My husband and I have cut our grocery bill from $130/week to $60-70. Before, we were buying a lot of processed food, quick meals, and things we just didn't need. Now, we have barely any food waste and a good chunk of our groceries are organic, almost all of them unprocessed and preservative free.

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 1- GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME

Just like with all things in life, there aren't a lot of true quick fixes. That pre-made salad or frozen lasagna might be easy, but if you are spending $50-100 extra a week, how many hours of work does that equal? Time = money and cooking is often something you can do with your family.

 2- GET YOURSELF A VACUUM SEALER

A vacuum sealer is one of the best gadgets I've ever added to my kitchen. Vacuum sealed food lasts so much longer in the freezer and rarely gets freezer burn. You don't have to spend a lot on one. I picked mine up at goodwill a few years back. It's at least 15 years old and works great! Amazon sells freezer bags MUCH cheaper than the Foodsaver brand. Foodsaver .42 ft / Amazon .19 ft
Get Amazon Freezer Bags Here

Amazon also has some great deals on these. You don't need a name brand. There are many options for half the price with thousands of great reviews!

3- MEAL PLAN! MEAL PLAN! MEAL PLAN!

This is THE most important money saver in grocery shopping. When I started doing this I immediately saved 30% off of my grocery bill! Yes it takes a little time, but you don't have to think about it as much throughout the rest of the week and you'll end up wasting less food! I usually sit down for about 30 minutes on Saturday or Sunday morning and figure out the following week.

Go through your pantry, weekly ads, and Pinterest for inspiration!

Find out weekly meal planner printout HERE.

4- COOK LARGE AMOUNTS OF RICE, GRAINS, AND BEANS. FREEZE

Did you know that rice, grains, and beans freeze great? Black beans are almost half the price per serving if you make your own from scratch vs. canned. If you have a pressure cooker, you don't even have to soak them overnight. Once a month I cook up an entire pot of brown rice and freeze into 4 portion bags. When I'm ready to use it I just put the frozen rice into a bowl and microwave

5 - SKIP THE DELI MEAT

Let me just cut right to the chase. Deli meat is NOT healthy and way too expensive. There are some rare occasions when I'll get deli meat. Usually if I am extremely busy hosting and we need a quick lunch. Even then I'll go to Costco. But instead of spending $7-9/lb on deli turkey, Try just baking and slicing up chicken breast (or turkey breast). Usually you can find them on sale for $1.99lb. Ham is another easy one to swap out. Spiral cut ham is the easiest. You can freeze weekly portions and just pull some out every week. If you feel like you have more time, buy a regular ham and slice it up! I usually see them $1.99 and under.

6- SHOP THE SALES

You know those weekly ads you get for your local grocery store? Pay attention!! They often have great sales and extra saving coupons on produce, deli, and bakery items. Plan your meals around what's on sale and you are guaranteed to save a ton! Also, don't be afraid of marked down items. Almost every store has a discount rack and many things are not even close to the sell by date. If you are adventurous, you can even get discounted meat and poultry. Check the sell by date and either freeze or use asap. This can be one of the biggest ways to save. (again, use that food saver!)

store mark downs, 6 months from sell by date

7- TAKE PANTRY INVENTORY

Don't forget to use up what you already have. Things tend to get lost in the back of a pantry or freezer. Every weekend I do a quick pantry inventory and incorporate that into my meal planning. If I have a lot of quinoa, brown rice, and leftover potatoes- those will be my starches for the week.

Once every few months I like to have a cheap week and use as many pantry items as possible, only buying what's needed to complete the meal, usually some fresh ingredients. On those weeks, I will only spend $25 or less.

8- AVOID THE FREEZER AISLES

Not much good comes from the freezer section of the store. Most things are processed, expensive, and high calorie. There are a select few things I do buy from the freezer: Frozen peas, Corn, Green beans, spinach, berries, and edamame. Once you start venturing into the aisle of snacks you'll quickly be tacking on $5 here and there to your bill. If you do really like some of those frozen prepared foods, wait for a sale and get a few.

9- ALWAYS SHOP WITH A LIST

This is one of the biggest mistakes I used to make. I would run to the store with a dinner idea, guess at what I needed, get a bunch of stuff I didn't need for recipes I didn't have time to make, and end up throwing way too much away at the end of the week.

Here is one of my filled out weekly plans. (click photo to enlarge) I start by going through my pantry and seeing what I have, then search for recipes that include those items, plus whatever protein is on sale.

When I'm done, I'll often enter the grocery list into instacart or walmart grocery to see what the total is and if there is anything I could live without or swap for something a little more inexpensive.

I usually chose to do my shopping in person at Aldi but sometimes I will order grocery pickup from Walmart. Walmart does this for no extra charge and will bring the items right to your car! Many other grocery stores are starting to do this as well. Instacart will deliver to you, usually the same day, but they do slightly up-charge a lot of items, plus the added service fees and delivery.
See a weekly plan below, click to enlarge.

10- DON'T SHOP HUNGRY

Really though, this makes a big difference. I end up buying so many snacks when I'm hungry. I like to go shopping right after breakfast. Plus, there's usually less of a crowd.

11- CANNED IS NOT CHEAPER (or healthier)

Many people grab canned veggies and beans because it seems cheaper. A can of corn at Walmart is usually around $.65, and a bag frozen corn can range from $1-3. But did you know that the 14.5oz can of corn you're buying is actually closer to 9oz once you drain it? The weight and unit price are based on the corn plus preserving liquid. Once you figure the drained weight in, frozen corn is actually cheaper per oz. Same goes for canned green beans, and peas. Canned beans are drastically cheaper if you cook from dry! Here's a graph to show you a few quick numbers of canned vs. frozen and canned vs. dry. Prices are based on shopping at Walmart, only getting great value brand. I literally bought the canned veggies, drained them, weighed them with a scale, and did some math!

Another fun fact: much of the nutrients in canned vegetables are in the preserving liquid. By draining, you lose all of those important vitamins your body needs!    

12- DON'T FALL FOR PRE-MADE SNACKS

Pre-made snacks are easy but usually not cheap. Even the "healthy" marketed ones are usually loaded with sugar and often preservatives. Instead, try making your own. Some of my favorites to keep around during the week are WHOLE WHEAT BANANA MUFFINS, homemade trail mix protein snack packs, hard-boiled eggs, mandarin oranges, and hummus cups with veggies.

You can see my article on "healthy" foods that cause sneaky weight gain here

You can find these inexpensive snack containers on amazon, 10/$8. They are microwave and dishwasher safe. I absolutely love them!

13- BREAD FACTORY STORES AND HOMEMADE BREAD

Something as simple and common as a loaf of bread can easily be $3-4. If you're anything like me and like the healthier loaves brand name english muffins, FORGET getting them at the grocery store. Look around for a bread factory store! Loaves at my local store (and thomas english muffins) are 3/$3. That's right, $1 a loaf. They are not expired, merely discounted because you are cutting out the middle man. A few stores you can try to search for are Entenmann's Bakery, Charles Freihofer Baking Co, Country Kitchen Bakery, and Bimbo Bakery outlet. Just type in "Bread outlet store (your state)" into google maps to see what's around! If you have a little more time on your hands, try making your own bread! This No Knead Overnight Loaf is about as easy as it gets. And best part, a whole loaf will only cost you around $.40!

14- MEMBERSHIPS AND LOYALTY POINTS

MEMBERSHIPS- Costco, BJ's, and Sams club memberships may seem a little steep, especially for a small family or couple, but if used carefully they can really help save money. My husband and I talked about getting a Costco membership for months, maybe even a year. We decided that if the savings would easily pay for itself, we'd get the membership. So I don't mean over the year you break even, but we wanted to see some REAL money savings. We added up what we'd save if we gassed up once a month, bought our toilet paper there, paper towels, laundry detergent, dishwasher soap, coffee, snacks, eggs, chicken, and grass fed beef. The savings was unbelievable, even compared to Aldi and Walmart. We would save over $1000 a year just from a few items we use regularly. It was well over $2000 when we looked at everything we buy, but I want to account for unplanned purchases as well. On top of that, if you get their Executive Card, you get 2% cash back and if you pay with a credit card with points you can get another 2% back (or more). So that's an additional 4% just for shopping there, not including the wholesale savings. Each month these stores also have a monthly sale where select items will be a few dollars off. Whenever one of our regular purchases is on sale, I stock up! Last month, Cascade complete was $3.50 off, making it 30% cheaper than the cheapest I could find it at Walmart. I bought 5 and will probably be good for a whole year!

LOYALTY POINTS- You know those store cards you forget to scan or points you forget to redeem? Start remembering!! They can add up very fast. Most stores offer points for grocery discounts or gas discounts. If you're lucky you can use it for either! Check your receipt after each purchase to see what you have built up. We like to save ours up for gas discounts and usually redeem when it reaches between $.70-$1 off per gallon.

15- SHOP BY UNIT PRICE

This was a little bit of an adjustment but now it's one of the first things I look at. If you are on a tight budget and need to get the bare minimum, totally do that. But if you have a few extra dollars, consider getting the larger package of whatever you are buying,as long as the unit price is lower. Not every package that is larger is a better deal, this is why it's so important to look at unit price. Many things at Costco, BJs, and Sams are actually more expensive than Walmart.

Prices are all based on Walmart grocery, same brands and product.

walmart unit price comparison grocery

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Last week, I made a trip to a wonderful Asian Supermarket. They had a wide selection of Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and Philippine groceries. I've had a few recipes on my list that required a trip and I totally bought 10x more than I had on my list.  The Supermarket had a hot section with Peking Duck, Roast Pork, and Steam buns and of course I had to get a few BBQ Pork Buns for the road. The butcher section was impressive. The meats were packaged nicely, cut well, and carefully labeled. The seafood section had MASSIVE whole fish. The most beautiful whole Salmon. I really enjoyed walking around and learning about new products and groceries. I'll be doing more research before I go back again so I know what else to buy.

I hope you enjoy a tour of my Asian Market Shopping Cart!

Beef Marrow Bones are great for bone broth. They have so many health benefits and can really help boost someone's weak immune system. They are packed with vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and lipids. The trick is to boil them down to release the marrow into the broth, which I do in my pressure cooker for around 2 hours.

Beef Neck Bone - A very commonly overlooked cut of meat. To me, these are as tasty and hard to screw up as the humble chicken thigh. I personally don't mind picking meat off the bone. The flavor that these add to a broth is out of this world and the meat can be separated and added back into the soup before serving. I am also told that the meat is very good for tacos.

Quail Eggs - If you haven't had Quail Eggs, you're really missing out. These delicate eggs are more flavorful than a chicken egg. I remember the first time I had these was in NYC while out at HotPot for dinner with some friends. They were definitely overboiled and when I bit into it, it still have the most creamy center I had ever tasted in an egg. Since then, they have been my favorite Asian Market Treat. 

Quail Eggs for breakfast. The first thing I used from my haul. I cooked up some quick hash from leftover pork, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes. When the hash was done, I turned the heat to low, cracked in some quail eggs, covered the pan, and let it cook for about 8 minutes. 

Flavored Soybean Cake - To be honest, I didn't really know what I was going to do with this when I bought it. I just really liked the texture compared to regular tofu. 

Most likely, I will end up using this in stir-fry recipes and as a topping for Ramen and other Asian soups. 

Fresh Noodles - I know how to make a lot of things, but I will say that my achilles heel is definitely handmade noodles. I have been successful in the past, but not consistently. When I am in NYC, I will buy real  handmade noodles, but when I am home, these hold me over.

Dumpling Wrappers - for when I'm too lazy to make the dough, I buy these Shanghai Style wrappers for my boiled or steamed dumplings. They are no where near as good as handmade, but they are tremendously easy. 

Coconut Milk is just one of those things that I use so much of that I always buy a few cans whenever I am shopping. Usually the price ranges from $1.50-$2 a can but these were on sale for $.90 so I stocked up!

I love making Thai Curries or putting a little of this in a morning smoothie. But also, who doesn't love a good Coconut Margarita??

Cinnamon Sticks - Something I use in so many different recipes. Baking, drinks, Indian, and Vietnamese. The price for spices at an Asian Market is drastically cheaper than a regular grocery store. I believe all of the spices were under $2 a bag. 

I think that in Asian Cuisine, the focus is the preparation, not necessarily the protein. Because all parts of the animal are used, Asian Cultures have created extraordinary dishes using inexpensive cuts of meat, cooked with care, and delicious spice combinations. 

Star Anise - A star player in my Taiwanese Beef Broth. I had tried this recipe several times in the past and something just wasn't right. I added this and a Beef Marrow Bone and born was the most beautiful broth that has ever been created.

Bonito Soup Stock I end up using for way more than just Japanese soups. Sometimes, when a recipe is missing something and you can't quite put your finger on it, Bonito saves the day. I recently have started incorporating it into my fish chowders and also marinades. 

Thai Red Chili Pepper- Ah yes, the beautiful Thai Red Chili Pepper. I was a little late on the game with my use of Thai Chilies in the kitchen. I just didn't know how to use them. I spent some time in LA for the Lunar New Year with my Chinese sister-in-law and her family who were visiting from China. I had her Ma show me everything.  I wanted to learn as much as I could in my short visit. Now, I put these spicy babies in everything! When I am making Italian Red Sauce, throw a couple in. Beef and Barley Soup, throw a few in. Stir-fry, throw a LOT in. You get the idea :) 

Lemongrass is such a magical herb. It can be simmered in stock, steeped in tea, or cooked into a stir-fry. The citrus like scent is so light and fragrant. The cost is about $1.99/lb. I don't use lemongrass all that frequently so I usually slice mine really thin and put in the freezer for future cooking. 

Bok Choy is an easy to cook green. It keeps its nice bright color and cooks in just a few minutes. My favorite preparations are blanched and served with soup (like Ramen or Taiwanese Beef Noodle) and sauteed with garlic and oil.

Ginger - Oh Ginger, could you be more perfect? I use ginger EVERY DAY. Usually a few slices with some hot water with a little lemon is my afternoon tea. I put equal parts ginger and garlic in my food processor and make a paste that I keep in the fridge to cook with. I blend equal parts ginger and water, then simmer with spices to make an extract that I use for teas, cooking, and drink mixers. 

Green Onion - Definitely saved the best for last. I also use green onion every day. I prefer it over onions in all of my stir-fry recipes. I will cook the white part with garlic and save the greens to use as a garnish. I usually go through two bundles a week. At Asian markets you can get twice as many for the same price as the grocery store and in my opinion, they usually look healthier and larger. 

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