With our food-driven economy, there are always shoppers looking to save a few dollars here and there without going into coupon mode. Shoppers can save big, by matching shopping habits with seasonal foods and promotions. Using resources like the food mart weekly ad to your advantage, you can take advantage of a weekly grocery budget. If you find yourself checking the promotions and seeing what’s on sale and learning what is seasonal, you will fill your cart with fresh and healthy products each week all while mindful of the dollars spent. Smart shopping means couponing, while making sure you identify the best values at store your shopping at, can even combine any store programs, and combining promotions.

The Benefits of Buying Seasonal Produce

Buying produce when it’s in season is the surest way to buy fresh, delicious, and often less expensive fruits and vegetables. When you buy in season, you are buying produce that is harvested when it’s ripe and ready, which means purchasing more produce for less money because there is an abundance of it, and also spending less on transportation costs due to travels. Blueberries in summer, apples in the fall, and root vegetables in the winter and usually taste better in season. It’s a great way to save money and help support local farmers, which gives you the added benefit of supporting local agriculture, reducing your carbon footprint and supporting the economy in your community.

Leveraging Weekly Ads for Maximum Savings

Weekly ads serve a key function in the strategic shopping process. Stores periodically rotate deals based on inventory, seasonality, and generally highlight items that are on sale for the lowest prices of that week. Looking at the latest ad before you shop gives you to the ability to plan your meals around the discounted items. For instance, if pork shoulder is on sale then you plan for pulled pork sandwiches or tacos. This ability to plan along with resource materials also helps you maximize your shopping experience during each weekly run.

Combining Coupons with Store Promotions

The savings don’t stop with weekly circulars. Coupon stacking or combing manufacture coupons with store sales is a smart approach in maximizing value. For example, take a paper or digital coupon worth $1 off yogurt with a sale price matched up with an ad! Always remember to read the fine print to make sure they can be used together! Now that you have digital apps that allow you to clip coupons while on the go, you can make sure that you won’t miss the deal at checkout.

Bulk Buying and Preservation Techniques

Buying high quantities of something when prices are low is part of the frugal shopper lifestyle—but only if you have a plan to preserve the bounty! Every year there are seasonal overabundant harvests, so get in the habit of freezing berries, canning tomatoes, and drying herbs—oh my! This way you waste less food but get the full flavor of the harvest all year long. Freezing and canning are no brainers, and there are many online resources that will walk you through the preservation process in a step by step manner.

Staying Flexible with Your Shopping List

Be Flexible: Don’t always expect to find what is advertised. If you go into shopping with an open mind, you’ll likely be able to pivot to take advantage of unadvertised promotions or unexpected surplus. Being flexible with your shopping list saves you money and keeps your weekly meal rotation diverse and interesting—a win for both your wallet and your taste buds!

Practical Meal Planning Around Deals

To start your meal planning, check what is going out of season and what is on sale. Plan your recipes and meals around those items so you can save money and not waste food. This ensures you don’t have to rush out and purchase higher priced items, and it helps you stay on track with a healthy, intentional way of eating. There are meal planning apps and printables that can help with meal planning, so meal planning is not out of reach for those with busy schedules.

Utilizing Store Loyalty Programs

Almost all of the major grocery stores have a loyalty program to encourage their repeat customers. You are rewarded for your loyalty through extra discounts, cash back, or members-only specials. It’s free to sign up, you can save money rather quickly as you earn points. Some grocery stores offer deals unique to you based off of your history of purchases that can make discounts even more relevant.

Embracing Digital Tools and Apps

Digital tools make finding deals easy. Apps like Flipp let you browse through the last week’s weekly ads for multiple stores and rebate apps like Ibotta give you money back for buying certain designated products. With the help of digital applications, rebate apps can connect to your shopping list so that combining anything can yield an entire savings list. Incorporating the newest food mart weekly ad with seasonal shopping, stacking discounts, take advantage of all loyalty card programs will allow you to budget even cheaper and bring better food to your table every week.

Conclusion

Intelligent grocery shopping involves staying mindful of seasonal ingredients, supermarket weekly ads, and modern-day digital alternatives to focus your meals around fresh, healthy, and seasonal produce all at the most affordable price. In order to save the most money on food shopping, try developing a grocery list consisting mainly of foods in-season, matching them up with flyers and coupons, and leveraging additional non-advertised specials that you have found. Take advantage of bulk buying and freezing and preserving technique on foods through out the year as well. Be smart and intentional and prepared. If you can get into the habit of being intelligent with grocery shopping, you can make it part of your regular habits.