Get senior discounts. Harris Teeter and Hy-Vee offer 5 percent discounts, either on specific days or when you present a special store ID card. Fred Meyer and New Seasons Market discounts are 10 percent.

The discount may be available only on certain days or on select items. Buy in bulk. And larger packages often have lower per-unit pricing. WinCo Foods, based in Boise, Idaho, is one notable vendor of such products, selling low-cost bulk barrels and bins of dried fruits , pasta, spices, snacks, legumes, nuts, candies, and other items.

Barter and share. If you buy in bulk or find yourself with more of some items than you need, consider trading with neighbors and friends. Economides from MoneySmartFamily says she has bartered the citrus that grows on her property for food from folks she has found through a local Facebook gardening group.

Early in the pandemic, for instance, she got a carton of eggs, which had been hard to come by, in return for oranges and rosemary that grow on her property. Track prices.

For a few weeks, record the prices of the items you buy the most when food shopping. Do the math on grocery delivery annual memberships.

If you expect to use grocery delivery on a regular basis, calculate the value of an annual membership before you sign up. Over a year of use, that means you order about every two weeks. Learn where stores have their clearance sections, Economides says.

Grow your own. Yvette Beltran-Southwell, who lives north of Dallas, says her family grows rosemary, English thyme, two types of oregano, sage, Italian parsley, basil, and numerous other herbs to economize and reduce food waste.

Homegrown plants also last longer than bunches purchased at the store and refrigerated, she says. And, of course, they regenerate throughout the growing season. Get creative with how you use, store, and eat food.

Use your freezer right. Buying fresh blueberries in season, and stocking your freezer, is better than paying two to three times that much for frozen blueberries the rest of the year.

The Economideses even freeze milk and cheese. Tobie Stanger is a senior editor at Consumer Reports, where she has been helping readers shop wisely, save money, and avoid scams for more than 30 years.

Most recently, her home- and shopping-related beats have included appliance and grocery stores, generators, homeowners and flood insurance, humidifiers, lawn mowers, and luggage—she also covers home improvement products like flooring, roofing, and siding.

During off-hours, she works on her own fixer-upper and gets her hands dirty in the garden. Follow her on Twitter TobieStanger. Consider buying items on sale whenever possible, especially if the cost is normally high.

Sale items are often displayed in prominent locations throughout the store, such as at the entrance and ends of the aisles. While buying pre-cut veggies or pre-shredded cheese can save you time while cooking, stores often charge more for the convenience.

Opt for whole items, like fresh or frozen veggies and block cheese, to save money. If you live near various grocery stores, consider shopping at a few and comparing prices.

You can learn which store has the items you need for less and also look at the sales they run. If you currently shop at a high-end grocery store, consider switching to a store that's known for more affordable food prices like Walmart, Aldi or Trader Joe's.

Supermarkets put costly, name-brand items at eye level, which can tempt you to spend more money on high-cost items. Next time you go shopping, opt for a generic brand to save money.

If you bring reusable shopping bags to the store, you can often receive a discount on your order total. Depending on your city and state, stores like Target and Whole Foods Market can give you up to a cent discount per bag you bring.

There are a handful of rebate apps, such as Ibotta and Rakuten , that give you cash back for buying groceries. You can register for free with one of these services to save more on top of loyalty benefits and credit card rewards. Depending on the app, you may need to link a loyalty card or submit receipts to receive a rebate.

While inflation is slowing down, grocery prices continue to be high as a result of supply chain shortages and post-pandemic consumer demand.

Aldi is the most budget-friendly grocery store in America, according to a February study by Marketforce. Aldi is in 39 states and will be the country's 3rd largest grocery retailer by the end of Check out the USDA's Official Food Plans for more tailored information.

Traditional Medicare does not offer a grocery allowance. However, some Medicare Advantage plans, like some Special Needs Plans SNPs , do.

Reach out to your provider to understand your benefits. Groceries can take up a sizeable portion of your budget, especially in times of high inflation.

Fortunately, by maximizing discounts and other opportunities to save, you can offset these costs. It also helps if you have a credit card that earns a high rewards rate on grocery purchases. Money matters — so make the most of it. Get expert tips, strategies, news and everything else you need to maximize your money, right to your inbox.

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Senior discounts are a dying breed of savings, but some grocery chains still offer them. Here are grocery stores that offer senior discounts.

But the best advice is this: Call ahead and confirm before showing up and expecting a discount. Say you see a package of Italian sausages that contains six large links and is sold by the pound. But maybe you need only two or three of those links. Just go to the window at the meat department and ask the clerk to break the package for you.

Want to really learn how to save money on groceries? Then you should check out salvage stores. This unique category of retail sells canned food and other goods that are past their expiration dates.

Find the salvage store nearest you in this directory. Retailers often put items with high profit margins front and center, right at eye level, on supermarket shelving. Want to dig really deep into the philosophy of product placement? Check out our article on a little-known retail secret that may trick right-handed shoppers into spending more money.

But the deal here is, you have to wait for the sales! Grocery pickup services — offered by mainstream retailers like Kroger, Target and Walmart, to name a few — allow you to order your groceries online and then have them brought out to you while you wait in your vehicle. Sites like CardCash and Raise are in the business of buying unwanted gift cards and reselling them at a discount from their face value.

As of September , here are some of the discounts being offered on CardCash :. Note that these deals tend to sell out fast. Fortunately, you can set up alerts to know when a gift card for your grocery store becomes available.

Shop sales, use coupons for what you actually use…make a meal plan, shop during the week [and] look for the clearances. Members of our Clark. com Community shared a few more tips to help reduce expenses at the grocery store. Read the full thread here and share your opinion!

com Staff September 29th,