YOU’RE PAYING A LOT MORE FOR FOOD THESE DAYS. HERE’S HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON GROCERIES.

Thankfully, food spending is typically more flexible than fixed expenses like rent or car payments — and there are a number of small changes that can shrink your monthly grocery bill. 

MarketWatch talked to experts for their best advice on how to keep food spending within your budget. Here’s how to save money on groceries and feed yourself — and your family — when funds are tight.

Embrace meal planning and detailed shopping lists to save money

The experts all agreed: A meal plan and a detailed shopping list are two essential tools to keep your grocery spending low.

Start by planning out some meals and foods you’ll eat throughout the week. The plan doesn’t have to be complex, said Beth Moncel, founder of the recipe website Budget Bytes.

“You don’t have to plan every meal, every day, at once,” she said. Instead, start out with a plan for one meal each day for the week, like dinner, she suggested.

From the archives (November 2019): This woman slashed her grocery bill using tricks she picked up working at Whole Foods

Planning to use the same ingredient in multiple ways is one way to simplify meal planning and streamline your shopping list, said Leanne Brown, author of the cookbook “Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day.”

Brown often buys one large container of ground meat and uses it for multiple dishes throughout the week — in a stir-fry one night, for example, and in a pasta sauce the next. She also will opt to eat the same meal multiple days in a row, like an egg and toast every day for breakfast. 

“Embrace being a little repetitive,” she said. 

Once you have a sense of the groceries you’ll need for the week, take inventory of your fridge and pantry before finalizing your shopping list, said Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru.com. Shop your pantry — making a note of what you actually need more of and what you already have on hand.

“We have a tendency to overbuy,” he said. “Part of it has to do with not remembering what’s in our cupboard.”

Shop smartly at the grocery store

There are also a few tricks to saving money while you shop. 

For starters, look at a product’s price per ounce or price per unit — you can often find it in smaller type on the price tag on the store shelf. This can help ensure you’re getting the best price for an item and not getting fooled by differences in packaging, said Jeff Campbell, who runs the website The Grocery Store Guy. 

Similarly, don’t fall prey to flashy displays, such as endcaps placed at the end of aisles. While those products might be displayed prominently, they’re not necessarily on sale, Lempert noted.

It’s pretty much always a good idea to opt for generic or store-brand items, Campbell added. They’re cheaper than name-brand products and often come from the same manufacturing plant.

Steering clear of the snack aisle is one more way to keep your costs low. “Any kind of processed food is always going to be more expensive,” Campbell said.

Minimize food waste and use leftovers

One other key strategy to spending less on food: Throw less of it away. 

Americans waste about 80 million tons of food each year, according to the food-pantry network Feeding America. About half of that waste comes from households. 

But tossing food in your own kitchen is essentially the same as throwing away your hard-earned cash, Moncel said.

“I tell people to try and change their mindset,” she said. “Imagine throwing those dollars into the garbage.” The more ways you can find to use and reinvent leftovers, the less money you’ll spend replenishing your fridge. 

Keeping a pantry well stocked with flavor boosters like olive oil, soy sauce and basic spices may cost a bit more upfront, but that investment will pay off when it comes time to whip up a meal with wilting produce or whatever else you have on hand, Brown added. 

For those who often find themselves tossing fruits and vegetables that have gone bad, frozen produce can be a good alternative, Lempert said. They’re often cheaper than fresh items and can sit in your freezer until you’re ready to use them.

Some foods are also still good to eat past the expiration date listed on their packaging. Instead, you can check for physical signs of spoilage.

Using up leftovers can often be much simpler than you think, Moncel said: “You can put just about anything into a soup, a stir-fry or on a pizza.”

Looking for even more ways to keep your grocery bills low? Try these tips and tricks. 

• Go meatless: Meat is often one of the most expensive items at the grocery store, Brown noted. Trying alternative protein sources like lentils, chickpeas or tofu can help save a few extra bucks. “I encourage using [meat] as flavor rather than the center of the dish,” she said. 
• Check sales flyers: Most grocery stores these days upload their weekly sales flyers online, Moncel said. She likes to check those weekly before grocery shopping, and uses the free Flipp app to view flyers from multiple stores at one time.
• Grow your own herbs: Fresh herbs can be pricey, and you often have to buy more than a given recipe calls for, Campbell noted, leading to food waste. But if you’ve got a pot, some dirt and a front porch or windowsill, spending a few extra bucks on a basil or parsley plant can save you a lot of money in the long run.
• Skip the fresh shrimp: Unless you live on the coast, the so-called fresh shrimp at your store is almost certainly just defrosted, Lempert said. Go ahead and just buy it from the frozen-seafood section.
• Embrace the “bowl meal”: Sometimes, using up your groceries can be as simple as throwing things together in a bowl, Moncel said. She likes to fill hers with rice, a soft-boiled egg and whatever vegetables she has lying around: “Anything I have in my fridge, I throw it in a bowl.”