How To Save Money Grocery Shopping Online

For years now I have worked to become a grocery shopping expert. I’ve learned all the tricks to saving money and stretching food. At least until we moved to Pittsburgh and opted to get rid of our car.

I knew I would need to start paying for grocery delivery. What I didn’t know was that even with the $5.95 charge I would pay every time I grocery shopped I would be spending less money. I pay less now than I ever did grocery shopping in the store.

I credit this to needing to be an intentional shopper, not making last minute shopping decisions, and always working first off a “needed” list. There are other reasons for the savings when having the groceries delivered too.

I will share my must know tips for saving money grocery shopping online a little later. First, let’s discuss your different delivery options.

How To Save Money Grocery Shopping Delivery

There are a couple of different options when it comes to getting your groceries delivered. I utilize two of these currently.

Grocery Store Delivery

My local grocery store does delivery and we just have our groceries delivered directly from them. We order the groceries and the next day we get them delivered to our front door. If I wanted to pay additional I could get them delivered the same day.

Woman wearing white shirt looking at credit card while sitting at a laptop

While I now build a list throughout the week, when I first started getting grocery delivery it was so easy to just check to see if we needed something before ordering. Gone were the days of getting home from the grocery store just to realize you forgot to get butter.

Even curbside pick up made the whole shopping experience easier and cheaper. So if your store doesn’t do delivery but does curbside pick up that’s also a good option to go with.

Amazon Prime

When we moved to Pittsburgh we knew we had grocery delivery and a lot of walkable shops. So we decided to get rid of our car and get Amazon Prime instead.

With Prime we can stock up on pantry goods and cleaning products at cheaper prices and with free shipping. Amazon has cheaper price options and with free 1 day shipping we can get what we need without needing to go to a big box store.

Some locations have 2 day shipping, we are lucky enough to live where 1 day shipping is available on select products.

Other Options

Walmart has free two day shipping on certain products and I have utilized that shipping option often. Walmart is great for getting the best price on skin care and bathroom products.

Walmart is also rolling out a same day grocery delivery, which we have in Pittsburgh already. I still prefer the produce and meats we get from my Giant Eagle though.

Target recently joined with Shipt to give their customers the same day delivery on all their goods too. While Targets prices are a little bit more expensive than Walmart the same day delivery on products is a nice option to have.

Emeals is a meal planning app that I use. It has integration with Shipt, Amazon Fresh, and others so I can pick my recipes, the app compiles a list, then I can have the groceries delivered by my local grocery store. You can try it for free for 14 days here.

Ways To Save Money On Grocery Shopping Online

There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to saving money when you are grocery shopping online. I’ve figured out some super helpful tips that will save you money even if you are paying for delivery charges.

Work Off A Must Get List First

I do my shopping about every two weeks, during those two weeks I keep a list of things we’ve run out of that we need more of. These are the regular items that we need.

When I go to do my shopping I simply search, find the items needed, and add them to the list. This approach means you are stocked up on all the things you actually need.

Shop The Sales Second

Next, shop the sales. My grocery store has a section that lists everything that’s on sale that week when I go to order. So I order food based on what’s on sale.

Woman holding a credit card and shopping online

I also stock up on my canned, boxed, and pantry goods when they are on sale because I can always make up some sort of dinner with pantry goods. This also really helps with the next step to saving money grocery shopping online.

Meal Plan

While I am shopping the sales and stocking up on goods I plan our meals for the next two weeks. I can come up with meals based on what’s on sale then if I need one or two items that aren’t on sale it doesn’t cost much.

Freeze Fresh Foods To Make Them Last

If I see that some of our favorite fresh veggies are on sale I will stock up on them. Then when I get them home I will cut them up, blanch them in boiling water, lay them out to cool and dry, then I will stick them in the freezer for them to freeze.

After they are frozen I will bag them into individual baggies. This helps to preserve our fresh foods and cuts down on my prep time at night when cooking dinner.

Recommended Services:

Just to recap, there are a few services I highly recommend for getting groceries and other products delivered.

Emeals Meal Planning has a 14 day free trial.
Direct from your grocery store
Amazon Prime
Shipt

Woman in a white shirt looking at a laptop while holding a credit card

Save Money On Grocery Shopping

To save money on grocery shopping, to save time dragging kids through the store, to save time driving for the best prices, do your grocery shopping online.

Grocery shopping online means you aren’t making last minute snack purchases. It means eating healthier. Grocery shopping online means you don’t need to pause in your day to get your grocery shopping done.

Do you do your grocery shopping online? Let me know your tips for saving time and money with this chore in the comments below. Follow me on Pinterest for more like this and pin this to your favorite save money boards.

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