The Bible indicates that God will provide for all of our needs, including food (see Matthew 6:31-33 and Philippians 4:19).  However, there is no indication in the Scriptures that we don’t have the responsibility to use good judgment in managing the money that God provides for our food needs.  The information that follows is provided to help you in making prudent decisions regarding your spending for food.

Before we begin discussing ways to reduce grocery spending, consider this: The average American family spends approximately 30% of their “grocery” money for nonfood items. Since these are usually high mark-up items, it is generally wise to avoid purchasing nonfood items in a grocery store. The following comments focus primarily on ways to reduce spending for food.

1. Before you go shopping for groceries, prepare a list of what you intend to purchase. Such a list probably will save you extra trips to the grocery store for items that you need but otherwise might forget to purchase. It also might help you to reduce your impulse buying. Unplanned purchases may account for one- half to two-thirds of the grocery items that people buy.

2. Comparison shop for groceries.

   • Compare stores. One store may be preferable for meats or produce, while another store may be a better place to shop for other types of groceries, so you may find it worthwhile to shop at more than one store. And, of course, some stores usually have better prices than others, although not necessarily every week on the same items, since higher priced stores tend to offer a lot of special prices.  But be careful not to offset your grocery savings with the extra cost of gas for your car by driving a lot of extra miles from store to store.  Generally, convenience stores should be avoided, since most of the items they sell are substantially more expensive than at other stores.

   • Compare brands. Private brands will usually be less expensive than nationally advertised brands, and nationally advertised brands sometimes differ significantly in price.

   • Compare unit prices. The largest size is not always the least expensive on a “per unit” basis.

   • Compare the price per serving, especially for food with inedible parts such as bone and/or fat.

3. Try a team approach to shopping.  Teaming up with a friend or a neighbor to make grocery purchases at stores where you like to shop, if the stores are several miles apart.   This can save you both time and gas.

4. Pay close attention to grocery sales. You can plan your menus on the basis of what is on sale and you can “stock up” with items that you use frequently. However, beware of items that are not really on sale. Just because an item is advertised in the newspaper or prominently displayed in the store does not mean that it is selling for less than its usual price.  Be careful to limit purchases of sale items that are excessive for your family’s budget or that aren’t necessary for your family.

5. Take full advantage of grocery coupons and use them wisely.  Pay close attention when double or triple value is offered on coupons.  Some stores that offer these deals have such inflated prices that you may still pay more than you would at other stores that don’t double or triple coupon values. Try to avoid purchasing items just because you have discount coupons for them.  You probably will save money by buying only items that you really need.  Also, consider trading coupons with others.

6. Avoid purchasing food packaged as individual servings, since extra packaging raises the price.

7. Do most of the food preparation yourself.  Generally, the more food processing that is done for you, the higher the cost of the item to you, so you will need to decide if the convenience is worth the added cost.

8. Consider having family members take their lunch regularly to work or school, rather than purchasing it away from home.  The lunches brought from home are likely not only to cost less, but also to be more nutritious.

9. Don’t waste leftovers. You might be able to use them as part of a lunch to take to work or school, or for supper on an evening when you don’t feel like spending a lot of time preparing the meal.

10. Check the date on perishable food to determine if you should be able to finish consuming it before it is likely to spoil.

11. Speak up when there is a problem.

    • When the quality of a grocery item is not satisfactory, let the store manager know and request a refund or a replacement.

    • If a store doesn’t have an item it is advertising, ask for a “rain check,” which will entitle you to purchase the item at the sale price within a certain period of time.

    • Watch the prices as they are entered on the register or check your receipt before you leave the store.  You may be surprised how often incorrect prices are entered.

12. Having your own garden may be an attractive option for you, provided that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to purchase the necessary tools and equipment.

13. Be very careful about participating in a frozen food plan. The best that most people can expect from such a plan is that they will pay a fair price for more expensive items than they usually would purchase (i.e., they upgrade the quality of their grocery spending and, therefore, their spending for groceries increases). At worst, a frozen food plan can be a disaster.

14. Low   income families may be entitled to receive food stamps.  They should contact their county’s Social Services Department if they think they might qualify.

Until now, we have focused on ways to reduce spending for groceries, but if you are seeking ways to reduce your total spending, it may be beneficial to spend more for groceries.   Examples of expenditures that can be reduced by spending more for groceries include lunches at work and/or at school, as well as eating out at other times, including when you are on vacation.  Since eating at a restaurant, including the sales tax and the tip, generally costs from two to eight times – and sometimes even more – what it costs to eat a meal prepared from groceries that you have purchased, the potential for savings may total many hundreds of dollars for a year.  When you are trying to decide how much eating out is appropriate for you and your family, your family’s economic situation definitely should be taken into consideration. 

Concluding comments: For a family of four people, saving only 10 cents per person per meal for three meals a day adds up to a total saving of $438 in one year.  This saving is equivalent to $547.50 pretax dollars, or a pay increase of $45.63 per month, assuming that the family would ordinarily pay a combined federal and state income tax rate of about 20% on each additional dollar of its income.