Six Ways Your Phone Can Slash Grocery Costs
Food is among the biggest expenses in the average American family’s budget. And we don’t make it any easier on ourselves by dining out so often in restaurants.
The average household in the U.S. spends $7,203 per year on food, with $3,154 of that total spent on food outside the home. By cutting back on dining out, and instead enjoying the occasional home-cooked meal — you remember those, right? — you can save a lot of money.
Following are six websites and apps that can help you save at the grocery store, or stretch your ingredients further.
1. Coupons.com
Attention, bargain hunters: The Coupons.com website and app offer coupons for a wide range of groceries, from coffee to fresh chicken breasts and everything in between.
You can redeem Coupons.com coupons digitally or by printing them out.
2. Ibotta
The iBotta app takes couponing to the next level. It pays you cash rebates for groceries — and plenty of other things — that you need to purchase anyway.
There are three different ways you can earn cash back through Ibotta:
- Shop at online retailers.
- Take photos of your receipts.
- Link your store loyalty program accounts with your Ibotta account.
Once you have racked up $20 in cash back, you can ask iBotta to transfer the cash to your PayPal or Venmo account. You can also cash out via a gift card.
3. Savings Catcher
Walmart prides itself on unbeatable prices, and the retail giant’s Savings Catcher app puts money on it.
You scan your Walmart receipt barcode with the app, which then compares the prices on the receipt against advertised prices at Walmart’s top competitors. If items you purchased at Walmart are available for less elsewhere, you get a refund in the form of an e-gift card.
4. Out of Milk
It has happened to all of us at some point: You buy a carton of milk only to discover that your spouse picked one up, too. The Out of Milk app helps you avoid this frustrating mistake by allowing you to create and categorize grocery lists and share them with others in your household.
That way, you are less likely to “double buy” and waste your hard-earned cash.
5. $5 Dinners
If your grocery budget is spiraling out of control, the $5 Dinners website might offer the frugal help you need.
It provides a wide selection of recipes for your household, all for under $5. And don’t let the name fool you — $5 Dinners provides suggestions for breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts, too.
6. Supercook
“Dinner’s meet its match” is the slogan at the Supercook website, which helps you create meals out of whatever ingredients happen to be lying around your house.
You just input the ingredients that you have in your fridge and cupboards. Then Supercook will find recipes from top cooking websites based on your available ingredients. You can even add parameters like dietary restrictions to customize your results.
Do you have a favorite website or app that helps you cut the cost of groceries and meals?