Grocery Shopping Tips to Spend Less Time and Money

Visiting a grocery store without a plan can feel exciting and spontaneous. There’s joy to be found in picking out the produce that appeals to you most in the moment, grabbing some snacks that suit your cravings, or trying a new flavor of a familiar item. But shopping without a list can also result in returning from the store with a questionable combination of ingredients that doesn’t easily turn into meals and may go to waste.

Suffice it to say, having a strategy for the grocery store is important, and even more so if you’re on a budget — as most of us are. Luckily for anyone who doesn’t know where to start, there’s one expert who is full of advice for improving your supermarket tactics. 

Food stylist, recipe developer, and chef Will Coleman shared his first viral grocery shopping technique called the “5-4-3-2-1 method” in September 2023. This method called for buying specific amounts of five different categories of groceries, but after further testing and refinement, Coleman upgraded this process to what he now calls the “6-to-1 grocery shopping method”. 

The evolved strategy provides subtle but important alterations to the first one, calling on all grocery shoppers to add the following to their weekly grocery list: six different vegetables, five fruits, four proteins, three starches, two sauces or spreads, and one fun item. Each “6-to-1 grocery haul” is designed to make six meals per week: two breakfasts, two lunches, and two dinners. 

Both of Coleman’s grocery methods have gone viral, with other social media users testing them out while shopping. “I learned that there was a demand for people just wanting to genuinely learn how to stock their pantries and fridges with things that would last them more than a day, or things that wouldn't go to waste, and things that would stretch the dollar. So I created the 6-to-1 grocery shopping method,” Coleman told Food & Wine.  

The 6-to-1 method also inspired Coleman’s new cookbook, From Cart to Kitchen, which features 10 grocery lists and 60 recipes that rely on his signature grocery game plan. We spoke to Coleman about his essential grocery tips to save money, energy, and time, all while making food shopping joyful and easy. 

Stock flavorful pantry staples 

For Coleman, a week of meal planning starts with shelf-stable ingredients and condiments that can add flavor easily. “I believe keeping a stocked pantry is essential to really create more rounded meals,” he says. 

In his own pantry, the cookbook author typically has an inventory of “hot sauces, chili oils, and different types of mustards.” He adds, “I love Asian condiments, so give me all the soy sauce, chili oil, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar — I really enjoy those. And maple syrup is really important to me. Those are just some essentials.”  

The exact vinegars, oils, sauces, spices, and condiments you keep on hand can be tailored to your tastes, but having ingredients that can quickly become a marinade or seasoning for a complete meal is important. This is also key to saving money. By investing in a selection of staples like these, Coleman can create a variety of recipes and meals without needing to buy several new flavoring agents every time he’s at the store.

Go into the store with specific recipes in mind

In Cart to Kitchen, Coleman pairs each week’s recommended grocery list with six recipes that use its ingredients. This provides shoppers with a plan for each item based on the week’s recipes. Coleman explains, “There are so many people out there that are buying the spring mix or bag of spinach that sits in the back of their fridge and goes bad every single week, because they have no clue where that's going to fit on the menu.”

There’s still room for flexibility, but going into the store with a sense of what you’ll be cooking can naturally lead you to more specific ingredients while shopping. If you know you’ll be making Baja Fried Shrimp Tacos, then it’s probably best to grab cabbage or coleslaw mix, instead of a tender green like spinach. 

“When you go to the store with meals in mind, you are one, holding yourself accountable to cook what you're shopping for. Two, you know what you're shopping for. And then three, if you have six planned meals for the week, those are six guaranteed opportunities for nourishment, joy, and for spending time with yourself or your family in the kitchen,” Coleman says. 

As long as you follow these basic foundational tips, feel free to spice things up and adjust to make the 6-to-1 method work for you. If a recipe calls for fresh herbs or you’re craving more than one “fun item” for the week, go for it. Think of these grocery tips and tricks as ways to help you act a bit less impulsive and more budget-conscious at the grocery store by walking in with a game plan.

Shop your current inventory and avoid duplicate purchases 

Just like when buying books, you should check to see if you already have something you need to read or use on your shelves before heading to the grocery store. You might find some peanut butter hiding in the pantry or a jar of marinara sauce waiting to be used.

“Shopping from the inventory in your kitchen simply looks like thinking about what it is you want to make and what are the foundational ingredients that you need for that dish,” Coleman says. He grew up following this grocery tip and shares, “That’s what my mom did when I was a kid, she’d just double check the fridge and pantry, do a quick overview to see what’s there.” 

“Browsing through your pantry fridge and seeing what ingredients you have on hand,” can help you avoid paying for duplicate items and help focus your meal planning around what you already have. 

Make the sauce your main character

In his cookbook, Coleman “phones” a few friends by seeking out tips and grocery tricks from acclaimed chefs and food experts like Marcus Samuelsson, Antoinette Johnson, and Belle English. As one of her essential grocery strategies, Williams Sonoma culinary and test kitchen director English recommends planning your meals (and shopping) by starting with a sauce and working backwards.

Coleman agrees, emphasizing to Food & Wine that “ I find that the sauce is always that ingredient that makes the dish just go, ‘wow.’” Even in Coleman’s 6-to-1 method, sauces or spreads have their own category, as he recommends buying at least two sauces for each grocery haul. As highlighted in the cookbook, some of Coleman’s favorite sauces to snag are: mojo sauce, hoisin sauce, barbecue sauce, pesto, jarred arrabiatta sauce, sriracha, harissa, chimichurri, and more. 

Of course, there may be some overlap with a few of the pantry staples you already have on hand, so don’t buy a prepared sauce or spread if it’s something you can make with what’s available in your kitchen. And if you can, try to coordinate flavors with the ingredients you already have stocked. For example, pair the sauce you buy with the same flavor profile that you might develop in a meat marinade built on pantry ingredients. 

He finds that having these sauces at the ready helps with recipe planning and making each meal taste great with minimal effort. “ I can simply serve a pack of chicken breast, use sweet chili sauce, and make stir-fried chicken. I can get a pack of barbecue sauce and make shredded barbecue pulled pork or pulled chicken sandwiches. I can get a jar of spicy mustard and mix some honey in it and make some grilled chicken breasts with spicy-honey mustard on it.”

Go to different markets and explore 

When Coleman consults cookbook author and content creator Toni Chapman on her grocery shopping strategies, she recommends “hitting up Caribbean, Asian, and Hispanic markets for your groceries.” 

Coleman agrees, explaining that while growing up in Dearborn, Michigan “ One of my favorite parts about grocery shopping was the fact that it wasn't all done in one store. We went to the local produce market to grab our vegetables and fruits. We went to the local Middle Eastern market to grab our spices and sauces. We went to Costco to grab our bulk meats.”

He also tells Food & Wine, “I find that it's very important to go to multiple markets to find prices that make the most sense for you, while also supporting smaller businesses and being able to keep an open palate that sometimes Trader Joe's or Whole Foods doesn't set the foundation for.” 

That said, visiting multiple grocery stores per trip — or having access to a variety of supermarkets — isn’t an option for everyone. Even if you’re doing your regular food shopping at the same place each week, you can still use the 6-to-1 method and Coleman’s other essential tips to expand your grocery options and make your budget go further.