Better Ways to Trim Your Grocery Bill

There are lots of ways to trim your grocery bill. Here are my suggestions for some better ways to trim your grocery bill. What makes them better? Well, it’s the focus on the goals. It’s not just your wallet that stands to benefit. Follow these strategies, and you will improve your health and help save our planet.

Eliminate Food Waste

We in the United States waste a phenomenal amount of food.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has provided an illustration of the staggering amount of food wasted each year, putting it in terms of calories: 141 trillion calories end up in a waste dump each year in the US, which amounts to 1,249 calories per person, per day.  — U.S. Lets 141 Trillion Calories Of Food Go To Waste Each Year

The average consumer wastes 61 percent of the food he or she purchases. — Half of the World’s Food Is Thrown Away

At the same time, the facts about hunger in America are very disturbing. This article lists eleven of these facts, including “1 in 6 people in America face hunger,” and “more than 1 in 5 children is at risk of hunger.”

So eliminating food waste is just the right thing to do. And of course the better you are able to reduce your own food waste, the less you will need to spend on food.

See Half of the World’s Food Is Thrown Away for one dozen tips to help you reduce your own food waste, including strategic shopping, vacuum packing, and composting.

Practice Portion Control

Don’t be the “average American” in this quote …

The average American’s total caloric intake (adjusted for spoilage and other waste) rose from 2,109 calories in 1970 to 2,568 calories in 2010, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data — the equivalent of an extra steak sandwich every day. Little surprise, then, that more than 78 million U.S. adults, or 34.9%, were obese in 2011-12 — more than twice the rate found in a 1976-1980 health survey. — Pew Research Center

Practicing portion control serves two important purposes. It will trim your grocery bill for sure. It can also help you to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. For some practical portion control strategies, see  How to Avoid Portion Size Pitfalls to Help Manage Your Weight. If you are trying to lose weight, this slide show serves as an excellent guide to portion sizes.

Get the Biggest Bang for Your Food Buck

It’s often tempting, especially if you are on a tight budget, to try to get the most calories for your money. Beware of that kind of reasoning! When evaluating the cost of a particular food, ask yourself how much nutrition you’ll get per dollar spent. Here are some tips on how to do this:

• The Healthy Eating Pyramid above can be thought of as a basic grocery list. The placement of the food groups within the pyramid indicates their relative importance in your diet. Notice that the foods at the very top are labeled “use sparingly,” and I dare say that you would do well to eliminate them altogether. For further information please see the “Diet” section of my post Healthier This Year: Simple Strategies For Living the Good Life.
• Snacks are fine, as long as they are nutritious. (In fact, many nutritionists believe that it’s best to spread your food intake over the day.) These two posts both offer some suggestions for healthful snacking: Super Simple Snacks and Super Simple Snacks.
• Meats should be eaten very sparingly; notice that they are at the very top of the pyramid. You can improve your health tremendously by gravitating towards a plant-based diet. And it’s great to know that simply cutting back on meat consumption is one of the most significant ways to help the planet. Refer to this article for a very complete list of meat substitutes.
• If you want to get the most nutritional bang for your buck, the best deals are superfoods. See a slideshow of  10 nutritional superstars that make frequent guest appearances on the Dr. Oz Show.
• Fruits and vegetables are at the base of the Healthy Eating Pyramid, indicating their high importance in your diet. To afford the best fruits and vegetables, buy what’s in season. To learn about the several benefits of eating what’s in season, refer to this Gaiam Life article. Tracy Knutsen, who blogs at Nest Full of New, wrote a post called Eat Seasonally, which includes a great general guide to what fruits and vegetables are in season at what time of year.

Avoid Buying Disposables

When you go to the grocery store or to the department store, many of the things you buy are disposable – they wind up in the trash. Packages. Plastic wrap. Boxes. Bags.

It’s just trash, right? If you look a bit closer, though, you’ll see something else in there.

Money. — Trent Hamm, The Simple Dollar

Resolve to cut back, as much as you possibly can, on buying and using disposable household items. You will save heaps of money, and you will be helping to prevent further damage to the environment. As a start, check out Trent Hamm’s fine blog post  Go Green and Save Money: 6 Disposable Items to Stop Buying Now.

Your Turn

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Please keep the conversation flowing by adding a comment below.