This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Food Lion. All opinions are 100% mine.
After I graduated from college, I had a roommate who was serious about saving money. One evening, I got home from work to find her heading out the door with a mega pack of toilet paper that I knew she had bought the day before.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Returning this to the store," she replied. "I found a coupon for another store so I'm taking this back and going to buy it somewhere else."
Even though I was relatively new to managing my money, I knew that it did not make sense for her to drive across town and make 2 stops for a $1.00 coupon. With the traffic where we lived, she spent more than that in gas alone!
Fast forward 20 years and now as a busy mom of two, I'm even more convinced that there is a mistake a lot of us make when we are trying to save money on groceries.
The good news is that it is actually easy to save on groceries when you know how, and you don't need to return your toilet paper to do it.
The Secret to Grocery Shopping Busy Moms Need to Know
Every mom I know is trying to save money on groceries. And when you ask them how they do it, you might be surprised at their response.
I buy my meat at one store, produce at another, shop for staples online and compare coupons every week to decide where to go.
I grocery shop at least 4 times a week so that I can hit each store's sales.
There's one thing that these "savings chasers" are forgetting: time is money too.
Moms these days are busier than ever before. With work, volunteering, kids' activities, and so much laundry, we all have a limited amount of time. When you are spending time (and gas!) going from store to store in search of a deal you are wasting the time that you do have. And likely not saving much money in the long run either.
So what's the secret to saving time and money?
Finding one store where you can shop regularly and taking advantage of all the savings that they offer by shopping smart.
It's easier than it sounds when you know where to go and how to do it.
Shop Smart at Food Lion
When it comes to smart grocery shopping, Food Lion makes it easy. There is no need to run around from store to store trying to find the best prices: you can get everything you need from staples to specials in one spot. It is easy to see where you are saving money with Food Lion - just look for the signs.
Follow these simple tips to take advantage of all the ways you can save on groceries so you have more time and money to spend on the things your family loves.
Start with an MVP Card
Besides saving you time, choosing one grocery store for all your shopping means that you can take full advantage of their loyalty card savings. With Food Lion's MVP card, you get access to lower prices on the food your family loves. You'll also get extra savings and coupons downloaded instantly to your card! No more clipping coupons or searching for deals online. Be sure to sign up for Shop & Earn, where you'll get personalized savings based on the things you buy the most.
You can also visit the MVP Savings Center when you enter the store for even more personalized deals. How cool is that?
Plan Around the Sales
Of course, you never should go to the grocery store without a shopping list and a meal plan. Make your meal plan work for you by planning around the things that are on sale each week. Food Lion makes this super easy: I browse the weekly specials online while I am making my meal plan to decide what we will have each week. Then I can instantly add things to my grocery list with just a click.
You can also take advantage of stock up and save sales for the things that you use the most.
Shop Store Brands
One of the things I love about shopping Food Lion is that I can get food that I feel good about feeding my family without spending more. By choosing the Nature's Place brand I can get organic staples for much less than at specialty stores. It makes it simple to choose the very best (and I can also get the brand names I love for less when I need to).
When it comes to feeding my family, I want to know that I'm able to give them the essentials that they love without sacrificing quality or going over my budget. Shopping at Food Lion helps me to do this without running all over town. This way I can get my groceries in one trip, rack up my savings, and be home in time to pick up the kids and head to the playground instead of another store. And that is the ultimate mom win.