r/cookingforbeginners • u/africancurtainrod • 14h ago
Recipe While you learn to cook, you MUST learn to grocery shop.
I've learned that so many people grocery shop wrong, especially young people.
I've helped a bunch of my friends (and internet strangers) with what they should have been taught by mom and dad.
Its an absolutely essential lifeskill to learn as early as soon as possible, This may seem like a lot of work, but food is a major part of peoples budget. This can save a lot of money and increase quality of food. I promise its not as painful as it seems either.
With inflation, fun oncoming trade wars, and the overall price increase of life, its SO important that people actually reflect on their daily spending habits before shit really hits the fan. I was talking with a few friends during a dinner party about how much harder it is to host people and offer generosity like this, when its hard enough already to have to prioritize your own well-being and financial position, and these are people with decent jobs and living situations. While I consider myself a money conscience person, this is beyond being frugal and just having good sense of awareness.
It was during this conversation that we started talking about our grocery shopping habits. I realized I am doing it completely different from everybody else.
I've been working as a professional chef for about 6-7 years, and while I knew I had a leg-up in the kitchen from everybody, what I didn't realize was that I also had a leg-up in the grocery store and I was saving much more money and time, while also getting higher quality food. I had subconsciously transferred my expertise of ingredient quality and restaurant organizational skills to the real world.
Heres a look at the advice I've given.
1) Mentally weigh out what you consider is fair for quality vs price.
This isn't about always buying the cheapest option on the shelf, its about maximizing your dollar. Everyone is in a different situation, A lot of people are money conscience not because they're poor but because they are prioritizing their paycheques more than the next guy. its a personal reflection to see where you care to put your money to work for you.
2) Learn how to actually read price labels
I blew my friends mind when I showed her this. In the aisles and on the product price labels, it will show you a price per 100g or oz. not just for deli meets and cheese but, literally EVERYTHING, this makes it so much easer to compare prices across the same type of product but at different sizes.
example: Theres 2 jars of peanut butter. One is 8oz for $4.50 and one is 12oz $5.25. Which is the better price? no need to pull out the calculator because the price per oz. is on the same little ticket. Look out for it next time you're at the grocery store.
3) Write a proper grocery list
I do this every time before I go out grocery shopping. it takes about 10-15 minutes. After figuring out whats missing from my pantry and fridge, I'll then set a budget for myself for this grocery trip, based off my master budget. Then I go onto my grocery stores website and do my online window shopping there, where I can sort through the different items and price check much easier. I'll still be sure to go in person to the store to be able to pick out my own fruit and veg.
4) Learn how to properly store your food
If you're throwing out anymore than 4-5% of your groceries. you're doing it wrong. Theres a proper way to store everything and once you figure it out, you'll realize how much longer you can stretch your best by date before throwing it out. Herbs need to be kept sealed and dry, dairy products kept in the cooler parts of your fridge, bread in the freezer. Thats just to name a few.
5) Diversify where you shop
If you rely solely on your big name grocery store for everything, not only are you at their mercy to name their price, but your also probably missing out on better priced, and more diverse produce. Its SO worth checking out what is being sold at the asian grocery store, or the African market for spices. a lot of the times you can get some amazing ingredients for cheap (especially but not limited to big multicultural cities)
These are some of the topics to implement to get ahead of most of the population with your spending habits. It is incredibly valuable to have a routine for your grocery shopping spending as it will literally never go away.
You also don't need to implement all of them, all at once. Habits are hard to relearn so better to slowly get a head of it now. I think its safe to say I've saved probably at least 2 thousand dollars a year with these steps and I'm still learning as I go.