Save Money on Grocery Items

For those benefiting from the food stamp program, shaping your grocery budget for use with the food stamp EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card can be a challenge. However, there are ways to save more money on food items in the grocery. Here are some practical ways to extend your food budget:

Collect coupons

Collecting coupons may feel like a tedious process, but the extra savings makes the effort worthwhile. After all, how hard can clipping coupons be?

Make a list

Create a list to limit your choices to what you actually need. Be strict with yourself and stick to this list to avoid any impulse buying.

Compare prices

It’s easy to buy based on brand recognition. However, well-known brands usually cost more. Compare prices for similar products. Private-store brands, for instance, rival the quality of well-known brands despite being much cheaper.

Avoid processed food items

Processed foods may be easy to prepare. However, they are expensive and hardly nutritious. It’s better to buy healthier food products that are still easy to prepare such as lentils, legumes and whole-grain pasta.

Buy in Bulk

Buying in bulk is always cheaper than buying individual items. Think of important necessities like toiletries or paper towels and buy them in bulk.

Time your purchases

Try to capitalize on sales to save money.

During ordinary days, try buying baked goods early in the day. This is the time when bakeries mark down products that are a day old.

The opposite applies when purchasing meat. Items that aren’t sold within the “sell-by” date are given markdowns by meat departments. This usually happens later in the day.

Sign up on the box at the right for food stamp application guidelines, contact information for your state plus other sources of financial help available in your city.