A GUIDE TO REDUCING YOUR GROCERY BILL

According to Dalhousie University’s 16th annual Canada’s Food Price Report, grocery prices are expected to rise by four to six per cent in 2026, a statistic that consumers have already begun to see with their grocery bills just in these first few months of 2026. According to national inflation data released on Apr. 20, 2026, Canada’s Consumer Price Index—a statistic that measures the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services over time—increased by two point four per cent year over year in March. For many folks, saving money on groceries has become a necessity, so here are some tips I use to reduce the cost. 

Flyers and Basic Product Knowledge 

One of the first things that may help you with reducing grocery costs is knowing what a good deal is. This is one of the first things I learned from my mother after I moved out to attend university: when you know the average price of something, it is easier to look at the flyers and determine whether something is worth buying or not.  

Apps like reebee and Flipp provide an on-the-go way to quickly look up items to see whether they are on sale. Price matching—checking nearby grocery stores’ flyers and getting their deals applied at your local grocery store—is greatly aided by having the app on your phone to quickly reference. Not all stores price match, but some of the ones that continue to do so are Freshco, No Frills, Great Canadian Superstore and Giant Tiger. 

The Apps 

When shopping, it helps to have a few apps on your phone, especially of these three types: cashback, receipt submission and loyalty program.  

Both Loblaws and Empire have introduced members-only sale pricing which requires you sign up for their free loyalty programs—Scene+ and PC Optimum—to get the reduced price at checkout; there is also the Moi program at Food Basics and T&T Rewards. With the membership cards, it is also possible to access student discounts which either apply a discount to your final bill or give you extra points in return which can then be used for maximum value on redemption days.  

Cashback apps give you money back for buying certain items or brands. After reaching a minimum amount in your account (usually $20), you get an e-transfer or cheque. Receipt apps allow you to submit grocery receipts that you can then convert to cash after reaching the minimum amount.  

Canadian grocery apps include Checkout 51, Eclipsa and Blue Rewards—formerly AIR MILES—(for points/cashback on buying certain items), Caddle, ReceiptJar, Google Rewards and Receipt Hog (for submitting receipts), and PC Optimum and Scene+ for loyalty programs. To be clear, the exchange for these rewards is a form of data harvesting, but sometimes the discounts or rewards can be worth it.  

Discount Stickers and Surplus/Close to Best Before Food 

Another way of saving money when shopping is looking for discounted products with stickers ranging from 30 to 50 per cent off. The reason these items are discounted is usually because they are close to their best before date or, when it comes to fruits and veggies, they may look a little ugly. But this does not mean they are bad to eat, and there are many ways of preserving food through physical, chemical or biological means like canning, drying, freezing, fermenting and more.  

These methods do not require fancy gadgets either; you can achieve many of these methods with an oven, a freezer, a place to hang veggies to dry out or a couple of mason jars from your local Goodwill.  

Flashfood, Food Hero and Too Good to Go show what products are available at a discount and allow for purchase via the app. Flashfood is at many Loblaw’s stores, and usually the Flashfood branded fridge is near the customer service desk. Food Hero offers discounts at items from many Sobey’s stores. On Too Good to Go, Food Basics offers mystery bags of meat and seafood or bread and pastries for around half the normal selling price. Too Good to Go also has partnerships with local restaurants, Tim Horton’s chains and more, so you can get end-of-day items for much cheaper.   

Local Markets and Hard-Working Farmers in Your Area 

Shopping the farmer’s market is another great way to save on produce. Both St. Jacob’s market and Kitchener market have good deals on fruits and veggies—but remember to bring cash! From my personal experience, the closer you go to closing time, the better the deals get for packs of berries or mix and match veggie bags—the less the vendors have to pack up to take home, the better.  

There are also many farmers in Waterloo Region who offer Community Supported Agriculture boxes—meaning you pay up front for a season’s worth of produce and then get weekly produce. Check out Piknik.spot for a roundup of Waterloo region farms and Central Fresh and Legacy Greens for more options to get local farm fresh produce.  

Other ways of saving money on groceries that I frequently use are shopping in bulk and taking advantage of sales at bulk retailers like Costco, Wholesale Club and Bulk Barn. Occasionally when perusing some of the local liquation stores, I have found they have good deals on specialty snacks and beverages, items that have been deemed surplus and are now available for a fraction of the original cost.  

When I am unable to do the shopping myself, I check which stores have the same prices in store as on the app and try to take advantage of deals that offer a percentage off for fulfilling the minimum spend requirement. Finally, if you have the space, growing a little balcony garden can go a long way, especially with items that are easy to propagate like green onion and herbs commonly used in cooking like cilantro, rosemary and mint. Prices are not going down anytime soon, so hopefully these tips help to reduce your grocery bill.