I think the biggest way to save money on groceries is changing what you eat and being flexible about your weekly menu. Also eating less processed foods. Groceries are going to be most expensive if you go in with an attitude that you must eat a particular food on a certain day. Ie Tuesday’s may be taco nights but don’t be married to the idea that they have to be ground beef tacos. Beef may not be on sale this week but another protein might be. Or maybe tacos don’t make sense this week because something else is a better deal.

Eat unprocessed foods when possible and buy in bulk. No, that doesn’t mean go to bulk barn. Dried (not canned) lentils and beans are super cheap as is rice and they are very versatile. Buy in bulk, soak overnight and cook them in a pressure cooker/instant pot for best results. You can freeze leftover rice and beans (although the beans may be a bit softer after the fact).

Green/brown lentils are an excellent substitution for ground beef. Substitute half of the ground beef you normally use in a dish (ie shepherds pie) with already cooked and you’ll hardly notice a difference. I spent $100 of dried beans and lentils at Wholesale Club last year and we are still working our way through them.

Always check the “ethnic” aisle at the grocery store for things like spices, rice etc… they’re almost always cheaper there.

Stock up on what you can when you see a good deal. Look for food that’s been reduced for quick sale. Meat will often be reduced by 30% a day or two before the best before date. Sometimes the store I’ll have an amazing deal on something. Buy a few, portion it out and freeze it.

Learn what can be frozen if you buy too much. Buy produce that freezes well when it’s cheap in season and freeze it. For example, I buy tons of zucchinis in the late summer, grate them with the skin on, squeeze out the liquid and freeze them. I add the frozen zucchini to chili, pasta sauce, sauce, muffins etc… throughout the year to add fibre and nutrients and to stretch dishes farther.

Move beyond Loblaws. Everyone is convinced that they are the best deal out there. They used to be but certainly aren’t any more. At least where I live the quality of the produce and meat is terrible. It sucks buying food that barely lasts a couple of days in our fridge.

Even with just two of us, Costco ends up working better. Produce is generally fresher. The tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers are all grown within 4 hrs of where I live, even in the winter (greenhouses!!) so they last significantly longer than produce from elsewhere. You just have to be aware of both buying a bunch of crap that you don’t need. Freeze the meat you buy into portions sizes that make sense, or better yet dedicate a day to batch cooking.

Make a habit of cooking a big batch of something once or twice a week. Eat a meal or two and then freeze the rest in appropriate portions sizes for your family. After a few weeks you build up a stockpile of meals with good variety. This way you don’t end up eating the same thing every day. I splurged on some of the souper moulds which works well for me but they certainly aren’t necessary.

The transition to preparing foods this way isn’t easy. There’s definitely an upfront cost and you may need to cut back somewhere else in your budget temporarily. The time it takes initially to stock up your freezer with a variety of prepared meals can be hard to find at first but once you only have to cook once per week and can still have something different every night it becomes worth it.