Hit $200 in savings on groceries last month and it surprised me

I started tracking my grocery spending pretty carefully back in January. Every week I would buy whatever looked good at the store without a real plan. Last month I decided to try something different. I only bought things that were on sale or marked down that week and built my meals around those. The total came to $180 less than my usual monthly spending. That number shocked me because I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. Has anyone else had a similar big drop just by changing how they shop?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenh561mo ago

My aunt did the same thing and cut $150 a month just by shopping the markdown meat section. What nobody talks about is how grocery stores actually price things to make you spend more when you shop without a list. They put the expensive stuff at eye level and the cheaper stuff down low or way up high. So when you plan around sales you also end up buying less of the premium brands they hide in plain sight. The real trick is learning which days your store marks things down, mine does Tuesday mornings for meat and bakery.

joel_clark371mo ago

...then once you figure out the markdown schedule it almost feels like cheating. But here's what I'm wondering, did you actually track how much time you spent planning around those sales versus your old way of just grabbing stuff? Because for me the savings were real but the extra time spent looking at flyers and matching meals to markdowns added up to a couple hours every week. Was that worth it for you or did you already know what you wanted going in?

jade5171mo ago

TWO HOURS a week just on planning? That is INSANE to me. I mean I get being strategic but that's basically a part time job every month for some savings on chicken thighs.