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Outside of housing and transportation, Americans spend more on food than any other category. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2020 the average U.S. household shelled out $7,316 on food, including groceries and eating out.

While food is an essential expense (since we all need to eat), many of us could probably stand to spend less than what we’re currently spending on groceries, restaurants, and morning lattes.

Fortunately, with a little planning and some smart shopping hacks, you may be able to significantly cut the amount of money you spend on food but still eat well.

Here are 30 ways you can save more on your food purchases. Let’s start with the grocery store:

Saving at the Grocery Store

1. Having a Plan

Before you craft your grocery list, it’s wise to plan what meals and snacks you want to prepare for the week or weeks ahead. If you write it all down and then create your shopping list, you’re less likely to forget key items for certain recipes and you’ll know exactly what you need when you enter the store.

2. Scanning Your Fridge

While you’re making your meal plan, check your pantry and refrigerator for items you already have on hand. Not only can you avoid buying something you already have, but you may find some hidden veggies in the fridge you’d forgotten about that could otherwise spoil.

3. Going Semi-Vegetarian

Meat tends to be one of the most expensive ingredients in many meals. But there are plenty of tasty recipes out there that use other sources of protein, such as beans, eggs, and tofu. Also, don’t count out using tasty veggies or grains as the star of a dish.

Planning just one or two meatless meals each week can automatically cut your food spending — and also help you eat a little healthier.

4. Sticking to a Grocery Budget

If you don’t include your groceries in your monthly budget, you may want to consider doing so. It can help you track exactly how much you’re spending and where you can cut back (like those cookies or snacks you may not always need but are in the habit of buying).

5. Using Only Cash

Do you have trouble skipping over tasty treats and passing up deals and discounts when you’re at the grocery store? If so, you may want to consider taking only cash to the store to limit your ability to purchase items not on your grocery list.

6. Outsmarting the Supermarket

Grocery stores use a number of marketing tricks to get shoppers to spend more. These include stocking the most expensive items on the shelves right at your eye level, using end caps to grab your attention, and placing staples like milk, eggs, and bread at the back of the store so you’re forced to pass through several aisles to get to them.

You can avoid falling for these marketing ploys by carrying a list (and sticking to it) and also by keeping your eyes on the upper and lower shelves, as this is where you’ll tend to find the more affordable brands.

7. Going Generic

Brand name products in the supermarket can often cost 35 to 45 percent more than store brands. Yet many store brands offer essentially the same quality as their brand name counterparts, and in some cases are produced at the same facilities (just packaged with a different label).

While not all store brands are built the same, it’s worth trying a few if you’re grocery shopping on a budget. If you find that you can’t tell the difference, you may be able to enjoy some solid savings.

8. Using Store Loyalty Apps

If you shop at a large grocery store chain or mass retailer, you can often get special promotions and additional savings by downloading the store’s app.

Target, Walmart, Wegmans, Whole Foods, and other major stores have apps that offer exclusive coupons to frequent shoppers. Often, taking advantage of these deals is as simply as letting the cashier scan a barcode on your phone as you’re checking out.

9. Pruning Your Produce

Before you put fruits and veggies in the plastic bag, you may want to take a moment to remove any stalks, leaves, or stems that aren’t edible. Since you’re paying by weight, anything that you remove to lower the weight lowers the price.

10. Shopping In Season

Fruits and vegetables tend to be cheaper, and also taste better when they are in season locally. While you may be able to purchase fresh strawberries year-round, they’ll likely be more expensive (and less sweet) in the winter when they’re being harvested and shipped from somewhere far away.

You can check out this seasonality chart to find out when foods are in their prime where you live, and then adjust your menu, planning accordingly.

11. Avoiding Pre-Cut Products

If you just love that bag of grated cheese, you may want to consider comparing it to the price of the non-grated block. There’s a big difference in price, and grating cheese is really not a daunting task. The same goes for pre-cut fruits and vegetables. Sure, they’re handy for snacking, but extra money in your savings account could be nicer.

12. Eating Before You Shop

Yes, this may be a common tip, but it’s a good one. Going grocery shopping while hungry can increase your chance of impulse buying. Shopping after you’ve already had a meal is a great way to keep any hunger pains from adding items to your shopping cart.

13. Keeping an Eye on Unit Price

Comparing price and value can be tough when items don’t come in the same size. When in doubt, you can always turn to unit prices, which are often listed on the shelf tag.

Unit price gives you an apples-to-apples comparison, such as ounce to ounces or liters to liters.

For example, the cheapest bottle of olive oil on the shelf might not be the best value. If you bought a larger one, it might cost a few bucks more, but its overall cost per ounce is lower, saving you more in the long run.

14. Using Rewards Credit Cards

Some credit cards offer extra cash back for groceries and even eating out. If you use one of these cards for your purchase, you could end up saving a pretty nice amount of money each month — sometimes as much as 5% depending on which card you carry.

Saving When Eating Out

15. Dining out for Lunch Instead of Dinner

Cutting down on food expenses doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy your favorite restaurants. One way to get that experience for a cheaper price is to go for lunch, not dinner.

Lunch menus often offer many of the same entrees (in slightly smaller portions) for a lower price than dinner menus. You can sometimes also find affordable lunch specials or Prix fixe options.

16. Enjoying Membership Discounts

Some organizations, like AARP, offer special member discounts at many restaurants (and even at some grocery and big-box retailers). If you eat out often, the savings could add up quickly.

17. Splitting the Entree

A lot of restaurants serve portions that are far larger than what most people really need (or sometimes even want) to eat. So, instead of getting a doggy bag for your leftovers that may end up sitting forgotten in the refrigerator, consider splitting a big entree with a dining companion. Even if you start with an app or a salad, you’re probably going to see some significant savings.

18. Skipping the Cocktails & Dessert

At the end of every meal, the waiter comes back around and asks the dreaded question, “Will there be anything else?” Unless you’re going out for a special occasion and you want to splurge, you can end up saving a lot of money by skipping the alcohol and dessert, and simply requesting the final bill.

19. Looking for Special Restaurant Discounts

Restaurants sometimes provide online coupons or special deals during events like restaurant week. So, if you’re eager to try a new eatery, you may want to check out their website first for any special deals they may be offering. And keeping up with your city’s restaurant week deals and other special events can really pay off, too.

Saving When Cooking at Home

20. Cooking More Meals at Home

Restaurants typically charge around a 300% markup on the foods they serve. That means spending $30 eating out would only cost you $10 if you made it at home. Just swapping one or two restaurant meals with a home-cooked meal and/or brown-bagging lunch a few days a week, can add up to significant monthly savings.

Also, grabbing a cup of Joe every morning from the local coffee shop adds up. Consider brewing your coffee at home a few times each week to save a few dollars.

Recommended: Examining the Price of Eating at Home vs Eating Out

21. Learning How to Meal Plan

Eating out less is easier said than done. If you don’t plan meals ahead of time, you may find yourself struggling in the kitchen during mealtimes, and thus even more tempted to simply order out. To save both time and money, meal planning could be the way to go.

Meal planning entails thinking ahead and creating a menu for the week, then using your menu to create a shopping list. You don’t have to plan every meal to the letter, but picking a few simple recipes you can whip for dinner can save you from having to get take-out after a long workday.

Recommended: How Much Should I Spend on Food a Month?

22. Prepping in Advance

Bagged salads, pre-made pizzas, and cut-up fruits and vegetables can be enticing on a busy weeknight, but these conveniences come at a high markup.

If you don’t have time to slice and dice raw ingredients in the evenings after work, you may want to consider doing some meal prep for the week on Sundays.

Having your ingredients ready to go also makes it easier to throw meals together, and eating out or ordering take-out becomes less tempting.

Recommended: Does Buying in Bulk Save Money?

23. Reducing Portion Sizes

Many Americans eat more than they actually need. The average person needs about 4 ounces of protein at any given meal, so if you’re consuming more than that, you could save a lot on your overall grocery expense by cutting back.

More Ways to Save

24. Reducing Food Waste

The average household wastes 31.9% of the food it buys, according to a study published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics . The total annual cost of the wasted food was estimated to be $240 billion or $1,866 per household.

Food waste is often the result of food spoiling before the household can eat it. One way to reduce how much food — and money — gets tossed into the garbage each week is to only buy what you need for the week (by meal planning and making a list). Another way is to make sure you’re storing your fresh foods properly so it lasts.

For example, you can increase the lifespan of lettuce by wrapping it in a paper towel to absorb moisture while it sits in your fridge. Also, placing herbs in a jar of water can help prevent them from wilting quickly, giving you more time to use them.

25. Taking Advantage of Rebate Apps

When you’re searching for easy ways to save money, it’s worth checking out all the many grocery rebate apps that are now available.

Apps, such as Ibotta, Receipt Hog, Checkout 51m and Fetch Rewards, will often give you cashback for things you’d purchase anyway. While rebates don’t give you a discount upfront (like a traditional coupon), you should see savings in the long run.

Some apps send checks once you reach a certain cash-back amount, such as $20.

26. Starting a Kitchen Garden

Fresh herbs at the grocery store can be expensive, and often, recipes call for only a few sprigs or leaves, leaving the rest of a purchase to go to waste.

To avoid having to buy fresh herbs at the store, you may want to consider setting up a window sill garden containing the herbs you reach for most often, such as parsley, mint, thyme, or basil.

Start-up costs are minimal, and these plants tend to be easy to grow — no green thumb required.

27. Hitting the Farmer’s Market Later in the Day

If you love shopping at the local farmer’s market but don’t enjoy the dent it makes in your wallet, you may want to consider showing up near closing time.

At the end of the day, farmers often don’t want to pack up their food and take it home with them. If you walk around and make a reasonable offer on a box of produce they have left, you might score a great deal on fresh (and delicious) fruits and veggies.

28. Watching for Seasonal Deals

After major holidays like Halloween, Christmas and Easter, you can often get good deals on holiday-related items like candy. If you don’t care about themed wrappers, you can save a nice chunk of change.

29. Shopping Online

Buying dry goods and other non-perishables online instead of at the grocery store can end up saving you a lot of money, especially if you buy in bulk sizes and get those items delivered on a regular schedule. For example, Amazon offers up to a 15% discount for consumers who schedule auto-shipments for their products.

30. Consider Subscribing to Meal Kits

If you already don’t like cooking and the cleanup that comes with it, meal kits can be a great option. And if you’re spending money eating out because you just don’t feel like cooking, they can be a great way to stick to your food budget.

The Takeaway

With a little planning and just a few habit shifts, you may be able to slash your food bills without sacrificing quality, taste, or nutrition. The cash you free up can then be put towards savings or another financial goal.

You may find that setting up a monthly food budget — and target spending amounts per week — can also help you spend less on food. Using a money management app can help you stick to your food budget.

SoFi Checking and Savings is a mobile-first checking and savings account that allows users to easily view their weekly grocery and restaurant spending right in the dashboard of the app. There are no fees, and you can earn a competitive APY.

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SoFi members with direct deposit activity can earn 4.60% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Direct Deposit means a deposit to an account holder’s SoFi Checking or Savings account, including payroll, pension, or government payments (e.g., Social Security), made by the account holder’s employer, payroll or benefits provider or government agency (“Direct Deposit”) via the Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) Network during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Deposits that are not from an employer or government agency, including but not limited to check deposits, peer-to-peer transfers (e.g., transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc.), merchant transactions (e.g., transactions from PayPal, Stripe, Square, etc.), and bank ACH funds transfers and wire transfers from external accounts, do not constitute Direct Deposit activity. There is no minimum Direct Deposit amount required to qualify for the stated interest rate.

SoFi members with Qualifying Deposits can earn 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% APY on checking balances. Qualifying Deposits means one or more deposits that, in the aggregate, are equal to or greater than $5,000 to an account holder’s SoFi Checking and Savings account (“Qualifying Deposits”) during a 30-day Evaluation Period (as defined below). Qualifying Deposits only include those deposits from the following eligible sources: (i) ACH transfers, (ii) inbound wire transfers, (iii) peer-to-peer transfers (i.e., external transfers from PayPal, Venmo, etc. and internal peer-to-peer transfers from a SoFi account belonging to another account holder), (iv) check deposits, (v) instant funding to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, (vi) push payments to your SoFi Bank Debit Card, and (vii) cash deposits. Qualifying Deposits do not include: (i) transfers between an account holder’s Checking account, Savings account, and/or Vaults; (ii) interest payments; (iii) bonuses issued by SoFi Bank or its affiliates; or (iv) credits, reversals, and refunds from SoFi Bank, N.A. (“SoFi Bank”) or from a merchant.

SoFi Bank shall, in its sole discretion, assess each account holder’s Direct Deposit activity and Qualifying Deposits throughout each 30-Day Evaluation Period to determine the applicability of rates and may request additional documentation for verification of eligibility. The 30-Day Evaluation Period refers to the “Start Date” and “End Date” set forth on the APY Details page of your account, which comprises a period of 30 calendar days (the “30-Day Evaluation Period”). You can access the APY Details page at any time by logging into your SoFi account on the SoFi mobile app or SoFi website and selecting either (i) Banking > Savings > Current APY or (ii) Banking > Checking > Current APY. Upon receiving a Direct Deposit or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits to your account, you will begin earning 4.60% APY on savings balances (including Vaults) and 0.50% on checking balances on or before the following calendar day. You will continue to earn these APYs for (i) the remainder of the current 30-Day Evaluation Period and through the end of the subsequent 30-Day Evaluation Period and (ii) any following 30-day Evaluation Periods during which SoFi Bank determines you to have Direct Deposit activity or $5,000 in Qualifying Deposits without interruption.

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The pandemic may have slowed consumer spending over the last few years, but spending is on the rise again — along with consumer debt. Americans carry, on average, three credit cards and have $5,525 in credit card debt. Overall, U.S. credit card debt is $71 billion higher than it was one year ago.

That amount of debt can be a challenge to pay down along with regular monthly household expenses. Some people may choose to refinance their high-interest credit card debt in an effort to secure a lower interest rate or a lower monthly payment. Refinancing credit card debt can be one way to make progress toward eliminating it completely.

What Is Credit Card Debt?

If you’re putting more purchases on credit cards than you can pay off in a monthly billing cycle, you have credit card debt.

Interest will accrue on the balance that carries over to the next billing cycle. If you don’t pay at least the minimum amount due, you’ll likely also be charged a late fee. Since credit cards use compound interest, you’ll be charged interest on accrued interest and fees. That can add up quickly and make it more difficult to get out of debt.

Carrying a balance on more than one credit card can make the debt even more difficult to manage. If your goal is to be free of credit card debt, refinancing can be one way to achieve that.

What Are Some Benefits of Refinancing Credit Card Debt?

Credit cards are revolving debt and typically have variable annual percentage rates (APRs).

Refinancing credit card debt with an installment loan that has a fixed interest rate, such as a personal loan, will mean you’ll have a fixed end date to your debt and will have the same APR for the entire term of the loan.

If you’re refinancing multiple credit card balances into one new loan or line of credit, you’ll have fewer bills to pay each month. That could potentially make monthly budgeting a simpler task.

How Might Debt Refinancing Affect Your Credit Score?

Something to keep in mind when your goal is to pay down debt is that it’s a long game.

That being said, in the short term your credit score can decrease slightly when you apply for new credit and the lender looks at your credit report. During the formal application process, the lender will perform a hard inquiry into your credit report, which may result in a slight temporary drop of your credit score.

If you’re comparing multiple lenders, and they offer prequalification, they’ll do a soft inquiry into your credit report, which won’t affect your credit score.

Building your credit — or rebuilding it — through refinancing credit card debt can be possible if you make on-time, regular payments on the new loan. Reducing your credit utilization can be another positive result of refinancing credit card debt. Both of these can potentially increase your credit score.

It’s important not to overuse the credit cards you refinanced into a new loan, however, or you might accumulate even more debt than you started with.

Will Canceling My Unused Credit Cards Affect my Credit Score?

After you’ve refinanced your existing credit card debt into a new loan, you might be tempted to cancel those credit cards. But that strategy could negatively affect your credit score.

Whether it’s a good idea to cancel a credit card really depends on the card. If you’ve had the credit card for a long time, closing it would shorten your credit history, which could result in a credit score drop. But if it’s a card you genuinely don’t have a reason to keep, such as a retail card for a store you no longer shop at or a card that has a high annual fee that can’t be justified with your current spending habits, closing the account might be the right step for you.

If you plan to keep a credit card open, it may be a good idea to use it for a small, recurring charge so the card issuer doesn’t close it for inactivity. Setting up autopay can make this a convenient way to ensure the card stays open but is paid in full each month.

What Are Some Options for Refinancing Credit Card Debt?

Your overall creditworthiness will be a determining factor in finding available refinancing options. Lenders will look at your credit report and credit score, paying attention to how you’ve handled credit in the past and how much total debt you have in relation to your income.

Balance Transfer Credit Card

If you can qualify for a low- or no-interest credit card, you could use it to transfer a balance from another credit card. You’ll typically be charged a balance transfer fee equal to a percentage of the balance you’re transferring. The promotional rate on these types of cards is temporary, sometimes lasting up to 18 months or so, but can be as short as 6 months.

If you pay the transferred balance in full within the promotional period, you may not pay any interest at all, or a minimal amount. However, if you still have an outstanding balance on the card when the promotional period is over, the APR will revert to the card’s standard rate for balance transfers.

Home Equity Loan

A potential source of refinancing funds might be your home, if you have equity in it. Funds from a home equity loan can be used for just about anything, even things unrelated to your home. You can calculate how much equity you have in your home by subtracting the amount you owe on your mortgage from the current market value of your home.

In addition to the amount of equity you have in your home, lenders will typically also look at your income and your credit history to determine how much you might qualify for. It’s common for lenders to limit a home equity loan to no more than 80% to 85% of the equity you have in your home. There are typically closing costs with a home equity loan including appraisal fee, title search, origination fee, or other fees, and can be between 2% and 5% of the loan amount.

A home equity loan is a second mortgage secured by your home. If you fail to repay the loan, the lender can foreclose on your home.

Debt Consolidation Loan

Some lenders offer loans specifically for debt consolidation. These are actually personal loans, the funds from which can be used to pay off your existing credit card debt. Then, you’ll be responsible for repaying the debt consolidation loan. There may be fees charged on this type of loan, so be sure to look over the loan agreement carefully before signing it.

For a credit card consolidation loan to be as effective as possible at reducing your debt, it will ideally have a lower APR than you’re paying on your credit cards. In this way, you would be paying less in interest over the life of the loan. If a lower monthly payment is your goal, you may opt for a longer-term loan, but may pay a higher interest rate.

The Takeaway

Have you resumed pre-pandemic spending habits? If your credit card debt is piling up and you’re finding it challenging to pay it down, you may be considering refinancing. Some credit card refinancing options include balance transfer credit cards with a promotional APR, a home equity loan, or a debt consolidation loan.

A SoFi Personal Loan for debt consolidation may be one option to consider. Personal loans offered by SoFi have competitive, low fixed rates and no fees required. You can see the rate you qualify for in just one minute without affecting your credit score.^*

^*Checking Your Rates: To check the rates and terms you may qualify for, SoFi conducts a soft credit pull that will not affect your credit score. However, if you choose a product and continue your application, we will request your full credit report from one or more consumer reporting agencies, which is considered a hard credit pull and may affect your credit.

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