5 Easy Tricks That Help Me Save Money at the Supermarket

Whether you're single, partnered, or have multiple children, food can be one of the most expensive line items in your budget. Or at least that's the case in my household. Because of this, I'm always trying to do what I can to lower my supermarket spending. And here are five tricks that tend to work well for me.

1. Shopping with a list

Making a list of grocery items helps me stay focused at the supermarket. But I don't just stick to a list -- I make it a rule to not venture into aisles if they don't contain an item on my list. This helps me avoid impulse buys, which are an easy thing to make at the supermarket.

One tool that I find helpful in list-making is Google Keep. It's an app on my phone that lets me add items and check them off easily. It's less clunky than bringing along a physical list and a pen.

Plus, with Keep, once you've checked an item off of your list, it doesn't get deleted -- it just gets checked off. This is helpful because if there are staple items you tend to buy weekly, you don't have to completely reinvent your list every time. You can go through your checked off items and uncheck them.

2. Downloading digital coupons

I know some people who spend hours each week seeking out grocery coupons. As a busy parent with a full-time job, I just can't sink that much time into couponing. And since I'm self-employed, it doesn't make financial sense for me to give up income to potentially save an extra $7 or $8 at the supermarket.

But one thing that does make sense is for me to log into my supermarket account online and load all of that week's digital coupons to my store rewards card. It's a step that takes under three minutes and has saved me a nice amount of money at times.

3. Shopping kid-free

If you're a stay-at-home parent with young kids, you may not have the option to shop for food without your children. But since I work from home and my kids are at school during the day, I commonly go grocery shopping without my kids. And it tends to be a major money-saver.

First of all, when you shop with kids and they start getting antsy, it can make you antsy. And when you're frazzled, you're less likely to make savvy decisions.

But also, when I shop with my kids, they tend to ask for things that aren't on my list. And it's hard to say no because my kids are at an age where they'll throw out things like, "Well if you don't want to buy me those $3 chips, I'll just take the money out of my bank account."

Take it from me -- the money never comes out of their bank accounts. It just adds to my tab because I don't have the heart to randomly take $2 or $3 from my kids.

But it's annoying to spend those small amounts, because they add up. And you might have the same experience, which is why shopping without your children might be a better bet. If you can't pull it off during the day, see if a partner or neighbor can look after them while you do your food shopping in the evening.

4. Loading up on store brands

The fact that I'm not a brand snob has saved me a lot of money on groceries through the years. And for items like rice and pasta, there's really no reason not to choose the store brand if it's cheaper, since items like these don't really have their own taste -- they take on the taste of the ingredients you add to them.

Of course, at times, you may find that if a given brand name is on sale, that it's cheaper than the store brands, so it always pays to look. But don't write off trying store brands if you're trying to lower your costs.

5. Using the right credit card

Credit card rewards can vary from one card to the next. But one thing I do is pay for groceries using a credit card that offers more than 1% cash back in that category. So if you don't have a card in your wallet offering better than 1%, do some research and consider applying for a credit card with better supermarket rewards.

Remember, grocery shopping is something you do regularly. And while it's not a great thing to open too many new credit card accounts in short order, it could benefit you to apply for one more new card if it gives you extra money back on food.

In March, food costs were up 1.2% from a year prior, according to that month's Consumer Price Index. So it's a good time to be mindful of your supermarket spending. If you employ these tips, you may find that you're able to shave some money off of your bills at a time when groceries remain expensive.