With many students living off campus during the summer, affording food is something that many struggle with. Having a list of necessity items and strategies to grocery shop more efficiently is the best way to get a bang for your buck.
Grocery shopping is about pre-planning and being able to see ahead of time. Meals have to stretch especially when on a budget, and certain items can make numerous different meals.
“Budget money on what stores you will need,” Qihao Shentu, a junior at MSU, said. “So for salmon fish I come to Whole Foods, and say for watermelon I’ll go to Meijer.”
Grocery shopping on a budget is about thinking wisely and not wasting money. It’s easy to get into habits and want to purchase all items on the shopping list from one grocery store, however, variety is key. Finding the best deal might mean going to more than one store and comparing prices at each one. An easy way to do that is looking through weekly advertisements and coupons for the best grocery store deals. It’s important to know what stores are best for selling which kinds of items.
"[I] look up things before coming” Kayla Morrison, a medical school graduate student, said.
Weekly advertisements show all the for deals for food that week, so it’s a smart way to see which stores have the best deal for that week. When it comes to reviewing advertisements from grocery stores, more is better. For example, one might discover that the East Lansing Food Cooperative has the best deal on wheats and grains for the week, while Meijer has the best deal on proteins and meats, Kroger has great deals on dairy and so on. Knowing which stores have which deals allows cheaper prices and more quantity of certain items.
“Bulk items can be ones that are items that are purchased regularly,” Bruce Grambau, General Manager of East Lansing Food Cooperative, said.
Buying in bulk means buying an item in a large quantity that lasts for weeks or even months. For instance, sugar, normally 10 pounds, can be bought in bulk at 25 or 50 pounds. These kinds of items save money because they do not have to be bought as often.
Coupon clipping is another grocery shopping hack that is becoming more popular among younger people. Many people use coupons through earning rewards with mPerks from Meijer, ExtraCare cards from CVS Pharmacy and other reward specials and privileges that come with signing up for a membership at a store.
Another useful tip to use when shopping at stores such as Walmart, Meijer and Target is price matching. Price matching happens when a rival company offers the same product for a lower advertised price than the competitor. In this case, the competitor company will either match the lower price or refund the difference if the customer has already purchased the product from it.
Buying food does not have to be stressful or hard due to financial reasons. There is always a way to save while grocery shopping. Some stores offer specials for students like the East Lansing Food Cooperative that has discounts on Sundays for students or give out coupons after purchases are made that can save the money for another day.
