1. NEVER go to the grocery store when you’re hungry
This is a piece of advice that we hear frequently, but that we also forget too often. When you are hungry at the grocery store, you risk buying much more than you need and making impulse purchases.
2. Grate your own cheese
As the saying goes, “You’re better off doing it yourself!” By buying cheese at a discount and grating it yourself, you save money and, in addition, you get a little bicep workout. And it’s the same concept for baby carrots, which you can also cut yourself!
3. Spread the outside of your grilled cheese bread with mayo
For real! Mayonnaise is often cheaper than butter and, in addition, it is always ready to be spread on bread. Crispy texture and good taste guaranteed.
4. Make RICARDO’s General Tao Tofu once a week
We’re preaching what we practise here, but you can really save money by incorporating vegetarian recipes into your menu!
VEGETARIAN
General Tao Tofu
5. Go to mom’s house with a pitiful look...
...so that she’ll give you spaghetti sauce, shepherd’s pie, soup, etc. We apologize in advance to the moms (the best!).
THE BEST
Spaghetti Sauce (The Best)
COMFORT FOOD
Pâté Chinois (Shepherd’s Pie)
6. Do. Not. Waste.
The best savings you can make are to not throw away food, and therefore money, in the garbage or compost. Simply: Zero waste equals savings!
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Zero-Waste Recipes
7. Watch La cuisine d’Isabelle et Ricardo on TV Religiously
Isabelle cooks a ton of affordable recipes and Ricardo offers a wealth of tips to save money. Plus, it’s free every day of the week, at 11 a.m. on ICI Radio-Canada.
8. Favour what is (really) discounted
By being vigilant about tempting offers such as “buy one and get the second at 50% off,” one can avoid losing money. In this case, the 2 items are only 25% off each. Almost everything is reduced by 50% at one time or another, so wait for a better opportunity to stock up.
9. Play butcher
By buying bone-in meat and deboning it yourself, you can save money while gaining the satisfaction of using your butchery skills. For example, buy a whole chicken and cut it up into pieces or get a pork loin andmake chops. And if you don’t feel like it, you can also become best friends with your butcher and ask him to do it!
10. Buy more, even if you don’t need it
McSween wouldn’t be proud to read this today, but buying non-perishable products when they’re cheap, even if you don’t need them right away, saves you money for later. So ask yourself, “Do I really need it?” If it’s cheap, yes!
11. See the fridge as half-full rather than half-empty
It sounds simple as advice, but often you have everything you need at home to improvise a meal. Like a pea risotto...without peas but with asparagus, that’s short on fridge time!
ZERO-WASTE RECIPES
Clean-Out-the-Fridge Risotto
12. Be a fan of half and half
By making a recipe half meat, half veggie, you can save on the cost of meat. Think of replacing a quantity of minced meat with lentils, for example. And if the kiddos don’t see it or know about it, they probably won’t even realize it. Chili, spaghetti sauce, tacos...there are so many recipes that are just as delicious when you use half meat, half vegetable protein.
MEXICAN-INSPIRED CUISINE
Lentil and Beef Tacos
SLOW COOKER RECIPES
Three-Bean and Pork Chili
13. Be less of a foodie
As we all know, a green pepper is often passed over in favour of a red one. But to save money, sometimes we have to leave our luxurious tastes aside, making cheaper choices, like canola oil instead of olive oil, or seeds instead of nuts.
14. Be curious in the kitchen
We all benefit from discovering new cuts of meat. For example, for a beef tartare, the interior round can do the trick and is much cheaper than filet mignon.
15. Rev up on ramen
Out of the 30 tips here, we needed at least one easy one! And we’re not talking about dry ramen with seasoning sachets, but legit stir-fries and tasty soups made with these economical noodles.
EXPRESS MEALS
Ramen Noodles with Eggs
ASIAN-INSPIRED RECIPES
Tofu Ramen Soup Bowls
16. Turn up the techno in 2024 more than in 2023
Downloading apps like FoodHero, which connects merchants with consumers to sell surplus food that would otherwise end up in the trash, saves you a lot. Convenient and cheap.
Also look for content that’ll allow you to save money, like our budget newsletter, sent once a month directly to your inbox, where you’ll find a bunch of tips. Of course, our RICARDO app also allows you to access your menu of the week, grocery list and favourite recipes in just one click, for free! This way, you’ll purchase ONLY what you need to prepare your meals. And that’s what we call saving money!
17. Make homemade bread, à la March 2020
Our homemade white bread recipe costs about $1 to make compared to the $5 we usually have to pay at the bakery. So get back to your good pandemic habits and save!
18. Buy non-name brands
By choosing private label products at the grocery store, you save almost every time.
19. Buy LARGE formats
By opting for the big brick of mozzarella cheese instead of grated cheese or the big pot of yogurt instead of individual yogurts, you always end up winning. Bonus: You can also decide to share and split costs with family or loved ones.
20. Always answer yes to: “Does it freeze?”
The most popular question on our site is also a great way to save. By freezing surplus food or buying frozen food, you can freeze your grocery bill, too—at a lower amount!
21. Buy expired (or almost expired) products
Admittedly, it’s not exactly appetizing, but on the other hand, many products are still good after their expiry date and many merchants offer discounts on products that will soon expire. You can even ask, if you see that the date is approaching, if the price can be adjusted.
22. Be loyal to your grocery store
According to a survey by Protégez-vous, fluttering from one supermarket to another is not a winning strategy so stay with your top one from the beginning to the end of this adventure.
23. Make the flyers your bedside reading
To find really good discounts, there is no better tool than the flyers. In addition, it’s probably easy to fall asleep while reading them!
24. Bring your magnifying glass to the grocery store
The real grocery store prices to look at are in the fine print that shows the price by volume (dollars per 100 millilitres or per 100 grams). It’s small, but it says a lot!
25. Don’t freeze in front of your freezer
Your freezer is often full of wonderful finds. Get creative by cooking with what’s in that frozen kingdom, like our ultra-moist banana bread made with your frozen banana graveyard!
26. Make fridge-cleaner meals
By preparing meals with everything left in the fridge (like this kitchen-sink fried rice), you spend less. Period.
27. Leave everyone at home
To avoid unnecessary purchases, it’s best to go to the grocery store solo. It’s proven, promised, sworn and spit.
28. Beware of half-full potato chip bags
Shrinkflation affects many products at the grocery store by reducing the quantity of a product while maintaining the same price—even more reason to monitor the price by quantity.
29. Become a fan of #batchcooking
It’s proven: By taking advantage of discounts to cook in large quantities, you can save money for later. All you have to do is freeze the surplus or split your provisions with your loved ones.
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Batch Cooking
30. Apply the “first in, first out” technique
Like a kitchen mantra, by repeating the words “first in, first out” you’ll learn to place food items on your shelves in a more organized fashion, from the newest to the oldest, back to front. It’s an effective way to cook your “old” items first and avoid food waste.
Want to save more in the kitchen? Here are two articles you might like:
ARTCILE
10 Budget-Friendly Recipe Tips
