4 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

4 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill 4 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Billâ€"While Still Eating Healthy! 4 Simple Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Billâ€"While Still Eating Healthy!Start by planning ahead, stop by the bulk section to avoid costly food waste, then head on over to the frozen aisle to save money on produceâ€"without sacrificing quality!Eating: We’ve all got to do it! But unless you have your own farm, you’re probably going to have to pay for the food you need to eat. And unless you live in a food desert, which comes with its own issues to work through, you’ll probably be getting that food from a supermarket.You could try to just get the cheapest food possible, but eating too much unhealthy food can lead to an increased risk of medical issues. And we surely don’t have to tell you that medical issues can get very, very expensive. So when shopping for groceries, you ideally would like them to be both affordable and nutritious. But how can you manage that?We spoke to the experts to find the answers to that very question. Now let’s eat!1. Meal plan to conserve ingre dients and take advantage of sales.  They say that you should never go to the supermarket hungry. And they are right. Without a proper plan, you might just end up grabbing whatever looks good without enough concern towards cost and nutrition. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead.“Meal plan and use the same ingredients for several different meals,” suggested Sarah Moe, a money and business coach at Flauk. “The biggest waste of money when it comes to groceries is wasted food. An easy way to avoid this is to plan your meals and use the same ingredients for several different meals. For example, if youre buying kale for a salad or specific recipe, look what else you can use it for (i.e. roasted kale chips, add it to chili or soup, or add it to an omelet). This also helps you get more creative in the kitchen.”Knowing what you’ll need in advance can also provide other means to save.“Heres an amazing tip for cutting down grocery bills,” advised Talia Koren, meal prep ex pert and the founder of Workweek Lunch. “This involves some planning ahead. After you make your grocery list, go to the website of your regular grocery store. A lot of them now have features where you can add all of your grocery list items to their site and it spits out the estimated cost. This way, you can easily find brands on sale and give yourself a heads up about deals you wouldnt have normally paid attention to when physically at the store. It works really well for me and my community.”Once you know what you’re going to buy, how you’re going to buy is also important.2. Use the bulk section to avoid expensive food waste.Meal planning and deals will help you cut costs without sacrificing nutrition. But if you really want to save, you should look into buying in bulk.“My suggestion isâ€"use the bulk bins,” Mary Weidner, co-founder of Strongr Fastr, offered. “Weve all run into those recipes where it asks for some ingredient that you rarely use and while buying a bag o f it might be cheaper per ounceâ€"if youre never going to use it again or if its going to take you so long to use it that youll wonder if its still okay to eatâ€"just buy the exact amount you need from the bulk section and pay a fraction of the price. This is a great tactic for those really expensive healthy foods where its such a large upfront cost for something you dont need much of or just want to try out in a single recipe.“I did this recently for some energy balls that a friend wanted me to make for a hike. The ingredient list had some things I dont use too frequently like coconut shavings, dark chocolate chips, ground flax, small amounts of various nuts, etc. All of these things I could just buy the exact amount I needed and paid under a dollar for each of them, and now I dont have 8 bags of ingredients I rarely use taking up space in my cabinets and slowly spoiling. Bonus: the bulk bins are better for the environment too if you bring your own containers. Cuts down on packag ing and waste!”Moe echoed the bulk-based advice: “When buying grains, nuts, or dried fruit head to the bulk section so you only get the amount you need rather than buying a whole 16 oz bag when the recipe only calls for 1/4 a cup. Buying in bulk is also often much cheaper than buying pre-packed food.”But you don’t want to buy bulk all willy-nilly.“While bulk shopping can help you save on 30 to 40 percent on your grocery bill, not everything is a smart buy when it comes to health foods,” warned savings expert and TV personality Andrea Woroch. “For instance, bulk containers or large bags of produce may lead to food waste if you cant finish the fruits or veggies before they spoil. Focus your warehouse purchases on non-perishable health foods like quinoa, brown rice, almond butter and olive oil. Quinoa, touted as todays leading super food and cleanest carb to eat, has a relatively long shelf life (two to three years dry) so you dont have to worry about it going bad.”Beyo nd buying bulk, there are other things that are affordable that might still be healthier than you’d think.3. Go frozen, go generic, and dont always go organic.It’s easy to assume that the cheaper option is always going to be less nutritious. But that isn’t always the case!“Frozen fruits and vegetables may seem like a less-healthy choice compared to fresh, but theyre actually just as nutritious and much cheaper,” explained Woroch. “Thats because produce is flash frozen at peak ripeness, retaining optimal flavor and nutrients. When buying frozen produce, dont assume brand-names are superior to lesser-cost generic or store brands; after all, frozen peas are frozen peas! If you have room in your freezer, stock up during sale time when you can purchase frozen produce for as little as $1 per bag.“Another misconception about healthy eating is that you must buy organic. However, not every fruit and vegetable needs to be purchased organic. Coined the ‘clean fifteen,’ produc e with outer skins that you peel away like pineapple, avocado, onion, and sweet corn arent affected by pesticides. Produce you eat directly, skin and all, is better purchased organic if your goal is to avoid chemicals.”And then sometimes, it helps to get back to nature.4. Buying local often means buying cheaper, too.  More natural isn’t always cheaper. If it was, you’d forget the supermarket and just move into a forest somewhere. But when it comes to the supermarket, the less super science they have to perform to get you your produce, the cheaper it’s likely to be.As culinary nutrition consultant Julie Harrington  told us: “The shorter the distance food has to travel, the less expensive it is for the consumer once it hits the store. Ever notice how expensive tomatoes and strawberries are during the winter? Grocery stores pay more to import produce from warmer climates during the winter, ultimately making the price you pay much higher.”Woroch also recommended a way to ski p the supermarket entirely for some produce: “Plant a garden. Why waste time and money at the grocery store when you can grow your own vegetable garden? Start small by planting just a couple of your favorite herbs like rosemary, sage, or dill and study up on gardening tips for optimal conditions. Apartment dwellers dont  have to dismiss this tip, either; vegetables like lettuce, tomatoes, summer squash, eggplant, and peppers can be grown in containers on window sills.”Follow all of this advice, and you can keep your wallet and your body healthy! To learn more about ways you can save, check out these related posts and articles from OppLoans:8 Ways To Save Money Today, Tomorrow and Every Day AfterShopping for Furniture with a Bad Credit Score? Here’s What You Need to KnowHow to Throw a Cheap Pool Party (That’s Still Awesome)!What are your best tips for cutting down your grocery bill? We want to hear from you! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.ContributorsJulie Harri ngton  (@ChefJulie_RD) is the Registered Dietitian and Culinary Nutrition Chef behind her website  JulieHarringtonRD.com  based in New Jersey. Cooking has always given Julie joy because of its powerful ability to connect people together. Julie’s passion is to educate others about nutrition through food and giving them the tools they need to build confidence in the kitchen. Along with being a cookbook author, most recently, her recipes have been featured in SHAPE, Huffington Post, US News World Report, and Healthy Aperture. Follow along with Julie on social media:  Facebook,  Instagram,  Twitter.Talia Koren  is a meal prep expert and the founder of  Workweek Lunch, an online resource for quick, healthy meals on a budget for all diets. She has helped thousands of people all over the world crack the code to meal prep via her website and Instagram and has been featured in NBC Better, Womens Health, Greatist and Entrepreneurial Chef.Sarah Moe  is a money and business coach at  Flauk, a one-stop-shop for individuals who want to launch a business. Sarah is a recovering lawyer who has been traveling and working around the world for the past three years. She enjoys dancing to 90s hip-hop in her kitchen and is always searching for the best croissant.Mary Weidner  is a Co-Founder and COO of  Strongr  Fastr  (@strongrfastrapp), a meal planning and strength training site. Previously, she was a Financial Planner for a large research department at the University of Wisconsin.As a sought-after media source on all things finance and money-saving,  Andrea Woroch  (@AndreaWoroch) has appeared on hundreds of national and regional TV shows like Today, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC and more. In print and online, her advice and stories have appeared in  New  York Times, Money, Reader’s Digest, USA Today, Yahoo!, People, Forbes, Huffington Post and more. You can read more about her at  www.AndreaWoroch.com.