Grocery shopping hacks to save money
With grocery prices rising at a near-record rate in the U.S., many shoppers are looking for ways to save money.
Alli Powell, a mom of two, has built a career out of sharing food cost-saving tips with her followers online after learning how to cut her own family's grocery bill in half.
Powell, known online as the "Grocery Getting Girl," said she regularly feeds her family of four for $150 per week. One simple way she does it, she told ABC News, is by doing the grocery shopping by herself.
"I swear the second that your partner or your kids are with you, you start adding stuff into the cart that you weren't planning on," Powell said.
When they are at the grocery store, shoppers today are seeing fresh vegetables cost 11.5% more than they did a year ago, and seafood prices up 6.2% over that time, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The jump in food prices stems in part from a historic oil shock set off by the Iran war, which increased diesel costs, as well as tariffs and weather-related shortages, analysts told ABC News earlier this month.
When prices are high, Powell said another way she saves money at the grocery store is by purchasing cheaper proteins like lentils and beans instead of meat.
"We try to do a meatless Monday every Monday," Powell said, noting that she can spend $10 for the entire family's meal when she opts for no-meat meals.
"I also try to make dishes where meat isn't the star of the show," she said. "We're doing a soup. We're a doing a rice bowl. We're doing something where the meat is stretched out."
When meat is included in a meal, a rotisserie chicken is a cost-saving option for a family.
Powell also recommends storing food, especially produce, in clear containers so it's easy to see what's left and so that food doesn't go to waste.
Other tips include price-shopping at different stores, looking at local specialty markets for deals, looking in different sections and on lower shelves at the grocery store and stocking up on freezer-friendly foods like meat and produce when they are on sale.
