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9 Grocery Shopping Dos and Don’ts
From buying store brands to stocking up on frozen foods, these strategies can help you save money
Kathleen Fu
Key takeaways
- Many adults age 50-plus report changing what they buy as grocery prices rise and budgets tighten.
- Comparing store prices, planning meals and avoiding impulse buys can help you curb overspending.
- Buying frozen, store‑brand and shelf‑stable foods can stretch budgets without sacrificing nutrition.
Many consumers, especially retirees on fixed incomes, fear going to the supermarket these days. With grocery prices rising by 2.7 percent from June 2025 to June 2026, who can blame them?
The sting to your wallet can feel even sharper depending on what you buy. For example, beef and veal prices jumped 11.8 percent over that 12-month period, while tomato prices soared 19.5 percent and coffee cost 12.9 percent more.
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In this inflationary food economy, 56 percent of adults ages 50 to 64 and 50 percent of adults 65 and older say they have changed what groceries they buy to stay within their budget, a May 2026 CNN poll found. That echoes a December 2025 survey by AARP, in which 48 percent of respondents age 50 and older said rising grocery costs have significantly changed how they feed their households.
Implementing the right shopping strategies can go a long way toward reducing food costs, says Joan Salge Blake, a nutrition professor at Boston University. She describes grocery shopping as an “Olympic sport” — with the right game plan and training, bargain hunters can overcome budget-busting hurdles and avoid costly mistakes.
And there are ways to stretch your grocery budget without sacrificing nutrition, says Bonnie Taub-Dix, a dietitian in New York City and author of Read It Before You Eat It. “Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive,” she says.
As you plan your next trip to the supermarket, here is a list of dos and don’ts to help you spend wisely.
Kathleen Fu
Do shop around
Food shoppers with a variety of supermarket choices should comparison shop and cherry-pick items based on store prices, says Edgar Dworsky, founder and editor of Consumer World, a website that tracks retail news, scams and trends.
He suggests scanning local circulars and doing online research to evaluate prices for specific items. If you have several supermarkets close by — and make sure they really are close by, as you don’t want to burn a lot of money on gas — it’s worth shopping at more than one.
Don’t go without a plan
Impulse purchases are a common pitfall in grocery shopping, says Andrea Woroch, a financial adviser specializing in consumer habits. She suggests mapping out your weekly meals in advance and shopping only for what you need.
“Meal planning helps avoid food waste and overspending, as it helps you create an intentional shopping list based on the meals you will eat through the week,” Woroch says.
Salge Blake says empty nesters and those living alone may want to consider meals that not only incorporate a variety of healthy ingredients, but also provide leftovers — for example, a big batch of homemade vegetable soup. “You cook once, and you eat twice or three or four times,” she says.
Do take advantage of discounts and coupons
Don’t overlook grocery store discounts for older shoppers. Participating stores typically pick one day per week, often called a “senior discount day,” to offer deals to older customers. Discounts generally range from 5 to 10 percent off your grocery bill or select items.
In addition, many supermarkets offer exclusive coupons via their mobile apps. “Download the grocery store app and learn how to navigate it,” Woroch says. “This can help you shop faster, smarter and find digital savings, including clipless coupons you redeem at checkout.”
Dworsky suggests using apps like Flashfood, Olio and Too Good to Go, which aggregate deals from local grocers and bakeries looking to offload unsold food.
Don’t get hung up on brand names
With the growing popularity of discount grocers like Aldi, Lidl and Trader Joe’s, which sell a lot of store-brand items that undercut the name-brand products sold at major supermarkets, it may be time to say goodbye to the household brands you grew up on, says Dworsky.
“If you’re tied to a name brand, you are generally just going to pay more, possibly needlessly,” he says.
Woroch says switching to generic foods is “the easiest and fastest way to save without having to change your entire grocery shopping strategy.” A CNET study of groceries sold at Wegman’s and Stop & Shop found that generic foods cost 40 percent less, on average, than their name-brand counterparts.
Kathleen Fu
Do shop online
In an April 2025 survey of U.S. consumers by Coresight Research, over half of respondents ages 45 to 60, and nearly 2 in 5 of those over 60, said they had bought groceries online in the previous 12 months. They’re part of a growing crowd that spent a record $12.7 billion buying groceries online in December 2025, according to Brick Meets Click, which tracks e-grocery sales.
Greater efficiency is helping fuel that boom, says John Mercer, Coresight’s head of global research. Amazon, Kroger, Target, Walmart and others have greatly cut down the lag time between ordering and delivery.
“Removing the delivery delay is making online a more viable alternative to store-based shopping, and we expect added convenience to continue to drive participation higher among older shoppers,” Mercer says.
Don’t want to pay fees for home grocery delivery? Woroch has a work-around: “Order online to your favorite grocery store and choose curbside pickup.”
Don’t shop on an empty stomach
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating. Hungry shoppers spend an extra $26 on average and are more likely to purchase unhealthy foods they would otherwise avoid.
Do sign up for free loyalty programs
Many supermarket chains reward loyal customers with discounts, deals and freebies. To receive them, you typically have to sign up for the store’s loyalty program. These are free to join, and you can usually enroll in person, online or through a store’s mobile app.
Don’t overlook the clearance section
Like many brick-and-mortar retailers, supermarkets often have clearance racks where they sell deeply discounted foods they overstocked. The caveat: These items may be approaching their expiration or “best by” date. “If there’s a big sale, you just want to make sure that it’s not expiring the next day,” says Maya Feller, founder and lead dietitian at Maya Feller Nutrition.
Do warm up to the freezer section
Flash frozen meats, fish and vegetables provide an economical way to eat healthy without worrying about the short shelf life of fresh foods, says Salge Blake. “This whole thing that ‘fresh is best’ is not necessarily correct,” she says. “If you buy fresh and then don’t use it right away, that goes into calling it food waste.”
Many frozen foods also offer convenience, she adds, noting that frozen vegetables are often cut into ready-to-eat sizes, while frozen salmon sometimes comes in single-portion pouches.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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