This Mom’s Grocery Hack is Helping Her Cut BIG Costs in the Kitchen

By Jessica | Content Manager

Jun 12, 2020 @ 2:10 PM MDT

Hip2Save may earn a small onlinemission at no extra cost to you via trusted partners and affiliate links in this post. Prices and availability are accurate as of time posted. Read our full disclosure policy here.

almonds and almond meal in canisters

Save on costly pre-made ingredients by making your own!

Hip2Save reader, Laura, recently found herself at the store staring at an empty shelf where the almond meal was supposed to be. Can you relate?

Since she needed this ingredient now, she decided to type “Almond Meal” into her phone thinking maybe she could find it at another nearby store. Instead, what she found was a new-to-her tip that would end up helping her cut down on her grocery bill!

flaxseed bag with chocolate chip cookies on counter

“I typed almond meal into my phone thinking a nearby store may carry it but instead, a ‘recipe’ for homemade almond meal popped up. I use the term ‘recipe’ lightly since all that was required was 1 ingredient – almonds!

I went to the bulk area of the store where I found almonds for $5.99 a pound. Wait… only $5.99 a pound? A bag of the almond meal was $10.29! 😱 Simply putting almonds in a blender to make homemade Almond Meal was nearly half the cost! I realized the cost of convenience was a hefty one.

Since that day I have looked for easy ways to cut costs in the kitchen that help save on our grocery bill.”

flaxseed bag with glass canister

Flaxseed Meal: Buy packaged whole flaxseed versus packaged flaxseed meal

Cagefree Eggs: Replace flaxseed for eggs in select recipes

Spices: On a recent visit to the grocery store, their whole spice selection was on clearance (cumin, cardamon, and more) so I decided to stock up and grind as needed. Otherwise, I always shop the bulk area for spices and when I get home I just add to our spice rack!

spices on spice rack

Thank you, Laura, for sharing these awesome grocery saving hacks with us! 🤗

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Do you have a funny, “Hip”, or unique tip to share?! Fill out our Happy Friday form. Every Friday, we post one submission by a Hip2Save reader (view past submissions) that gives us a glimpse into their frugal lifestyle or simply makes us smile. If yours is published on Hip2Save, we’ll email you a $10 Amazon eGift card!

Learn the Tips & Tricks to having your Happy Friday submission picked!

About the writer:

Jessica holds a Business Degree and 10 years of writing experience from various deal sites including Hip2Save. Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn

Join The Discussion

onlinements 18

Sallys June 12, 2020 at 2:40 pm MST

great tip. I had also only recently discovered this. It was my teenagers idea to put oats into my food processor to make flour, I just had not realized we could do that, and it is so easy and cheap and flour was not available…

Reply
Rachel F. June 12, 2020 at 2:42 pm MST

I’ve tried to do almond flour before but my machine overheated and made the flour mushy.

Reply
llc June 12, 2020 at 2:53 pm MST

At Sams Club, 3 lbs of whole almonds are $11.93.

Reply
silverfanatic June 12, 2020 at 3:28 pm MST

I grew up with many recipes (like macaroni and cheese) calling for a can of evaporated milk. I’m familiar with the term “evaporation” from Science class, but it took a Pandemic to make me realize that the can of evaporated milk is literally just whole milk that has been cooking until about half of it evaporates. Aldi in my area sells the cans for 79 cents but an entire gallon of milk is only $1.19. I felt so stupid…and cheated out of my money. Haha!

Reply1

Gramma C June 13, 2020 at 10:37 am MST

What?! $1.19 a gallon? Im happy if I can find it for $3.00.

Reply

animity June 12, 2020 at 4:17 pm MST

Almond milk too, oat milk, cashew milk etc.. You can also controls what goes into your products.

Reply
Briana June 12, 2020 at 4:23 pm MST

Relevant to this… in my area once in a while seed and meal are same price. I always wonder are they really equivalent of 1lb seed is 1lb meal?

Reply1

Erin June 12, 2020 at 5:24 pm MST

Well, one pound is always one pound. That’s why weighing ingredients is more accurate than measuring by volume, as with measuring cups.

Reply

Marinova June 12, 2020 at 4:31 pm MST

I have always been under the impression that to make flours and nit butters like this requires a vitamix, which is quite an investment in and of itself. Has anyone had success with another machine.

Reply5

Lana June 12, 2020 at 4:53 pm MST

The food processor works well too.

Reply1

Julie June 12, 2020 at 5:32 pm MST

I found our blender (for milkshakes) works so much better than my small food processor.

Reply

Mel June 12, 2020 at 4:59 pm MST

I use a coffee bean blender. Just don’t overfill or overblend. Works great for when I need almond meal as well as to grind whole flax seeds.

Reply1

Elizabeth M. June 12, 2020 at 5:57 pm MST

I have a small Cusinart nut grinder that works great for this but also a magic bullet works too with the right blade is you only need like a cup or two.

Reply

Erin June 12, 2020 at 5:26 pm MST

You have to be careful when making nut meal. Process too long, and you end up with nut butter.

Reply
jennifer June 12, 2020 at 5:35 pm MST

I’ve made nut butters in my cuisinart good processor before.

Reply
becki June 13, 2020 at 2:23 pm MST

we don’t have a Vitamix, and ours works for all kinds of stuff. we can grind nuts in it. it’s BlendTech.

Reply

Rae June 13, 2020 at 1:30 am MST

Any deals on food processors? My blender cannot do dry ingredients. Also need a food processor for baby food soon.

Reply
asha June 13, 2020 at 2:15 am MST

I wish I entered these tips the things we Indians have been doing forever can easily qualify for money savinv tips in North America. I have yet to find a tip to save me some money. (other than hip2save Deals of course)

Reply