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Have you ever made a big grocery shopping trip only to have to go back a few days later to pick up items to make a meal? On that trip back to the store did you only buy the items you needed? Probably not. If you shop without a plan and without a list this will likely happen to you and your grocery bill will skyrocket quickly.

Do you want to lower your grocery bill in three easy steps?

1. Meal Plan

I know this can be overwhelming, but simply write down six to seven meals you already cook for your family. This is essentially your meal plan for the week. Or, if you are stuck, you can use one of my monthly meal plans or attend one of my classes. With meal planning, you will also waste less food because all the perishable items you buy will be part of your meal plans. No more moldy mystery vegetables in the back of the fridge!

2. Make a Shopping List

Create your shopping list based on your weekly meal plan. Make sure to include drinks, snacks, side dishes and lunches so you won’t have to run to the store again for at least a week.

3. Shop Less Often

I know this sounds crazy, especially if you are a couponer, but shop less often! Very few people can shop and only pick up the exact items on their list, so avoiding extra trips to the store will leave money in your pocket. If you’ve meal planned and made a solid shopping list, you should be able to easily shop only once a week. When I had my 3 kids under the age of 4, I actually stretched my grocery trips to once every 10 days.

If you want to take your savings a step further, add in coupons and build a small stockpile. If you are interested in learning how to coupon, check out my book, ‘The Extraordinary Art of Couponing’. But, before couponing, I truly believe getting a good meal plan going is essential to saving more on your grocery bill.

Do you currently meal plan? What saves you big bucks on your grocery bill?