Going green isn’t only about saving the environment; it’s also about saving you money! So for this week's Go Green Friday, we're sharing some easy ways that you can cut your grocery bill and save money.
- Plan meals that work into your budget – Usually, the further out you plan your meals, the more money you save. If you plan your meals for the week, rather than running to the grocery store daily for random odds and ends, you’re going to stretch your budget a lot further. Try to plan meals that share ingredients, and avoid meals that require you to purchase expensive, random ingredients that you’ll likely never use again.
- Get into couponing – You don’t have to be one of TLC’s Extreme Couponers to reap the benefits of couponing. There are tons of websites now that do most of the legwork for you! All you have to do is peruse their online coupon catalogs, and save the ones you think you’ll use. Depending on your store, you might even be able to send the coupons right to your store savings card (which will apply them upon checkout).
- Utilize items you already have – Take an inventory of your freezer, fridge and pantry and see what can be thrown together to make a meal. You might be surprised at how many extra meals you can conjure up.
- Check out discount food stores – Aldi, Save-A-Lot and even Dollar Tree have stepped up their game recently, and now offer a lot of the same products (though perhaps a different brand) as the mainstream grocery stores (including organic, vegan and gluten free specialty items). You may have to do some trial runs with store brands to see if you like them, but in some cases, you may find you like their brands even more than the ones you've been using.
- Buy in bulk – Stores like Costco, BJs and Sam’s Club, allow you to purchase all kinds of items in bulk – saving you money and trips to the grocery store.
- Re-purpose leftovers – Few people enjoy having the same dinner two nights in a row – and that’s totally fine! Store the componants of your meal separately and re-purpose them! If you have pasta with meat and tomato sauce one night, have tacos (with the leftover meat) the next night, and pasta salad (with the leftover pasta) the following night!