5 Things I No Longer Buy at the Grocery Store (to save $$)

Seems like every time I turn on the news, someone is talking about inflation and food prices. And every time I go to the grocery store, I see it. I recently ran out of dishwasher soap, and noticed when I got home that the new container was significantly smaller than the older one. Shrinkflation is just another way companies are trying to keep their margins profitable.

Yep, it’s expensive out there!

But there are some things you can DIY at home to save yourself money. Here are a few things that I haven’t purchased from a grocery store in a long time (if ever) because making them at home from scratch is so easy and cheap. I’m saving myself a lot of money by doing this!

Pickled Red Onions: I use these on SO MANY THINGS. They’re great to top off a rice bowl (I do mine with tofu, edamame and roasted veg), I love them on tacos, and I’ll also use them to finish my avocado toast. I don’t have a recipe here yet, drop a comment if you’d like one!

Salad Dressing/Vinaigrette: A basic vinaigrette is quick and easy to make. The basics are oil, some kind of acid like lemon juice or vinegar, seasonings and a little mustard to bind. You can save yourself between $4-6 per bottle! Here’s a recipe that takes just a few minutes.

Hummus: If you have a decent blender and few pantry ingredients, you can make the GOAT dip of all time, hummus. You just need chickpeas, lemon juice, tahini, seasonings and a little olive oil. I use it as a dip for crackers and veggies, or I slather it on bread to make sandwiches and toasts. You can even incorporate it into a pasta sauce! Hummus can run you between $3-5 per tub, but you can make it for just pennies. Here’s a simplified recipe.

Beans: Speaking of chickpeas, let’s talk about the price of canned beans versus dried beans. You used to be able to get a can of beans on sale for a buck, but that’s no longer the case. Most cans of beans now sell for between $1.50 and $2. However, you can buy a bag of dried beans (or head to your local bulk store to save even more), for between $3-$5 and cooked, these will make at least 5x the amount of beans you can buy in a can. Buying dried beans is a huge cost-saver. But I can hear you now: “Rebecca, dried beans are so much work! You have to soak them overnight and then they take hours to cook!” True, my friend, UNLESS you own an Instant Pot. You can cook them from dry in your IP in about 40-50 minutes, depending 0n the size of your beans. Click here for a tutorial. Beans are a fantastic and cheap source of protein and fibre.

Kefir: I’m newly on my Kefir journey, which started last summer. It’s made a huge difference in my gut health. Kefir is a kind of fermented, drinkable yogurt. It contains more strains of bacteria than yogurt does, so it’s really good for your gut. Kefir is not cheap; it costs about $7 a litre, so I started making my own, and it’s really simple to make. You just need kefir grains, but you should be able to get some off of Facebook Marketplace, or possibly from your local Buy Nothing Group. Here’s a tutorial that shows you how to make it, and trust me when I say, it’s super easy!

What things do you make yourself at home to save money? Drop them in the comments below!