I have had tough times in the past where hubby and I had to learn how to live on next to nothing. Things are way better for us now, but we still prefer to be good budgeters and save as much as we can on groceries.

There are many things you can do to help reduce your grocery bill or even cut it in half. I am almost sure you would already know that couponing is an effective method, and also one of the most suggested ways to lessen your grocery bill.

However, saving money on groceries goes way further than just couponing. Here are some other practical ways to save money on your groceries.

Tell The Cashier How Much Your Bill Is

Okay… I don’t mean that you should refuse to pay the right amount at the cashier. What I mean is that you should make sure to know the prices of goods before you go shopping. Make a good budget, and stick to it when you go shopping. If I have $3 on my budget for town apples, and then I see that it will cost $6 when I am doing my actually shopping, I’ll stick to my budget and only buy what my $3 can afford and make it work. That way, I don’t have a fluctuating grocery bill, and when I am at the cashier, I already know how much my bill will be.

Aim To Go Back Home With Money

I always try to spend less than what my budget adds up to when I am shopping. It’s fun for me to see which items I can cut back on in quantity or pricing I am in the grocery store or the farmer’s market. So I usually go back home with some change in my pocket, although I had already set up a money-saving budget.

Get Your Groceries At Different Places

It can be very convenient to get most if not all of your groceries in one place. But that does not always work out well when you are trying to save money. I prefer to shop at different places, as some places will sell some items cheaper. For example, I don’t buy my mangoes at the same place where I buy other fruits and vegetables. There is a special mango vendor who sells them at a lower cost in my town.

Freeze Your Herbs

If you want to get more time out of your herbs and save some money, you might want to try freezing them. You can freeze them in butter or oil, and easily add them to meals when cooking.

Batch Cooking

I cannot tell you enough how much batch cooking has saved me money. When you do batch cooking, you will end up having less food waste to deal with. You will also end up eating intentionally, and not be using up your food or going shopping impulsively.

Meal Planning

Planning your meals is another clever way to save on groceries. Plan what you will be eating for each day of the week. This will help you to properly budget for food and give you an idea of what you might need to cut back on before you actually purchase it or use it up.

Make It From Scratch

Everyone wants to have some treats even when on a tight budget and trying to save as much money as possible. You don’t have to eliminate treats from your meal plan. Just make them yourself. So all those yummy cookies, chips and biscuits, do make them from scratch. You’ll end up saving money and maybe enjoy them more than if you had bought them.

Plant An Indoor Herb Garden

An indoor herb garden can save you money and provide you with fresh herbs all year round. Of course, you can freeze your herbs to have an endless supply, but we all want those fresh herbs in our meals too. Don’t be spending a fortune on fresh herbs, when you can easily grow them in cute jars on your kitchen counter or windowsill.

Shred Cheese Or Buy Cheese Spread Instead

Cheese is one of the most expensive small items on most grocery lists. You can shred your cheese to make it stretch more easily, as you can just sprinkle cheese all over an area rather than having to cover it with slices of cheese. Also, instead of using cheese slices, try using cheese spread instead. I like using this to cover bread slices, as it is less expensive and stretches more the slices of cheese.

Repurpose Left Overs & Stale Food

When I was growing, my mom always made delicious bread pudding with stale bread. So we would end up having a slice of warm delicious pudding if the bread was just not fresh enough. Another way to repurpose stale bread is to toast it. Toasting will add some crunch and eliminate that stale taste from the bread. For leftover vegetables, use them to make vegetable stock. And if you are boiling yams or pumpkins, you can always use that water as the base for a delicious soup.

There are many more ways in which you can repurpose food, make your food last longer and save money on your grocery bill. However, I do know that these easy tips and tricks will help you to save a lot on your next trip to the grocery store.