Before getting started, you need to remember that eating anything, even “unhealthy” food, is better than eating nothing! If your cheapest options are all highly processed options, and it’s all you can afford, then you should buy them — rather than buying something “healthier” that will force you to skip meals.

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Table of Contents

Strategic shopping is one of the simplest ways to get what you need, without spending a ton of money. There are many things to keep in mind, and some of these points may be more relevant to specific parts of the world. Remember to take the time to read over everything, and double-check your local stores to see what they’re doing.

This document largely covers how you figure out where you should shop. However, there are more things to consider than that — see the following pages for more information on related topics:

Selecting Stores

This is the most obvious point that most folks will think of, but it’s the best place to start — picking the right shops to help you save money. This often comes down to finding the cheapest place to pick up everything you require at the same time, but that isn’t always the best option!

To start with, make a list of all the grocery stores you can reasonably get to, and check their prices for a set of basic essentials — milk, bread, fruit, vegetables, proteins (meat, beans, etc), anything else that you absolutely need to have in stock. Include multiple brands as well, including well-known name brands, and in-store brands. Once you’ve got a list of prices, figure out your cheapest option for a full shop, or consider visiting multiple stores to get the absolute lowest total cost that you can.

If the store has a website: Remember that in some countries (like the USA), website pricing can differ from customer to customer, based on your location, the time of day, and any other factors they can figure out from your data.
If the store doesn’t have a website: Feel free to visit them yourself and take a notepad with you. However, consider that there’s likely a reason they don’t have a website — are their prices higher than what you’d normally expect? Are they a small mom-and-pop corner store? Additionally, consider what human and consumer rights you have in your region, as some stores may react poorly to you doing this.

If you don’t have the energy to do all this work yourself, consider asking a friend or local support group to help you, and see if you can find any local consumer watchdogs that have done these analyses already. For example, in the UK, local watchdog “Which?” keeps a close eye on grocery store prices.

It’s also important to remember that all grocery stores constantly change their stock and prices, so you’ll need to do this research again regularly.

Finally, don’t try to avoid discount grocery stores! Make sure you cover them in your research, and keep an eye on their offers, as their pricing is the difference between eating properly and skipping meals for many folks.

Selecting Stores

Getting Ready