Cut back on the amount of cash you spend at the grocery store with these 10 helpful tips.

1. Make a list
One of the easiest ways to lower your grocery bill is to make a list and stick to it. Before heading out to the store, plan the week’s meals and then go through the fridge and pantry to see what you need. By knowing ahead of time what you have to pick up, you’ll be less likely to fill your cart up haphazardly.

2. Don’t shop hungry
One of the age-old rules when it comes to grocery shopping: never go on an empty stomach. Being surrounded by intriguing snacks while hungry is just going to result in you buying things you don’t need. Impulse buying will destroy a budget.

3. Be realistic
Nothing’s worse than throwing away produce that went bad before you had a chance to eat it. As you shop, think about what you and your family will realistically eat in the course of a week or two. Do you really need those two bunches of celery? Buying food that will likely go to waste is throwing money away – literally.

4. Cut back on meat
Meat is expensive and eating it every day will increase your grocery costs significantly. A great way to stick to a lower food budget is to incorporate a few meatless days into your weekly menu plan. There are many tasty meal choices out there that are meat-free (e.g. pasta, veggie pizza, etc.), so going the vegetarian route a couple days a week can be quite easy to do.

5. Buy generic
Store-brand products are available for almost any brand name item. Not only are the price differences quite significant, but the quality of these products are often just as good as leading brands (in fact, many store brands are actually made by the same companies that make the national brands!). If you’re apprehensive about generic, the best suggestion is to give an item a try. You may be pleasantly surprised!

6. Limit convenience foods
Do you often fill your cart with frozen entrees, pre-prepared meals, and salad in a bag? Keep in mind that the more table-ready a product is, the higher the price usually is. So while these things may seem beneficial in terms of convenience, they can be damaging to the wallet. It’s okay to buy these items occasionally, but try to limit your reliance. Preparing entrees and salads from scratch may take a little longer, but it’ll be much cheaper and often much better for you.

7. Shop at discount stores
Some chains of grocery stores have become so inviting in the last few years that it’s hard not to be tempted into shopping at them. However, by forgoing some of the luxury and shopping at discount grocery stores, you’ll save money. While these stores may have a limited selection for some things, when it comes to the price of staple and canned items they can’t be beat. Though the discount stores may not have all the amenities and you have to box your groceries yourself, at least you aren’t paying the heavy mark-up to support the appealing merchandising.

8. Don’t dawdle
When you go grocery shopping, try to stay focused and complete your shopping in less than 30 minutes. Studies have reported that after shoppers have been in a store longer than 30 minutes, they spend 50 cents for each additional minute.. Of course, the best way to finishing your shopping within that time frame is to have a well-prepared shopping list. As well, try to shop without children as they can easily prolong things (as well as contribute to impulse buying).

9. Buy groceries only
A recent trend with grocery stores is to become one-stop stores where you can get everything you need and more. They’re now devoting aisles to beauty/hygiene/health items such as shampoo, vitamins, and hair dye. While you may occasionally find good deals on these types of items, they’re usually overpriced. Stick to drugstores or stores like Zellers and Walmart for these products.

10. Bigger is not always better
Thanks to the popularity of large membership warehouse stores, many people are under the impression that economy size equals a better deal. However, just because an item is packaged in a large size doesn't always mean it's cheaper. When possible, compare the per-ounce price of different sizes – you may find that two smaller packages are cheaper than the larger pack.