April 17, 2026
Written by Rebecca Safier
Certified Student Loan Counselor
Certified Student Loan Counselor
Rebecca Safier, CCC, is a personal finance writer. Her work has been published in U.S. News & World Report, MarketWatch, NextAdvisor, Yahoo Finance, and other publications, and she has contributed expert commentary to Entrepreneur, Money.com, NBC, and more. When she's not covering all things personal finance, Rebecca teaches blogging strategies on her website, Remote Bliss.
Planning your meals around store sales before you shop could cut your grocery costs significantly.
Setting a specific grocery budget and sticking to generic brands could also help you save money.
Check your pantry before you head to the grocery store to avoid buying duplicates and reduce food waste.
If you're dining out, consider using restaurant lunch specials or happy hours to avoid high dinner prices.
Is the rising cost of food burning a hole in your pocket? Whether it's a $12 burger at a diner or a $7 jar of pickles at the supermarket, you're not alone in feeling the squeeze. This guide walks you through 10 practical ways to save money on groceries and dining out without sacrificing the meals you love.
Check your grocery store's weekly sales ad before planning meals – this lets you build your menu around discounted items and can cut your food costs significantly. Look for the ad online or in Sunday newspapers to see what's marked down that week.
Once you know what's on sale, build your meal plan around those items. If chicken breast is discounted, plan chicken-based meals. If broccoli is cheap, add it to multiple dishes.
The stakes are real: from 2020 to 2025, food prices rose by 29%. As of February 2026, grocery prices climbed 2.4% from the previous year, while restaurant prices jumped 3.9%. Planning around sales helps you fight back against these increases.
Don't forget to check for digital coupons. Many stores let you load coupons directly to your loyalty card or app, and you may get to stack them with sales for deeper savings.
Set a limit on your grocery budget and stick to it by using these approaches:
The "how low can you go" challenge: Try buying a week's worth of groceries for $50 or $100 and turn it into a game.
Plan around sales: Build your meals around discounted items so you don't overspend.
Choose generic brands: Store brands of staples generally cost less than name brands. Compare prices before reaching for the familiar packaging.
Shopping multiple times per week at different stores adds up fast. Wait until you've used most of your food before making another trip.
Stick to one store per shopping session – and if you're not sure which one gives you the best value, learn how to find the best grocery store by food category. It's easy to think you spent less when purchases are spread across multiple places, but $30 here and $30 there can quickly blow your budget.
Have you ever bought pasta at the store only to find three unopened boxes at home? This happens when you skip the pantry check. It's a good idea to inventory your fridge and pantry before making a grocery run.
Then come up with dishes you can create based on what you already have. If you have a surplus of food at home, skip that week's grocery trip and use as much of what you already have before heading to the market.
Get creative and use what's in your kitchen before spending more money. Apps like Tasty let you search for recipes based on an ingredient or two.
Retailers use psychological tricks to make you spend more than you originally planned. Watch out for these common tactics:
Anchoring: This involves displaying sales prices next to regular prices to make you feel like you're getting a good deal. But if you weren't planning to buy the item in the first place, grabbing it off the shelf could cause you to overspend.
Impulse placement: Stores also place tempting items at the ends of aisles and checkout counters to encourage impulse purchases.
Loss leaders: These are super cheap advertised items that are designed to get you in the store so you'll buy regular-priced goods once you're there.
You can avoid falling for these tricks if you shop when you're well-rested and stick to your list. Research shows that we tend to spend more when we're bored, tired, or hungry.
Bulk buying only saves money if you actually use everything before it spoils. Focus on household staples that won't go bad instead of buying perishables in large quantities.
Stock up on necessities like toilet paper, paper towels, baby diapers, and anything else your family consumes regularly. Memberships to discount warehouse clubs like Costco or Sam's Club could be worth it if you go often and take advantage of the sales and discounts.
You might be able to snag a seasonal discount on a membership during the holidays, so keep an eye out.
Clothing stores aren't the only ones with bargain bins and clearance racks. Check your local supermarket for discount bins, often in the back of the store near the restrooms. Sometimes you can find heavily marked-down food in the meat department or produce section.
Food waste apps let you buy surplus food at steep discounts – potentially 50% off or more. Here are three to try:
Too Good to Go: Reserve "Surprise Bags" of leftovers from bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, and grocers for pickup within designated time windows.
Misfits Market: Get produce that doesn't meet grocery store appearance standards but tastes just as good.
Imperfect Foods: Score grocery surpluses and less-than-perfect items delivered to your door.
Combating food waste while saving money? That's a win-win – and there are plenty of other eco-friendly shopping hacks that can stretch your budget further.
Restaurant meals or late-night trips to the drive-thru of your favorite fast food chain can seriously damage your food budget. If you eat out frequently, try to cut it down to once or twice a week. Make it count by carefully choosing where you want to eat and why.
Meal prep saves you from expensive convenience runs to quick-service restaurants. Even if you're busy, dedicating a few hours weekly to batch cooking reduces waste, improves nutrition, and keeps more money in your pocket – it's one of the smartest moves for lower cost living overall.
Carve out a few hours a week to focus on batch cooking. Lean on your slow cooker and easy recipes when you can.
Look for ways to cut costs when you decide to dine out. Many bars and restaurants offer happy hour or lunch specials. Check the restaurant's website, Yelp, or Google Business page to see if they offer a discounted lunch menu.
You can enjoy the ambiance and joy of dining out and get more for your buck. Another perk? If you opt for lunchtime or happy hour, you can beat the bustle of the dinner crowd.
You can't control inflation, but you can control your grocery choices. The strategies in this guide – from shopping sales to checking your pantry to using food waste apps – put money back in your pocket without sacrificing the meals you love.
Start with one or two tactics that feel doable, then build from there. Small changes can add up to big savings over time. For more money management tips, check out our guide on the 50-30-20 approach to budgeting.
The 50-30-20 rule divides your after-tax income into three categories: 50% for needs like groceries, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings. Use a budget calculator to see exactly how much that means for your grocery spending within that 50% bucket alongside housing and utilities.
Some financial experts suggest spending 10% to 15% of your take-home pay on groceries. This may translate to about $300 to $570 monthly for one person or $1,000 to $1,630 for a family of four. Your actual budget depends on your household size, location, and dietary needs.
Groceries are typically a "need" since they cover essential meals, while dining out usually counts as a "want" that can cost more per meal. Tracking them separately shows where your food dollars actually go.
The 5-4-3-2-1 rule suggests buying five vegetables, four proteins, three fruits, two carbohydrates, and one treat per shopping trip. It's a simple framework for balanced nutrition without overcomplicating your list.
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