{"id":1231,"date":"2018-05-16T00:06:50","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T04:06:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/?p=1231"},"modified":"2018-05-16T00:06:50","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T04:06:50","slug":"smart-grocery-shopping-tips-to-help-you-stay-on-budget-eat-healthy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/?p=1231","title":{"rendered":"Smart Grocery Shopping Tips &#8211; to help you stay on budget &#038; eat healthy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glittermommy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/32508347_10156374155709621_3458241584372383744_n.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-1232 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/glittermommy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/32508347_10156374155709621_3458241584372383744_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"940\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/32508347_10156374155709621_3458241584372383744_n.jpg 940w, https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/32508347_10156374155709621_3458241584372383744_n-300x251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/32508347_10156374155709621_3458241584372383744_n-768x644.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hi my GlitterFriends, today I want to share my best grocery shopping tips with y&#8217;all! In the past 7 years being a mom, especially after having my twins, my sense\u00a0for budgeting heightened tremendously since I had to buy 2 of everything. And the cost of grocery can add up quickly if you are not careful. These are the try and true tips that I apply every time I grocery shop and I will continue to add onto the post as I go. These tips helped me cut at least HALF of my grocery budget (I used to spend $1,500-$2,000 a month on grocery and now I spend about $600 a month) which is very substantial.<\/p>\n<p>So here we go\u2026\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Always Always Always<\/strong> shop your <strong>OWN<\/strong> fridge, freezer and pantry before you go to the grocery store.\n<ul>\n<li>It is very likely that you have whatever you need on hand but sometimes it\u2019s hidden in the fridge\/freezer behind some veggies or milk or it\u2019s already in your pantry. Don\u2019t be lazy and look for it<\/li>\n<li>Every week, I have a mental inventory count of what\u2019s in my freezer and pantry before I grocery shop so I will not over buy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Meal Plan<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I try to meal plan on Sunday so I have a rough idea as to what I will be cooking for dinner the following week. Therefore I can use up whatever it\u2019s still left in the freezer or fridge before I grocery shop on Thursday. Meal Plan = No waste<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t wait until 4pm to think about what you want to cook for dinner, at the very least, plan it in the morning of so you know exactly what to defrost and won\u2019t be tempted to impulse buy at the grocery store or buy take outs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Read through<\/strong> your flyers every week\n<ul>\n<li>Always meal plan around what\u2019s on sale. I love to expand my recipe repertoire and it would be a bonus if that meal is budget friendly too. Many times I surprised my kids and myself on how good that new recipe is and we find many new food because of it<\/li>\n<li>If you don\u2019t have time to read through the flyers, you can always come to my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/glittermommyofficial\">GlitterMommy Facebook page<\/a> every Thursday at 9am for the highlights<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Write a list<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Always go to the grocery store with a plan. Over buying happens when you start to wander down the aisle aimlessly<\/li>\n<li>Write a list on a piece of paper or write it on your phone so you won\u2019t lose it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Only shop the <strong>perimeter<\/strong> of the store\n<ul>\n<li>If you want to eat healthy, the perimeter of the grocery store is the only area you should explore. All the junk food is usually located in the middle of the store so try your best to avoid it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Only go to the grocery store <strong>ONCE A WEEK<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I try my very best to only go to the store once a week. It helps to avoid impulse purchases<\/li>\n<li>Therefore it is important for me to go to a store that can price match, so I am not making multiple trips to different stores. Not only do you save on time, you also save on gas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Use Coupons, Mobile Apps and Price Match\n<ul>\n<li>Coupons are like printable cash so I take full advantage of them<\/li>\n<li>Mobile apps are even easier, no printing required. All you need to do is to upload your receipt on the app and they can reimburse you the money<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Stock up on extras<\/strong> when they are on sale\n<ul>\n<li>I never really buy anything full price because I stock up on extras when they are on sale. My rule is buy one now and save 2-3 for later depending on what it is<\/li>\n<li>So you never have to run to the store when you need something, you just have to shop your own store<\/li>\n<li>One of my favourite items I like to stock up on is bread or bagels. I always buy the ones that are nearly expiring (you know the pile that says 50% off) and I freeze them immediately when I get home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Avoid buying individually packed items<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The individually packed items are usually more expensive than the one big bag because of the extra packaging and what not.<\/li>\n<li>It is especially true when buying kids\u2019 snacks. When I go to Costco, I avoid buying the individually packed snack. But then I would buy a bulk version of that same snack and divide them up myself at home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be Mindful<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>I want to enjoy life and buy\/eat what I want but what it boils down to it\u2019s just being mindful of what we purchase. It\u2019s not like you can\u2019t buy a chocolate cake for a special occasion but you just don\u2019t do it every week.<\/li>\n<li>It is more of a mindset change so that you can create good purchasing habits. I go over budget sometimes but it\u2019s ok because you will save on something next week. Just be mindful of what you are purchasing and you will be on your way to a more manageable grocery budget.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>I hope these tips are helpful and please share your best tips with me in the comments as well!<\/p>\n<p>I love to hear from you guys!<\/p>\n<p>Have a wonderful day!<\/p>\n<p>XOXO<\/p>\n<p>GlitterMommy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi my GlitterFriends, today I want to share my best grocery shopping tips with y&#8217;all! In the past 7 years being a mom, especially after having my twins, my sense\u00a0for budgeting heightened tremendously since I had to buy 2 of everything. And the cost of grocery can add up quickly if you are not careful. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1231"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1234,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1231\/revisions\/1234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glittermommy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}