How to save money while shopping - without coupons

Updated on 03/02/2021.

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Good morning, lovely dreamers, and welcome to another life hacks blog post!

Related:

5 Key money-saving tips you need to learn in your 20s

Everybody needs to eat. That's true. But spending most of your hard-earned money on food will leave 0 for you to spend on other stuff you want and need - like books and collectables.  

This makes us get creative with how we manage our money and how we do our shopping. That's mine and Andy's case anyway. This is why we needed to come up with some ideas on how to save money shopping, without the crazy coupons - because there's not so many of those around here on our side of the pond. We needed to help our family, our friends and ourselves.

But enough with the chit-chatting! Let's get to it!

5+ Tips on saving money shopping without coupons

1. The first rule is: Plan your meals and make shopping lists

This is very important when you live on a budget, or just want to save some money for something else, like paying a debt or a weekend getaway (although with all the 2020 madness, and Covid still running around and mutating that might be hard to do now).

Meal planning is the part I like because it's a great way to be creative with the ingredients that you already have in the house.

It's very important to have at least an idea of what meals you want to eat in the next days, so you can check if you have all the things you need.

If it happens that you don't have some ingredients in the house and can't replace them with anything else to make the dish complete (ex. rice instead of pasta for your sauce), making a shopping list is mandatory.

Having a shopping list done before leaving the house is very helpful, as opposed to just walking through every part of the supermarket because it prevents impulse shopping.

2. Never, ever, ever leave the house on an empty stomach

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Never thought that this is important until it happened to me. I am a very stingy person in general, but I used to make this mistake from time to time when I was younger.

When you go out on a shopping trip without eating, you tend to buy more food, usually sugary, unhealthy and sometimes even expensive treats, just because of the impulse.

You need to eat before shopping. Have a breakfast, lunch or a healthy snack and then go on your way.

3. Shop early in the morning

Many supermarkets have discounts and great sales early in the morning.

Shopping early is excellent also because you can find products that are on sale easier because there aren't so many people around to "steal" of your goods. Well, except for old people, but a light cough will keep them away from you for sure nowadays.

4. Listen to your own music

This is a strange one, but trust me, it's good. Did you ever notice the music in supermarkets? It's always happy and slow, almost hypnotizing. In fact, that seems to be the point of it, from a marketing point of view. To make you feel happy, calm and to want to stay there longer, thus shopping more.

My advice is to create your own playlist of songs to get you through the shopping trip. But I don't recommend soft ballads or slow music. Go for something with an edge, fast and hot. It will energize you and you will also move faster and will get out of there in no time.

5. Do your research before you leave the house

Even though you might have a favourite supermarket you visit more often than others, don't jump to buy everything, before a little research. With the advance in technology, now we can check everything online, even before shopping. And we should.

For example, where we are now, in a supermarket the fresh products ( fruits, vegetables, bread) are of better quality and price as opposed to another, that has a better meat display.

You don't need to shop everything at once, and risk getting something with lower quality at a bigger price. Research, research, research.

6. Buy meat in bulk

Make an effort and buy the meat you eat in bigger quantities. What I mean is that you should buy meat in big pieces and process them at home, as much as you can. Buy the meat once per month, or twice, depending on your situation and consume.

You should even buy chicken as a whole, and portion it at home. From a 2 kg chicken, I can make 3 soups, and 2 other dishes from the legs and the chest, like copycat KFC wings, Asian Stir Fry and oven-baked.

You can cut them into pieces for soups and barbecue at home, and even portion them as big as you need them to be. You could also mince your own hamburger meat if you have the tools to do it. If not, buy a bigger quantity of minced meat and portion that as well, according to your cooking style and preferences.

All you need is a big enough freezer.

7. Pay with cash

This doesn't sound like much, but trust us, it's amazing. When you pay with cash, you see how much you've spent and realize how to better manage your money. Using a card only makes it feel easier because you don't have to deal with all the change.

Aaaand that's all for today, lovely dreamers! Hopefully, we helped some of you with our advice on how to save money shopping without coupons. If we did, please make sure to share this post, pin it, tweet it! 

Our question for you is: How do you save money shopping?