Groceries are expensive, point blank. It’s gotten to the point where people are desperately trying everything they can to save as much money on food as they can. One Reddit user just might have the solution. He shared the frugal grocery shopping hack that he’s adopted, which has helped him save tons of money each month.
Posting to the subreddit “r/Frugal,” the Redditor shared his “laziest habit” that he recently discovered after falling ill and not being able to make his routine grocery run. He confessed that the habit is so lazy, it’s helped him become budget-conscious without even trying.
Frugal people inventory their fridge and pantry so they don’t buy duplicate staples they already own.
“I got sick a few weeks ago and just did not have the energy to do a full grocery run. I kept delaying it thinking I’d go tomorrow but tomorrow never came. Eventually I opened my fridge and realized I still had way more food than I thought. Stuff hidden behind jars stuck in corners leftovers I swore didn’t exist,” he began in his Reddit post.
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He explained that he started cooking using the random ingredients that he had found in his fridge to avoid going to the grocery store, and it worked better than he originally thought it would. Once he recovered from being sick, he started tracking the food in his fridge and realized he was actually spending more money because he was forgetting what he already had and would end up buying duplicates at the store.
“Not because I needed them but because I forgot I already had them. The unplanned sick week made me empty almost everything before buying more and my grocery bill dropped so hard I thought the receipt was wrong . Now I do this on purpose. Before I let myself shop I have to make at least three meals only using what I already have,” he continued.
Writing shopping lists is also a good way to take inventory.
If you get into the habit of making a shopping list, it can be an easy way to keep track of all the food you already have in your fridge and pantry. Instead of buying a just-in-case ketchup when you’re at the store, you’ll know for sure what you have and what you need.
Using a shopping list can also help you stay on track while you’re in the store by avoiding impulse purchases. Psychology Today reported on a study of 2300 shoppers who made significantly fewer “unplanned purchases” when they went to the grocery store with a list in hand.
Following that study, Harvard researchers found that even if you ran your Trader Joe’s errand on an empty stomach and were super hungry, having a list made you less likely to cave and make impulsive cookie purchases! That’s solid proof that a list is good for everything from your waistline to your wallet.
Most Americans are stressed about the cost of groceries.
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In a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about half of Americans say the cost of groceries is a “major” source of stress in their life right now, and it’s so true. The cost of everything is more and it’s getting harder and harder to budget because salaries aren’t going up to reflect inflation.
The survey also found that about 4 in 10 Americans under age 45 have used services like “buy now, pay later” for essentials like groceries. That’s not exactly a great way to avoid debt, but we’re talking about food, not frivolous purchases. Because of this, Americans are trying to find any way they can to save money. But maybe the solution is a lot simpler than people realize, including just checking your fridge to confirm if you need to do a grocery run at all.
To be fair, most of us can probably relate to this. We’ve run out of the foods that we eat on a normal basis, so we immediately think that we need to make a grocery run, even though our fridge and pantry are most likely stocked. It’s just easier to default to buying more than simply checking what’s already in stock.
“It makes me think before spending plus nothing expires in the back of the fridge anymore,” the Redditor pointed out. “I swear I waste almost zero food now.”
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
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