Save and shop healthy during your next trip to the grocery store by following these six money savings tips.

Financial Tip Friday is brought to you in partnership with the 1st National Bank of Dennison.  

A big portion of any budget is food cost. Every body has to eat and that takes money.

When you make a budget, you have to determine how much of your income will go to certain parts of your life. If you’re able to cut down on what you spend, you can save more money.

Even when you’re on a budget you can still shop healthy. These tips will show you how.

Make a List

Before even taking a step into the grocery store, you should know what you want to buy and around how much it will cost.

When you make a list and stick to it, there won’t be any extra purchases. That means you know exactly where your money is going. Don’t allow yourself to make any impulse buys. If it’s not on the list, then it doesn’t go in the cart.

If you take your kids with you, let them know there is a no extra purchase rule too.

Use Coupons and Sales

Most stores send out flyers to share their stores sales and most include coupons too. They are giving their customers ways to save in their stores.

Use these options!

It might seem time consuming to clip coupons or plan trips around certain sales, but it will save you money. There are some people who extreme coupon and save BIG money. Yet, for most of us, just using the coupons stores give and following there sales will add up.

Another option to consider is price matching. Certain stores will honor this.

Consider Store Brands

Stores also give you the opportunity to purchase their store brands. These ‘off’ brands have the same contents as name brand food choices, just at a lower cost.

It’s a great way to save money and still get food items you love.

Buy in Bulk

This can’t be done for everything, but non-perishable food or snacks that your family loves is cheaper to buy in bulk. When doing the math, it ends up being cheaper per item when you bulk buy.

So, even though it’s a bigger upfront cost, it saves you in the long run.

One big issue with buying in bulk is storage. There’s great ways to properly store these items and make sure your family is eating them too. Try labeling storage boxes and regularly updating snack drawers too.

Get Seasonal Produce

Fresh fruits and veggies are a must for eating healthy and introducing your children to nutritional eating.

When certain produce is in season, it’s cheaper to buy it. Get as much as your family will eat. Then every season, your family will be eating fruits and veggies that are in their peak season.

A good tip for buying produce that isn’t in season is frozen food. There’s a lot of negativity surrounding frozen food, but when you get frozen vegetables or fruit they are frozen at their best state. You’ll still be getting nutritionally vegetables or fruit, it just needs prepared differently. Most frozen vegetables are cheap and have great deals too.

Work More, Save More

When you’re a mom, it’s more convenient to buy produce and meat already cut and prepared. Usually, though, when somethings already prepared, it’s more expensive.

If you can buy vegetables and cut them up, you’ll be saving money. It can be made into a fun activity with your kids and can help them learn about food preparation.

Buying chickens or other meat that needs broke down will save you money too.

Shop healthy and save with these next time you hit the grocery store.