How To Save Money On Groceries Without Coupons (2024)

Need to save money on groceries and eat healthy? Here are 24 tips to help you food shop on a budget without the use of coupons.

Groceries, and food in general, are no doubt one of the largest parts of our variable budgets. Everyone has to eat!

Right now our grocery budget is $150 every 2 weeks, for 2 adults. That includes household items like cleaners and toilet paper. We often come in under budget, but sometimes we go over too!

I want to show you how we save money on groceries and eat healthy, and we do it without coupons!

How To Save Money On Healthy Food

Meal Plan

Meal planning is a great way to save money and avoid the “what’s for dinner” conversation. When I make a meal plan I first look at what I have left in the fridge to use up before it goes bad, and make a plan to use that soon. Then I plan other meals after looking at the sales flyer. Don’t forget about breakfast, lunches and snacks. Plan to make extras at dinner so you have leftovers for lunch!

Meals With Fewer Ingredients

The fewer the ingredients in a meal, usually the less it will cost to make. Look at simple recipes without a long list of ingredients. Also meal plan around meals that will use many of the same ingredients. You can use that baby spinach in a salad, then a pasta recipe, and in wraps. That way you are buying one vegetable and using it all up!

Buy Whole Fruits and Vegetables

Precut vegetables and fruits, and premade salads are definitely convenient but they always cost a bit more. Buying whole produce will help you save money (plus then you won’t be buying it in plastic packaging!)

Buy In Season

Buying produce in season always helps you save money because it is not shipped from far away, therefore costing the supermarkets less to stock that item. “In season” will depend on where you live!

Check Out Farmer’s Markets

To buy what is in season, check out your local farmer’s markets! Usually you can get a cheaper price buying directly from a farmer.

Reduce Food Waste

Reducing food waste saves you money because when you throw any food away, you’re also throwing away the money you spent on it! Try to use all parts vegetables, save peeling to make broth, you can even use broccoli stems in salad! My friend over at Stop Trashing It made pesto with her carrot greens, there’s lots of ways to use food.

Eat less Meat

I’ll be honest, we don’t eat a lot of meat at our house, and I think that’s one reason our grocery bill is lower. If you’re a big meat lover try adopting meatless Mondays to slowly reduce the amount of meat that you buy.

Drink Only Water

Drinking water is not only better for you, it’s way healthier! Don’t buy bottled water either unless you live somewhere where the drinking water is unsafe. We have a Brita filter, but you could drink straight from our tap as well! Pop and sugary drinks are way more expensive, but if you miss the bubbles consider a SodaStream. We’ve had one for over a year and one Co2 canister lasts us 2-3 months.

Cook And Bake From Scratch

When you cook and bake from scratch you control what ingredients go in, and it will be so much cheaper than buying pre-made! You can make bread, pizza dough, soups, spaghetti sauce and more very simply!

Read More: How To Budget Biweekly

Food Shopping On A Budget

Choose Your Store Carefully

The store you choose to shop at can make or break your budget. I live in Canada and we usually shop for groceries at Walmart. No Frills is another great grocery chain for cheaper prices.

Calculate As You Shop

To stay on budget, you may want to calculate as you shop. Use your phone calculator to add up the prices, and if you are going over budget then you might need to put something back. Adding as you shop keeps you from having to figure out what to do at the check-out.

Consider Grocery Pick-up

I just used grocery pick-up for the first time this past week, and it was great! I knew how much my groceries would cost in advance, and was able to compare prices online. Although there can be a fee for this service, it can save some time and may help keep you on budget by helping you avoid impulse purchases.

Bulk Bin Shop

Shopping from the bulk bins can help you save money in 2 ways – sometimes it is cheaper to buy an item in the bulk bins, and sometimes it helps you save money because you can buy only what you need. For example I needed only ¼ cup of flax seeds for a recipe, so that’s all I bought and it cost me $0.13! A bag would have cost a few dollars and may have gone to waste in my pantry.

Read More: Can Going Green Save You Money?

Get Rainchecks

When an item is on sale, and there’s none left on the shelf, head to the customer service desk to get a rain check! That way you can still get the item on sale when it is back in stock even if the sale has ended.

Store Food Properly

Learning how to store food properly will help extend the life of your food! Love Food Hate Waste has a great resource section on how to store all types of foods.

Bring Your Own Bags

Here in our house we focus on saving money, and the environment and bringing your own bags accomplishes both! Most stores charge you to use their plastic bags, and some stores here don’t even have plastic bags for you to use! I know it’s usually only a few cents but it does add up.

Buy Generic

Generic or store brand items are usually the same quality as the brand name ones, but much cheaper! It’s an easy switch.

Shop The Sale And Clearance Sections

Don’t forget the sale sections for food that is close to it’s best before date. Things like meat or bread you can freeze.

Look At Unit Prices

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what item is the best deal because the sizes aren’t the same. That’s when the unit prices come in handy! As you can see below, one box of spaghetti is twice the size so you might think it’s a better deal, but when you look at the unit prices, you are better off buying 2 of the smaller one!

How To Save On Household Items

Consider Making Your Own

There are a ton of recipes out there for homemade cleaners! We tend to use a lot of vinegar for cleaning.

Don’t Buy Disposables

Another one that saves money and the environment! We limit the use of paper towels to really gross stuff, and try to limit things like plastic wrap and tinfoil. We bought prep bowls with lids for storing food without plastic wrap, and use dish cloths to wipe the counters instead of paper towels.

Shop At Wholesale Stores

Places like Costco can be a great place to buy household items like toilet paper and laundry detergent. We usually buy laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent and paper towels here once every 9 months to a year or so, and it lasts us that long!

Subscribe and Save

Amazon offers a subscribe and save program for household products. You can save from 5% up to 15% off the price of the product!

Compare Products

Always remember to compare generic to brand name and check the unit prices!

Final Thoughts

Wow! That was a lot of ways to save money on groceries! I hope that helps you when you are trying to stay on budget with food.