Grocery shopping may not be your favorite household task. It’s often a mundane chore, yet necessary if you want to have food in the house to eat. Here’s a few tips to save you time and money without sacrificing good nutrition.

• Get organized and plan ahead. Use a free grocery list app; many major grocery stores have their own app with this feature. As soon as you run out of a common ingredient, add it to the list. Check the stores for sales and check your fridge, freezer and pantry for items you need to use up. Look for recipes utilizing these foods and make your list!
• Buy canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to have on hand. Fresh doesn’t last forever so supplement with no added salt canned veggies and buy canned fruits packed in its own juices. Look for frozen plain vegetables and fruits.
• Buy with convenience in mind, but only when it makes sense. Some stores are selling pre-cut fresh fruits and vegetables. Pre-cut butternut squash, which is not an easy one to slice, may be worth the extra money. For a household of one, buying small bags of popcorn so that it stays fresh for longer, may be worth the extra cost if you’re having to throw out stale popcorn. However, many ready prepared foods are high in saturated fat sodium and may not be the most nutritionally sound options.
• Read the Nutrition Facts and ingredients label. Compare labels and go for the lowest amount of saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. When, buying bread or other grains, look for the word “whole” as the first ingredient.