5 Tricks to Stretch Your Grocery Budget

One of the largest expenses of many families is groceries. Feeding a family can be very expensive. Some families spend $800 to $,1000 on food each month. If you want to make the most of your money, there are ways to stretch your food budget. Whether you clip coupons or turn leftovers into new meals, you can make the most of your food budget.

Clip Coupons and Get Cash-Back

One of the best ways to stretch your food budget is to clip coupons. Not only can you find coupons in the Sunday paper, but Coupons.com has hundreds of great coupons and is always adding more. You can also find digital coupons available through many of the stores you shop at (like Kroger, Meijer, Target, Safeway, etc.).

There are also many cash-back rebate apps that you can use like Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, etc. where you can check for offers and then scan and submit your receipt to earn cash-back on your grocery order.  Ibotta even works with Walmart Grocery Pickup now - you just have to connect your Walmart account in the Ibotta app.

Match Coupons to Sales

Once you have your coupons in hand, be on the lookout for sales that match those coupons. Usually when coupons come out, there will be sales that match those coupons in the following weeks. Also look to stack store and manufacturer coupons whenever possible.

Purchase Meat and Produce with Overages

It's almost impossible to find coupons on meat and produce. One way to purchase these items is to use coupon overages. For example, at Walmart, you may have a coupon for $4 off makeup and find the makeup on clearance for $0.50. For each coupon you use, you'll have $3.50 in overage to apply towards meat and produce.

Make Meals with the Same Ingredients

A big mistake many families make is to purchase a lot of different ingredients. The problem is you use a bit of this or that and end up throwing away a lot of food. When you make your menu, make sure to plan meals that use many of the same ingredients. For example, if you're making spaghetti, you could purchase a large package of hamburger and mushrooms and have spaghetti with meaty mushroom sauce one night and the next night do chop steak with sauteed mushrooms.

Turn Leftovers Into New Meals

Last, but not least, stop tossing those leftovers no one wants. Instead, turn those meals into something new. For example, if you had a pork roast on Sunday, shred the leftovers, add barbecue sauce, and make barbecue sandwiches. Your family will eat it up without issue and you'll save money.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on groceries or wonder how you're going to make ends meet. There are so many ways you can stretch your food budget.