When you’re first living on your own it can be overwhelming with everything that you have to pay for. I went from paying a few bills while living at home to then being responsible for everything! I think the hardest place to save money and keep the budget under control is at the grocery store.

There are so many ways you can cut down on costs or things to do to help save money. I compiled a few things we’ve done to help keep cost low when we’re buying groceries.

Buying generic brands can also really help keep costs down. I know certain things that are name brand do taste better, but if you can try and branch out to the generic brand and you end up liking it you can save tons of money!! We will buy the store brand of cheese or sour cream even lunch meat.

Be super conscientious of how big of a tub of something you’re buying. For example, sour cream, think about how often you will eat that with how long it will last. This will help you save money because you won’t be throwing so much food away.

Buying meat in bulk AND storing it properly can save you tons of money!!! I work at Costco, so we will try and buy our meat at Costco. It is TONS of meat. But it usually is better quality for the price. It will be a little expensive in the moment, but if you package it and freeze it correctly it will save you money in the long term.

Planning out what you’re going to eat for the week in advance will always help you figure out what you actually need to buy. You can see what you have already and what you still need to buy at the store. This will help you not buy ingredients or products you already have which in turn will save you money.

The biggest thing is to only buy things that are on your list. When you’re walking down the aisle and see something good you want is resisting the temptation and not buy it. Sticking to the list will save you SO much money!!!