Cut Your Grocery Bill, Without Coupons

I've never been good at couponing. I have joined groups, had people try to teach me, and I just can't seem to figure out how to get those deals that the committed couponers get. I think part of the problem is my lack of interest in coupons, I always end up seeing it as more work than I want to put into it.

There are a number of things I have done that has still helped reduce our grocery bills even without using coupons.

I switched my main supermarket to one that offers their own competitively priced brand. I don't worry about brands so much as quality, I'm ok with not having brand name items so long as they are just as good. I've been pretty happy with this simple change, right off the bat just by making this change we shaved about $100 a week off what we were spending at other stores.

Consider if shopping around for the flyer sales is really worth it. For us I found it wasn't. Gas is so expensive now that factoring that into going across town for something just didn't make sense, I was eating up the savings in gas.

Snacks can break the bank on a grocery bill. If you have kids or adults who use pre-portioned snacks for school or work lunches you are spending money for packaging (waste) and not the actual food. Buy your items in full size bags or boxes or in bulk and divide them up yourself at home. This one was also a big saver for us.

Consider alternative ways to get your staples. For most people that is bread, milk and eggs.

Bread can be made, and you don't need to be good at baking to make a decent loaf of bread. In store, the cheapest you will find a loaf of bread is $2.00 and that tends to be bread that is heavily processed rather than fresh baked. It doesn't seem like much on its own but over time it really adds if you think of the cost of flour, I can get a huge sack of flour for around 8.00 and I can make hundred of loaves with it among other things. It will taste better and not be full of preservatives.

If you have a mixer or machine, the kneading work can be taken out of the equation for you. I have a bread machine that I got a few years ago. The family didn't like the strange, tall shape the loaves were made in from the machine however. So now it's a glorified mixer. I use the machine for the kneading and first rise and then take over by hand from there, I can go off and do other things while the machine does the hard part for me. Once you gain your confidence with loaves of bread you can try doing buns for burgers and hotdogs too, I use the same recipe as my bread but there are lots of other options you can find for recipes.

Another staple is eggs. Keeping a few chickens can be worth their weight in gold. You will get eggs for yourself, you can sell any chicks they have (if you have a roo). Spare eggs are also sold. People love fresh eggs, especially from free range chickens that are treated well and living happy lives and not in some factory.

Did you know the average age of an egg when it reaches a supermarket is 9 weeks! Additionally factor eggs are washed very thoroughly. This actually puts your egg at risk as it opens all the pores, making it necessary to store in a fridge. When you have your own eggs, you can allow those pores to stay closed ensuring a healthy egg and they can be stored on your counter or in a cute basket.

For milk it can be a bit more work and you may not find a lower price. You can however switch to powder milk for your recipes and cooking to reduce the use of the fresh milk and save that way. I made this switch recently and there has been no difference in the taste of the recipes at all, and a carton of milk lasts a little longer now.

Do buy things on sale at your main grocery store. Always scan for sales at your typical store and take advantage. Anything you use regularly can be doubled up on for that trip as it will save you some dough in the long run. Don't buy items you normally wouldn't however just because it is on sale.

Cook more. I know, if you work full time, have kids and so on, cooking is a lot of work, it's so easy to just throw a premade meal in the oven because you are too tired after a long day to cook. If you do make this commitment, your health and taste buds will thank you. If you aren't good at cooking, there are lots of recipes you can follow or ask a friend or family member who's cooking you like to teach you are few recipes or tricks they use. Double up your volume so you can freeze some, or have a specific day you do most of your cooking for the week. Meal prepping can really make things easier when cooking.

Learn to cut down on throw away items. Paper towels and facial tissue, make up pads also add up. Consider going with unpaper towels, it will not increase your washing by much at all and can really save money, and its less wasteful.

Throw away cleaning products like cleaning wipes are overpriced for the sake of their convenience. Buying cleaner in a large container and using it with cloths is the better way to go. If you really want to cut costs in this area you can even make your own cleaner with vinegar, essential oils or orange peels, if you need a little elbow grease borax may be a good choice for you, a single box for cleaning lasts a pretty long time.