Saving Money On Groceries Tactics

This is a post by Stefan Knapen from StudySuccessful.com, a blog about studying successful. Stefan is a med school student from the Netherlands who likes to experiment with study tactics and likes to share his findings to the web!

When I started to live on my own, I wanted to track my money. I wanted to see where my money went for a couple of weeks. So I started to ask for receipts when I went grocery shopping. Then I tried to store them and put them all in a Excel spreadsheet. I was thinking I could create some cool spreadsheets and I will see where I can save money so I will know where to focus my attention. Instant success, right?

Of course not. Yes, you got the receipts. Yes you’ve stored them. You either stored them in your pocket or actually managed to get them home. The couple of receipts you saved, you put on the pile of other papers, you lose them and you will never do anything with it. Creating a spreadsheet in excel which contained everything you want will cost you at least a full afternoon. So you don’t do it because honestly, who wants to spend a whole afternoon going through receipts?. You don’t do anything about it and you will end up with a bunch of receipts and no money saved.

This wasn’t the solution. I needed something more tactical to save money on my groceries. But if you still want to track your money and save something on groceries here is what you can do:

• Start with ‘internet banking’. This is the key, no receipts, everything online! It’s easy to sign up for an online savings account but the real work comes from actually using it consistently. Once you get into the habit of using an online banking account to track your finances you will find it can be much easier than other strategies you’ve tried in the past.
• Pay only with your card from now when you are doing groceries and other necessary expenses. New hairdryer? Buy it with your card. Got a flat tire repaired? Pay with the card! When you pay with your debit card it is much easier to keep track of your money for most young people. Pretty much every online savings tracking software allows you the option to upload your debit card statement. This way you can see exactly how much money you spend on groceries and other necessities/expenses that life will throw your way.
• Get cash, for fun things. The only things I pay with cash are fun things. Going to the bar? Pay with cash. Feel like a snack? Pay with cash. If you try this method you will notice that it will be much easier to limit your “fun spending” because you will leave your home with a set amount of cash in your pocket.
• Count your money at the end of the month. Here is the cool stuff. Look at how many times you went to an ATM to get some cash. Those are expenses on fun stuff. You can save some money there. You find yourself with getting 120$ out of an ATM every weekend? You are probably drinking too much beer than! Or maybe you’re buying too many drinks for others?

Those are the tactics that have helped me save money on my grocery bill. How do the Studenomics readers save money on food?