{"id":2653988,"date":"2026-09-03T08:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaign10-ways-youre-wasting-money-at-the-grocery-store-and-what-to-do-instead\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T08:14:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:14:42","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaign10-ways-youre-wasting-money-at-the-grocery-store-and-what-to-do-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaign10-ways-youre-wasting-money-at-the-grocery-store-and-what-to-do-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Ways You&#8217;re Wasting Money On Groceries And What To Do Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaign10-ways-youre-wasting-money-at-the-grocery-store-and-what-to-do-instead%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2653988&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Eating well during rising food prices doesn&#8217;t require spending a lot.Key tips include avoiding automatic purchases of boneless, skinless chicken breasts-opt for more flavorful and cost-effective cuts like thighs, drumsticks, or whole chickens, which can also be used to make homemade stock.Rather than always buying expensive steaks, choose budget-pleasant cuts and cook them properly to enhance their flavor. Cut costs by preparing your own chopped fruits and vegetables instead of buying pre-cut options, and purchase &#8220;ugly&#8221; produce or discounted items nearing spoilage for recipes like sauces or smoothies.<\/p>\n<p>Frozen foods are valuable and often just as good as fresh, especially for vegetables and seafood, so use frozen products freely to reduce waste and save money. Experimenting with different ground meats can be more economical and flavorful, depending on what&#8217;s on sale. Buying pantry staples like rice, beans, and oats in bulk saves money-just make sure you&#8217;ll use them all. Eggs are versatile, cheap, and filling, suitable for many meals.Instead of sticking rigidly to recipes, shop for what&#8217;s on sale and in season, then plan meals that utilize available ingredients, emphasizing adaptability.<\/p>\n<p>Avoid paying extra for convenience items like pre-cut vegetables or stock cubes-making these yourself is cheaper and can be just as good. Ultimately, becoming a smarter shopper and cook by focusing on value, techniques, and resources like the freezer will improve your food quality and save money, proving that cost-effective eating is accessible with a little know-how.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Food has gotten expensive since Covid, and every few months we see wild swings in various products. However, eating well doesn\u2019t have to mean spending a fortune. With a few consistent, timeless tricks, you can power through the market swings without even putting a dent in your budget, all while eating like a chef (although most chefs eat cereal after a shift).  <\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest mistakes people make at the grocery store is <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >assuming higher price means higher quality<\/a>. In some cases, this is true, yet most of the time, you\u2019re paying for convenience and marketing.<\/p>\n<p>As a chef and restaurant owner, it\u2019s imperative I spend a majority of my time obsessing over food cost. In a restaurant, a few dollars wasted here and there eventually add up and become the difference between making money and closing your doors. Your home kitchen isn\u2019t much different.<\/p>\n<p>Here are 10 places I think people routinely waste money at the grocery store and what I\u2019d buy instead.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>1. Stop Automatically Buying Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Yes, they\u2019re convenient, but remember, a false sense of convenience will cost you a lot of money in this market. Instead, look at chicken thighs, drumsticks, leg quarters, and whole chickens. Buy whichever gives you the best value that week.<\/p>\n<p>As I have mentioned many times in the past, dark meat also has more flavor and is much harder to overcook. So if you are a beginner cook, or just someone who prefers flavor, you can use it for tacos, rice bowls, soups, pasta, sandwiches, and casseroles.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind, if you buy bone-in chicken, don\u2019t throw away the bones. Simmer them with an onion, carrot, and celery, and you\u2019ve turned dinner scraps into tomorrow\u2019s chicken stock. You can also just throw in whatever vegetable scraps are hiding in your fridge, partially cut, alone and waiting for a flavor bath. <\/p>\n<p>Chef rule: Bones are never garbage.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>2. Stop Thinking Good Steak Means Expensive Steak<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>You don\u2019t need a $25 ribeye to have steak for dinner, and I would even suggest you are paying for a lot of fat when you purchase that ribeye. Look for chuck eye, flat iron, Denver steak, sirloin, flap meat, and even eye of round depending on what you\u2019re making. The difference is in the technique. Salt it properly ahead of time, don\u2019t overcook it, and use the same technique for most steaks regardless of the cut. Be sure to slice tougher cuts thinly against the grain; then finish with butter and herbs.<\/p>\n<p>Learning how to make inexpensive cuts taste expensive is one of the most valuable skills you can have in a kitchen. I\u2019ll take a properly cooked $8 steak over a destroyed $25 ribeye every time.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>3. Stop Paying Someone Else to Cut Your Fruit<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This one drives me crazy. Look at the price per pound of a whole pineapple or watermelon. Then look at the little plastic container of somebody else\u2019s chopped pineapple or watermelon. You\u2019re paying a huge premium for a few minutes of knife work. The same goes for chopped onions, sliced peppers, and a lot of pre-cut vegetables.<\/p>\n<p>Certainly, convenience has value. If buying chopped vegetables means you\u2019ll actually cook instead of ordering $70 worth of DoorDash, buy the chopped vegetables, but understand what you\u2019re paying for. It\u2019s usually not better food, it\u2019s overpriced labor.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>4. Buy the Ugly Produce<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A crooked carrot tastes exactly like a straight carrot \u2014 a bruised tomato might not belong on a beautiful Caprese salad, but it can make a fantastic tomato sauce or pico. Overripe bananas are perfect for pancakes, smoothies, or banana bread (and no, that podcast rumor about bananas ruining your smoothie is not true).<\/p>\n<p>Look for markdowns on produce that needs to be used quickly. This is where knowing how to cook becomes a financial superpower.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>5. Stop Being Afraid of the Freezer Aisle<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Frozen doesn\u2019t mean inferior \u2014 most frozen food is frozen at peak ripeness. Frozen peas, corn, spinach, broccoli, berries, and other fruits and vegetables are fantastic values. Use exactly what you need and put the rest back in the freezer; then you won\u2019t have to deal with CNN math, where they assume you throw away what you don\u2019t use in a recipe. <\/p>\n<p>Compare that with the $6 container of fresh spinach you had great intentions for on Monday and discovered turning into green soup in the back of your refrigerator Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Always remember \u2014 food you throw away is the most expensive food you buy. <\/p>\n<p>And check the seafood section. Plenty of seafood sold as \u201cfresh\u201d at the grocery store was previously frozen. Sometimes buying it frozen lets you get essentially the same product, keep it longer, and thaw it when you actually need it. Read the labels and compare the price per pound.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>6. Don\u2019t Get Married to One Ground Meat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Everyone reaches for ground beef out of habit, or because they don\u2019t want to be shamed on X (just see <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChefGruel\/status\/2090236318500749488\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">my recent post on turkey burgers<\/a>). Look around first. Depending on what\u2019s on sale, ground turkey, chicken, or pork might be considerably cheaper and more flavorful. Ground meat is basically a blank canvas anyway. The trick with leaner meat is technique: Get your pan hot, don\u2019t crowd it, brown the meat hard, season aggressively, and add some fat if it needs richness. Onion, garlic, spices, and a little butter or good olive oil can turn inexpensive ground meat into tacos, meatballs, burgers, pasta sauce, or a rice bowl.<\/p>\n<p>Buy the protein that\u2019s the best value that week, not the one you always buy.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>7. Stop Buying Tiny Packages of Cheap Food<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Rice is one of the world\u2019s great budget foods. So why are we buying it in tiny designer packages? Pretty soon you will be buying it inside a mini Gucci purse.\u00a0If your family eats rice regularly, compare the unit price on a larger bag. Also, use a rice cooker; this is one of the cheapest, most effective tools in the kitchen. <\/p>\n<p>Do the same thing with dried beans, oats, flour, and other pantry staples you actually use. But there\u2019s an important caveat: Buying in bulk only saves money if you actually eat it. A 25-pound bag of something isn\u2019t a bargain if 17 pounds of it are still sitting in your garage three years from now. Bulk-buy the staples your family burns through and buy everything else in reasonable quantities.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>8. Eggs Are Still One of the Great Meal Hacks<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>People see the price of eggs and compare it with what eggs cost five or ten years ago.<\/p>\n<p>I look at them differently, comparing eggs with the price of other proteins. Two or three eggs, some potatoes, leftover vegetables, and a little cheese can make an inexpensive meal that actually fills you up. Make an omelet, a frittata, put fried eggs over rice, make breakfast tacos. Heck, throw a sunny-side-up egg over roasted potatoes, and suddenly yesterday\u2019s side looks like something you\u2019d pay $17 for at brunch ($27 in Los Angeles).<\/p>\n<p>Breakfast for dinner remains undefeated.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>9. Stop Shopping for Recipes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>This may be the biggest change you can make. Most people decide what they\u2019re going to cook, find five recipes online, and then go to the grocery store with a list of 37 specific ingredients. I always reverse the process. Shop first. Cook second.<\/p>\n<p>I ask these questions: What\u2019s on sale? What\u2019s in season? What protein is the best value? What\u2019s already sitting in your pantry?<\/p>\n<p>If chicken thighs are cheap, maybe it\u2019s roasted chicken Monday, tacos Tuesday, and chicken soup Wednesday. Restaurants survive by cross-utilizing ingredients; home kitchens should, too.<\/p>\n<p>Your refrigerator shouldn\u2019t contain twelve specialty ingredients you bought for twelve different recipes and never touched again (but if they do, at least turn them into soup).<\/p>\n<p>Learn to cook with what you have instead of constantly buying what a recipe tells you to have.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>10. Stop Paying for Water<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Once you start noticing this, you\u2019ll see it everywhere. Take chicken stock for example, a big carton of chicken stock is convenient, but you\u2019re essentially buying seasoned water and paying someone to package it. Compare the cost with a concentrated stock base, bouillon cubes, or making stock yourself from bones you\u2019ve already bought.<\/p>\n<p>You can get dozens of uses out of a small container of concentrated base. The principle applies throughout the grocery store. Sometimes dried beans make more financial sense than canned. A block of cheese can be cheaper than the same cheese shredded and packaged. Whole vegetables can be cheaper than chopped vegetables sealed in plastic. None of these convenience products are inherently bad, but they will always be more expensive.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Bigger Point<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Saving money on groceries doesn\u2019t mean living on instant noodles. Becoming a smarter and more flexible cook will take you to another level beyond noodles. <\/p>\n<p>Buying ingredients instead of products will force you to learn, but the beauty of cooking is that when you learn a few techniques and understand heat, it becomes easy very quickly. So easy, I am still wondering how I haven\u2019t educated people enough to lose my own career. <\/p>\n<p>Shop based on value instead of recipes and learn how to cook cheaper cuts. Use your freezer. Compare price per pound instead of package price. Pay for convenience when convenience actually helps you but recognize when you\u2019re paying a premium for something you could easily do yourself.<\/p>\n<p>And of course, learn a handful of basic techniques that allow you to walk into a grocery store without needing a rigid shopping list. The person who can look at chicken thighs, potatoes, eggs, onions, and whatever vegetables happen to be on sale and figure out dinner has a massive advantage over the person shopping ingredient-by-ingredient for a recipe.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was adapted from an article originally <a href=\"https:\/\/andrewgruel.substack.com\/p\/how-to-eat-better-for-less\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published<\/a> on the author\u2019s Substack.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Andrew Gruel, a graduate of Johnson &#038; Wales University, is a food entrepreneur and television personality. He is the Founder of Slapfish Restaurant Group (27 locations), the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/why-chefs-like-me-support-rfk-jr-s-crusade-to-fix-our-food\/\" title=\"Why Chefs Like Me Support RFK Jr.&#039;s Crusade To Fix Our ...\">award-winning food truck-turned-international brick<\/a> and mortar, based out of Huntington Beach, California, and currently CEO and founder of American Gravy Restaurant Group.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Smart tips to eat well on a budget post-Covid<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3598,"featured_media":2653989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nrd-D6Tu_L3chLE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[7983,18912,67013,66167,85065],"class_list":["post-2653988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-budgeting","tag-groceries","tag-money-tips","tag-saving-money","tag-shopping-wisely"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nrd-D6Tu_L3chLE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2653988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3598"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2653988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2653988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2653992,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2653988\/revisions\/2653992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2653989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2653988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2653988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2653988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}