Make Your Grocery Money Go Further
Simple tips for spending less at the grocery store—from planning meals and comparing prices to shopping sales and making the most of what you already have.
A Better Way to Shop for Groceries
Five Ways to Use the Same Ingredients Without Eating the Same Meal
Buying groceries for several meals can get expensive when every recipe calls for a completely different set of ingredients. One dinner needs chicken, another needs beef, another needs a special cheese, and suddenly your refrigerator is packed with half-used...
How to Build Mix-and-Match Meals From Budget Staples
Meal planning can get expensive when every dinner starts with a completely different recipe. One meal needs chicken and a special sauce. Another needs a different type of meat, a specific cheese, and three vegetables you won't use again. By the end of the week, you've...
How to Plan Around Ingredients That Need to Be Used First
A grocery budget can look perfectly reasonable on paper and still fall apart in the kitchen. You buy the food you need, put everything away, and start the week with good intentions. Then a few days later, there's a container of leftovers in the fridge, vegetables...
The Pantry-First Approach to Budget Meal Planning
Meal planning usually starts with a grocery list. You decide what sounds good, find a few recipes, write down all the ingredients, and head to the store. That works, but it can also be an easy way to spend more than you need to. A pantry-first approach flips the...
How to Compare Grocery Prices Without Getting Fooled by Package Size
Grocery stores have gotten very good at making prices look cheaper than they really are. A package is $3.99. Another is $4.49. At first glance, the $3.99 option looks like the obvious choice. Then you notice one package has 12 ounces and the other has 20. Now the...
Private Label, Name Brand, or Discount Brand: What Should You Buy?
Walking down the grocery aisle, you can end up with three or four versions of basically the same product. There's the name brand you've seen forever. There's the store's private-label version. And then there's the really cheap option sitting on the bottom shelf. So...
When Paying More for a Name Brand Actually Makes Sense
Saving money on groceries doesn't mean you have to buy the cheapest version of everything. In fact, trying to do that can sometimes backfire. There are products where the store brand is just as good as the name brand. There are others where you can taste the...
How to Find the Best Store-Brand Substitutes for Everyday Staples
Switching to store brands is one of the easiest ways to cut a grocery bill without changing what you're eating. The problem is figuring out which products are worth switching. Some store-brand foods are nearly indistinguishable from the name brands sitting next to...
Building a Three-Month Emergency Pantry on a Budget
Building a three-month emergency pantry sounds expensive. If you're picturing shelves packed with cases of food and enough supplies to survive for months without shopping, it's easy to assume you'll need to spend a fortune. You don't. A three-month pantry doesn't have...