6 Ways to Save Money on Food Without Coupons

Food is one thing we all have in common. Everyone needs nourishment to live. By that standard, we should spend money to keep our bellies full and forget about the costs. However, savvy shoppers know that good food doesn't always have to come with a high price tag.

Think about how your parents saved money at the grocery store when you were a kid. If your mom was like mine, she spent Friday night clipping coupons (literally cutting them out of flyers with scissors) and brought a little pouch of paper savings with her to the grocery store every Saturday morning. Nowadays we don't need scissors and flyers and a zipper pouch to hold our coupon clippings.

If you want to save money on food here are five ways you can do it without coupons:

Look at cost per unit, not item

Don't look at the overall price, look at the cost per unit when shopping. This way you can ensure you're stretching your dollar as far as it can go because numbers don't lie. It also lets you compare apples to apples. If 750 ml of Diet Coke costs $2.99 and 500 ml of President's Choice Diet Cola is $1.99 you know you're getting a good deal on both.

Never go to the grocery store hungry

If you've ever done this, you know grocery shopping on an empty stomach is terrible for your wallet because when you're hungry everything looks good. Have you ever bought something because you were craving it in the store then let it sit in the fridge at home because you didn't feel like it anymore? I have. Wasting food is a waste of money so to avoid impulse purchases eat before you go. That’s one of the simplest ways to save money on food.

Scan flyers, virtually for weekly deals

If flyers are your thing that's okay, but there's not need to clip to save. Download apps to your favourite stores to get their weekly flyers virtually and plan your shopping. You can also download savings apps such as Flipp to get all your weekly flyers in one place. his way you can shop at the place with the best deals each and every week.

Shop with friends

It's no secret that shopping in bulk saves money, but sometimes you just don't need 24 rolls of toilet paper (although we always use it). Shopping with friends is a great way to get the bargain bulk food prices without having to store months and months of supplies at one time. This is especially true for bulk store memberships such as Costco.

Grab the next best thing

Yes, you may love Ziploc, but are you really getting your money's worth when buying big brands? Usually the answer is no – unless the item is on sale. I'm a huge fan of Heinz Ketchup and Catelli Pasta, but sometimes the next best thing will do the trick and save money on everyday items at the same time. If you want to cut down your grocery bill step away from your favourite household brands and buy no-name products.

While clipping coupons can be one way to save money on food, you don’t have to rely on them because there are other strategies you can use to cut your grocery bill.