20 Frugal Grocery HACKS: Feed Your Family for Less

happy Frugal Friday K Squad let's dive into some  budget friendly grocery shopping tips to help you save money in our amazing Frugal Living Community  our families are made up of different compositions right we've got some awesome couples we've got  some awesome singles when you are listening to my tips know that it's coming through the lens of  a single mom of one with a full-time job that I work outside of the home in conjunction with with  two significant side hustles one being YouTube and on

e being dance so just know when you're listening  to these your family Dynamic might be completely different and some of these might not apply but  many of them will so take take take take what's going to work for you and throw out the rest and  make it your own number one when you're planning your grocery shopping for the week look ahead  at your schedule check your schedule do you have to plan on the go meals are you going to  have have time to have a sit down dinner that will really help dict

ate what you actually buy  for your groceries for the week depending on what you've got going on how many meals do you  actually have to make this week number two list out what are your family favorites what are your  go-to meals I'm a big believer in not having to reinvent the wheel every single week does your  family love spaghetti night does your husband go nuts over your shepherd's pie do your kids just  go crazy when it's taco night think about what does your family actually love and build

your  weekly plan around some of the family favorites you don't have to be inventive every single week  you've got things going on you've got a Life to Live you've got to make sure the family is fed of  course but don't reinvent the wheel go with your Goos they are your favorites for a reason and I'm  not saying don't ever try anything new of course of course you want to do that once in a while but  as a regular occurrence pick things that you know are going to be a hit number three check what y

ou  already have at home so say you're going to make that shepherd's pie right and you have a ton of  potatoes but you've got no meat and you want meat in your shepherd's pie make sure that you make a  list of everything that's missing but make sure you take inventory of what you already have so you  don't have to buy more so you can save money but also you want to use up what you have so you don't  waste food number four if you're still struggling on what to make ask your kids ask your spouse 

ask what do they want I ask Kaden every single time before I make my grocery list hey making  my grocery list what would you like to have this week is there anything you want to try is there  anything we haven't had in a bit they're like hey Mom I'd really love to have that ask them don't  don't just put all the weight on yourself I feel like especially if you're a mom watching watching  this I know as a mom well for me it really is the weight on my shoulders cuz it's just me like in  the home o

n the regular but like you've got a lot of responsibilities don't leave it all up to you  and don't let that pressure all build up on you if you have other people in your home ask them hey  what would you like and then get some ideas and go from there number five keep a running list in your  phone for when your kids or if you live with other people mention something that they would like to  eat we have very busy lives and sometimes I don't always remember but there's been times where Kaden  will

come home from school and he'll be like hey we tried cantaloupe today or whatever it is um I'd  really like to get that next time I want to have more of that so just kind of keep a running list  or if your spouse says something like ah you know what we haven't had in a while I really would  love a lasagna just keep a little note in your phone so that you remember the next time it's time  to make the groceries because you know things slip past our brain sometime with all the other things  on our

plate pun intended number six and this is important don't plan your groceries hungry we've  all heard that tip don't go into the grocery store hungry which is also true but don't make that  grocery list while you're hungry think about it if you're starving when you're making that list  you're going to put more on that list because you are hungry you're getting hangry and you might  overspend when the belly is rumbling you know what I mean so don't go in there but also when  you're planning don'

t plan hungry it's going to save you lots of money number seven do a quick  scan of your store's weekly flyer the grocery store that I have sends me a weekly email but I  also have the store's app so in an attempt just to save a little extra cuz every little bit helps  I will do a quick scan Jordan Paige used to always preach that what's on the front in the back is the  most important those are usually the best deals to look at so I do always pay attention to front  and back but I also scan in b

etween just in case but what I do with that information is like for  example I get fruit every single week so I always like to get berries either Andor all blueberries  raspberries and strawberries but for example if I I see that strawberries are on sale two for $5  but raspberries are $7 for a little carton sorry raspberries but you're getting the shaft this week  I'm not getting raspberries for $7 for the little carton not this week I'll go for the strawberries  because that's a better deal an

d then also say you're getting meat that week meat can be pretty  pricey so if you're aware like chicken is on sale this week ground beef's on sale whatever it is  it just gives you a little leg up if you know what the deals are so you can save a little here  and there number eight if for example you do see some of your staple grocery items stuff you get  every single week on extra sale buy an extra one that week because you know you're going to use it  down the line now don't give me any food s

haming but Kaden loves cheddar jack cheeses that's one of  his favorite little snacks on the go sometime so if Cheez itss are on sale again like a two for  five I will definitely get two boxes of Cheez itss because I know we're going to use those down  the road opposed to if it's just the normal price which is like close to $4 so just keep an eye out  if there's something that's on extra sale buy one get one free that you always use get your eye on  that deal snag it while you can you're going t

o use it down the road anyway it's one of your  favorites number n N Clip convenient coupons and what I mean by convenient is normally digital  or for example sometimes when I go to my grocery store if I go inside when they are printing the  receipt a bunch of coupons come out so I just get it and the the reason I say convenient couponing  for me personally as a busy Mom I don't have the time or the the the payback is not as great for  me to sit and go through the couponing process it just it ju

st doesn't weigh out like I could  be making more money making a video I could be making more money teaching a class I could there's  a lot of other things that my time will maximize my earnings better than spending a lot of time  on couponing however the app for my grocery app has coupons that are digital and that does not  take me long tap tap tap I'm getting cat litter oh look $125 off my cat litter I'm getting it or  this p last week there was a coupon for a free cup of Fruit free I love fre

e tap free Fruit if it's  a convenient source of couponing I would go for it but again depending on your time restraints  maybe couponing is the way to go for you for me convenient couponing yes extensive couponing not  at this time number 10 meal planning especially if you have a large family I really think is almost  essential for me it's me and my son so I meal plan ish which means I have a meal or two that we can  go to you know every every meal so often I'll say hey do you want this or that

cuz as much as it is  fun having like theme nights like taco Tuesdays Etc that's all that's very efficient especially  if you've got a big family you've got to you got to move it along but when it's just me and my son  sometimes I don't want this certain food on this certain night so I like having another option but  again that's totally up to you but I think a plan of meals so that you know where you're to look for  when it's time for meal time it's really strategic you're going to save money

you're not going to  overspend and you're going to use up the food that you have so however you choose to meal plan I'm a  huge fan I think it's a great tool we are halfway through the video if you have made it this far  and you are enjoying these 20 Frugal grocery hacks type in the comments hack this and I will know  that you have made it this far and that you love to save money number 11 all that to say let's make  our list and my little hack that I use when I make my grocery list these days i

s I actually use the  app for the groceries and I put it all in my cart as my grocery list so before I go to the grocery  store if I'm going to go inside I will make the list even if I'm going inside on my phone because  I always have my phone on me there's no chance of me losing a little piece of paper that I shoved  in a pocket and I don't remember where I put it and now I don't know what I need so I just use the  cart as my grocery list and just go through one at a time and it's it's just a r

eal time saer and  it's like I'm I know I'm going to have my list on me I'm not going to lose it cuz there it is  right there in my phone the other huge benefit of that is you see what the total is before you  even get to the checkout that that way you don't have to carry around a calculator like okay the  milk is 350 the meat is this it's already there it's already listed you already know what you're  going to spend boom number 12 make use of food capsules within your grocery list you guys know

I  have shared if you are on a tight budget to create a capsule grocery list a capsule grocery list is  when you use fewer ingredients to make more meals like for example example bread eggs and cheese is  going to get you far right you can have eggs and toast you can have a grilled cheese there's  like a lot of things that can be made with a smaller amount of ingredients but you can also do  mini capsules within your grocery list like every week I'm probably going to have some kind of bread  or

tortilla cheese and eggs right because there's just so much that can be made with that so when  you're making your grocery list think about these little mini capsules within your master grocery  list of the foods that are going to stretch you as far as possible and you're going to get the  most out of those ingredients because they're very versatile and you can make a ton of things out of  those it's really going to help you save on food number 13 if it makes sense try grocery pickup and  many

of you have even shared that you do delivery I have not gone as far as delivery yet though I  see the value in it but I am a huge user now of grocery pickup as a busy single mom I I can't  even tell you I actually felt emotional about it yesterday when I went I don't even know why it  kind of overtook it felt like like they are on my team and helping me in this journey like that's  how it made me feel I made my grocery list in the morning and then on the way home from work I just  drove through

popped the hatch back they put the groceries in we shut it and I'm on my way that  hour of time saved to me is priceless I I love it so much I did a whole video on it I'll leave it  on the end screen if that's not your thing again your maybe you have more time in your schedule  maybe you love going to the grocery store it's a real pleasure for you this might not be for  everyone and I know some of you have had some issues they bring out the wrong thing they don't  substitute the right items they

're out of stuff so there's some there's some problems in some  areas but my particular grocery store I've had like about a 99% success rate and it's been a game  changer for me and I'm so appreciative for this service so appreciative and for those of you that  ask they say how much does it cost there would be a $1.99 fee but if you spend a certain amount  that is waved and honestly even if I did have to pay $1.99 $2 $2 is worth my I mean like so far  beyond worth $2 to do that but I almost neve

r pay it because I always get the minimum so it costs  nothing nothing the gas to go there and it's way more than the time I spend in the store I'm so  grateful number 14 this one is really something I feel so passionate about because I learned to do  it a long time ago and that's just to go grocery shopping one time per week again my schedule and  the time that I want to spend on shopping is very minimal so the idea of just putting my efforts  toward that one time and one time well per week sav

es me a ton of money one and done number 15  I don't know why it's so funny people are always asking me this question I use rebate apps right I  use Fetch and I use receip hog every single time right and people are like well when do you do that  so this is the new thing I do I do it when I get home with the groceries so there's three options  here you can consciously think of it when you walk in the door and do it like as You' got all the  groceries out and you just snap it right away or you can

get it if when you're going through  the bag say you did grocery pickup you find the receipt soon as you see that receipt you do it  or as you finish doing all your groceries you're putting your bags away you put whatever and then  you snap it so that's my new thing is I snap it upon on putting the groceries away so that I don't  forget what I used to do is I would just put it on my desk um because you know I look at my accounts  usually for at least five minutes every morning and I just do it

then but my new thing is I just  do it while I'm doing it so that I don't forget if you don't use fetch a receip hog down in the  description you will get some free points by signing up through my link and it's not going to  make you rich guys don't it's not going to make you rich but it's that icing on the cake I love  having icing on the cake I like to have my cake and eat it too and I love to snap those receipts  get the extra points and then here and there get a you know a $10 Amazon gift ca

rd or whatever  you want to put that toward it's just a little extra money that you can put toward whatever  you want and it's so easy Snap Snap Send done just do it while you're putting your groceries  away and then you won't forget number 16 use a Sharpie to write the date on something when you  put it back in the refrigerator for example say you make spaghetti and you used a a can of sauce  right but you didn't use the whole can put the date that you're putting it in the refrigerator  with a

big Sharpie my eyes aren't what they used to be guys and despite the expiration date I want  to know how long ago I actually put that in the fridge and that has been so helpful because  I'm one of those people I'm like oh I'll use that within the week and then weeks go by and it  is that there it is no longer good you've got to really just be on top of it right so use a Sharpie  right when you put something in if it's half open so that you know how long it's been there and you  don't eat expired

Foods number 17 keep foods that need to be eaten sooner visible like if you have  something that you know is going to go bad soon you know keep it in a more visible place so that  it's in the front of your mind if it's hiding in the back of your pantry or it's hiding in the  back of your refrigerator you don't know that's on Deck so keep it more toward where you're going  to see it and you're going to be reminded like oh yeah I've got to use that up keep it visible to  take that one step furthe

r number 18 is reserve a leftover spot in your refrigerator so your whole  family knows what to eat next like so say you just think top right top right is where you're  going to keep the leftover whatever you've got put the leftovers in a spot so like when the when  your teenage boys open in the fridge and they're like oh what am I going to eat oh hey I'm going  to go right to the leftover spot so that we use that up we don't waste food and you know where it  is because there's nothing worse the

n leftover is getting pushed to the back somehow and then you  find them a little later and the friends that have grown on them number 19 we've talked about  wasting produce a a lot on this channel cuz a lot of people they're like I'm going to eat healthy  and they buy all this produce and then it rots because you didn't change your habits for whatever  reason right so if you want to get your produce to last a little bit longer line your crisper drawer  with paper towels when you store the veggi

es in a crisper drawer they're going to release some  moisture the paper towel will help absorb that water and keep your produce fresher longer number  20 audit your grocery action at the end of the week so if you're going once a week right and  you get to the end of the week and then you're wondering what did we actually eat what was a hit  what didn't go over well what do I have lots of leftover things or what did we not even touch  because we weren't that into it take a little grocery audit a

nd reflect like okay so we didn't  eat this we're not going to buy that next week we're going to just use that next week or nobody  wants this I'm never going to buy this product again you've got to just kind of take inventory  take an audit little grocery audit of what is successful in your family for food and what's not  what did you run out of really quick did you run out of milk did you need to get more milk next  week think about where you can save and where you can scrimp on things that yo

u don't need cuz you  already have it and also what would be in the best interest of the family nutritionally and happiness  level of what you need to get more of now is your turn what is your favorite Frugal grocery hack  please leave it in the comments so we can read more and get even more tips if you love talking  about Frugal Living budgeting and saving money hey hit that subscribe button so you never miss a  video thank you so much for watching if you want to see something else you want to

see a little  bit more I'm going to leave you a video right here for you to watch next thank you for watching  and I'll see you in the next video bye guys guys