There are so many easy ways to save money at the grocery store. I never pay full price, and hardly pay any money out of my own pocket at the store because I always have grocery gift cards with me! I strongly suggest that you follow these money saving tips, as they’ve completely changed my life and the way I value every dollar earned.

Easy ways to save money before you get to the store:

Shop the sales by scanning circulars

When your weekly sales circulars come in the mail or in the newspaper, take a few minutes to scan through them and see what the sales are that week! The best sale prices will be on the front page. After looking at the flyers every week for a few months you’ll notice sales patterns and can stock up for the months in between sales.

When you’re in store, keep an eye out for in store specials that were not advertised in the circulars!

Easy ways to save money at the store:

Buy in season

Fresh fruits and vegetables have different high seasons. When they are in season, they’re significantly cheaper than when they’re out of season. Most fruits and some vegetables can also be frozen and stored for months. So, for example if you’re a fan of strawberries, they’re in season during the summer. When your local grocery store has them on for a cheap price, buy a bunch and throw them into the freezer. You can use them for months to come in smoothies, baking or as a nice treat after thawed. One of my favorite easy ways to save money is to buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season and freeze them for cooking throughout the year. Investing in a large chest freezer will be worth it in the long run.

Do not shop hungry

When you shop while hungry, you spend 30% more on average because you’re shopping on impulse and purchasing whatever looks good at the time. You’re also likely buying more then you would eat as you’re indulging with your eyes. To prevent this, bring a snack or have a meal before you go grocery shopping. Out of the easy ways to save money at the store tips, this should be the easiest to enforce.

Don’t shop with the kids

When you shop with your kids, they’re likely to throw cookies and candy and whatever sugar covered anything they can find into the shopping cart. To avoid purchasing expensive and unnecessary items, avoid shopping with the little ones. When you shop alone you can control what you spend on and choose healthier snacks for the kids. This one’s a little harder to put in place then the other easy ways to save money tips, but will end up saving you time and money!

Easy ways to save money by planning ahead:

Stock up

If you aren’t new to grocery shopping on a regular basis or looking through sales circulars you know when an item hits a rock bottom price and is a fantastic deal. When it goes on sale, stock up!! The item is not likely to hit this price again for months, so buy enough to last you. Even though you’re spending now, you are saving in the long run, and long run isn’t even too long ahead. We’re talking 3,4 months. Because chances are, when you’re in need of this item a month from now, it’s going to be double the sale price it is now. Not only is this an easy ways to save money by buying at the lowest price, it’s an easy ways to save money on gas! You’ll be running to the store much less if you have a nice little stockpile with necessities at home!

Use Coupons

Coupons are everywhere. They’re in stores, on products, in the newspapers and online. You can pretty much bet that there is a coupon to be used on just about any type of product that’s out there. All it takes is a little research. Take a look online at the coupons available in your area. Here are a few of our favorite coupon websites: Clip N Go Coupons, Coolsavings, Clip N Print and  Where Hot Deals Are.

Enter Gift Card Sweepstakes

The reason I always have grocery gift cards with me is because I enter many gift card sweepstakes and promotions. I recommend creating a separate email solely to sign up for these offers. Sometimes the offers require you to fill out a short survey. Those with long surveys I tend not to do. You won’t receive a gift card for every promotion you participate in, but for every 10 I sign up for I get 1 or 2, which is a very good ratio considering the high value of the gift cards. Here is one that I received in the mail recently, $250 to walmart from consumer incentives. After I received my card I recommended the promotion to a few friends, 2 of 3 received it as well!

Practicing all or just a few of these tips is a guaranteed to save you money. Interested in easy ways to save money on travelling or eating out? Have a read over our other posts.

This book will be your guide to easy ways to save money.

If you haven’t heard of the entertainment before, you need to get out from under that rock you’ve been living under. You can find books for almost every major city in the US and Canada. They’re great for use at home or on your vacation destination!

Each book contains:

• Thousands of dollars of coupon savings
• Fine dining coupons for hundreds of popular local restaurants (most coupons are buy one get one free!)
• Fast food coupons for hundreds of retailers
• Discount coupons for popular tourist attractions (also mostly buy one get one free!)
• Discount coupons for shopping retailers
• Entertainment coupons for your local theater
• No purchase necessary coupons for certain retailers, meaning free stuff!

Easy ways to save money just got a lot easier! Every year I buy one book right when it comes out, then at least 1 more when it goes down in price. Coupons are valid for a whole year and some retailers may even let you keep the coupon and use it again!

I’ve saved thousands of dollars with this little book. I keep it in the car at all times just in case I need a coupon then and there. There are even printable coupons offered on the entertainment book website for you to print the moment you purchase your book. You don’t even need to wait for it to arrive before you start saving! How’s that for easy ways to save money? Also, sign up for their mailing club, they have special online coupon code offers from time to time as well! If you don’t already have one, get one now!

Get your 2012 Entertainment Book today! Click here!

Groupon is the epitome of easy ways to save money!

Groupon is a website that advertises collective buying power. Retailers advertise their services through Groupon at discounts usually 50% or greater through an online voucher you can purchase to redeem at that retailer at a later time. Groupon is really a phenomenon. It’s taken the idea of easy ways to save money and using coupons to a whole different level.

Every day, different deals come out based on area and are offered to consumers at rock bottom prices. Groupon partners with tourist locations, large corporations, small mom and pop shops and most popularly, restaurants. Food and beverage Groupons always seem to sell the most because eating and drinking isn’t a choice, it’s a necessity! But what we can choose is where what what we eat and how much we’re going to pay for it.

Is there a restaurant that you’ve been waiting to try? A restaurant you go to every Saturday night? Chances are they have or will partner with Groupon at some point because really, it’s just great advertising on their part. It’s a great way to draw in new customers, so why not take that to your advantage! This is the most up and coming version of our easy ways to save money tips.

I’ve purchased close to 50 groupons since the website came out, 40 of those were for restaurants and 38 of those purchases I saved over 50% off the value of the dinner. A lot of times the deals are something like get $60 worth of menu items for $30. Once in a while groupon even offers freebies! That’s definitely an easy ways to save money, by not spending any money at all!

If you haven’t checked out Groupon before, definitely subscribe to their mailing list. They’ll email you daily with the new groupons in your area. And, if you’re going on vacation, check out if that tourist spot is one of the cities Groupon offers and score some great deals!

Sign up to receive the best daily deals!

When shopping online there are a number of easy ways to save money.

One of my favorite easy ways to save money is to shop through Ebates. If you haven’t heard of Ebates before, the idea is very simple. When making an online purchase, head over to ebates.com to check if the retailer you’re purchasing from is one of the 1,200 + participating ebates stores.

If you do happen to find that retailer in the list, you’ll also find the percentage of cash back being offered for that store. Most range between 2%-10%. Click on “shop now” and you’ll even find any current coupon codes to save you additional money! The potential for double savings makes this one of our top easy ways to save money online.

Ebates has partnered with retailers large and small and has a very wide variety of stores on their list. A few popular names are Sephora, Macy’s, The GAP, Old Navy, Sears, Nordstrom, Home Depot, Sony, Target, Netflix and many more.

When you shop through Ebates, the cash back earned on your purchases will accumulate and be paid out quarterly as long as the amount earned is over $5.01. If not, the amount will roll over to the next period and when the threshold is met, you will be paid through Paypal or by cheque at your preference. You can even send your cash back to a charity or a family member and Ebates will pay the mailing fees on your behalf! Easy ways to save money meets easy ways to send money.

Ebates also has promotions from time to time such as double cash back, or extra cash back where you’ll earn even more on your purchases!

So, considering that you’re going to spend money online anyway, you might as well take the extra few minutes to go through ebates and get even more cash back then your credit card offers. In terms of easy ways to save money, this is one of the simplest ways you can stretch your dollar, especially for purchases where you cannot find a coupon code or special offer. Ebates is always an option and can ease the thought of spending, knowing that some of that money will be coming back to you.

Click here to join Ebates and start earning money through your online purchases.

Looking for more tips on easy ways to save money shopping online? Click here!