whenever and wherever you shop for groceries by following this simple adage: you do the work and you save the cash.
Veggies
When buying mushrooms, why pay an extra 30 cents for an 8oz. package because some machine pre-sliced the product? You can peel, slice, and dice your own veggies quickly and easily. It takes about a minute to slice 8oz. of mushrooms. An additional bonus is that whole veggies stay fresh longer than those handled, pre-sliced, and over priced vegetables.
Beans
Boil your own beans. Dried beans are about $1.25 a pound vs. canned beans which are about 90 cents per can. But each pound of dried beans makes 4 or more equivalent servings of canned beans. This fact equates to a HUGE savings for minimal effort. It doesn’t take long at all to boil beans. It is as easy as boiling water! Cooked beans last for about 1 week in your fridge and for up to 3 months stored properly in your freezer.
Juice
Make your own juice from frozen concentrate. It costs over three times as much to pay for juice in the bottle vs. frozen concentrate. You are paying close to $4 or more per gallon for the factory addition of WATER. And make no mistake: your prepared juice is just as good as the ready to go bottled variety. They make the juice in the bottle the same way. The company adds water to concentrate at their facilities. So why not do it yourself and save some serious money? Plus, if you have concerns about sugar intake or just want to stretch your juice further, you can add more water than recommended and the juice still tastes great. Our kids never noticed when we switched to frozen concentrate and we always significantly dilute the juice with no complaints!
Cheese
Shred and slice your own cheese. Blocks of cheese typically average half the cost of the pre-shredded varieties. For our family of four, it takes less than a minute to shred all the cheese we need for a meal, be it for lasagna, burritos, or anything else. It’s rarely worth it to buy pre-shredded cheese.
Tip: Remember to watch store sales for the rare exceptions! Every once in a while shredded cheese goes on a terrific sale- like around Super Bowl Sunday. Always keep an eye on prices as you go through the grocery store.
When you do the work, which only takes a minute, you’ll see your grocery bill go down. Saving 30 cents here, 50 cents there, or a few bucks when it comes to cheese—it all adds up. You can even spot savings on items like olives and pickles (Whole vs. Sliced), or garlic (crushed vs. chopped by you).