9 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons

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Sara Eckel on Sep 8, 2009 at 11:00AM

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9 Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill Without Clipping Coupons

1. Chop Your Own Veggies

If you’re suffering from sticker shock at the supermarket but have no interest in organizing coupon files or stockpiling spaghetti sauce, fear not. Jeff Yeager, author of The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches, says it’s easy to find inexpensive, healthy food without a lot of preplanning. “I can walk into any grocery store in America on any given day and cook wonderful meals using ingredients that cost less than $1 a pound,” he says. Here are his strategies:

Would you pay someone $100 an hour to cut and peel your vegetables? That’s basically what you’re doing when you buy shredded carrots or sliced red peppers, says Yeager. When you purchase a frozen entree, you’re doubling that rate. So remember: The less processed or packaged the food is, the better the value.

—Sara Eckel

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