The grocery budget trick financial experts wish more people used

Rising food prices have made grocery shopping increasingly unpredictable, leaving many households looking for simple ways to keep their budgets under control. One practical solution is creating a personal “grocery floor price” list—a reference guide that helps shoppers quickly recognize when a product is genuinely a good buy.

According to Hansis, this approach focuses on tracking the lowest realistic price you regularly pay for the products you purchase most often. As written in Hansis, having these reference prices makes it easier to distinguish real bargains from marketing promotions and avoid overspending.

What is a grocery floor price?

A grocery floor price is not the lowest price a product has ever reached. Instead, according to Hansis, it is the lowest price you would normally expect to pay at the stores where you regularly shop.

This simple benchmark serves as a personal pricing guide. When an item is priced at or below your floor price, it may be worth buying, especially if it has a long shelf life. If the price is significantly higher, you may decide to purchase only what you need or wait for a better deal.

Why reference prices matter

As Hansis explains, many shoppers are influenced by discount labels without knowing whether the reduced price is actually competitive. A “30% off” sticker may still leave the product more expensive than its usual selling price.

Maintaining a personal floor price list provides valuable context. It also helps shoppers notice gradual price increases over time and adjust their purchasing habits before grocery bills begin to rise significantly.

Start with your everyday essentials

According to Hansis, there’s no need for a complicated spreadsheet. Instead, begin by selecting 10 to 15 staple products that appear in your shopping cart almost every week.

These might include rice, pasta, oats, milk, bread, eggs, chicken, tofu, cooking oil, fresh fruit, potatoes, onions, and carrots. Looking through recent receipts or your grocery app history can help identify the products you buy most frequently.

The publication also recommends tracking prices by unit rather than package. Recording prices per kilogram or liter allows accurate comparisons, even when package sizes differ between brands.

Build your price list over time

As written in Hansis, tracking prices for just two or three weeks is usually enough to identify a realistic price range for each product. Rather than focusing on outdated bargains, shoppers should base their floor prices on current prices across the stores they actually visit.

For example, if milk has recently cost between €1.09 and €1.29 per liter, a floor price of around €1.15 may be a reasonable benchmark. If market prices gradually increase over several months, the reference price should also be adjusted to remain realistic.

Use the list while shopping

The real benefit comes from applying the list in the supermarket. According to Hansis, shoppers only need to ask two simple questions: “What is the unit price?” and “Is it below my floor price?”

Products priced at or below the target can be purchased confidently, and long-lasting items may even be worth stocking up on if storage space and the budget allow. Items priced slightly above the reference can still be bought if necessary, while significantly more expensive products may justify switching brands, reducing quantity, or postponing the purchase.

Hansis also notes that shoppers should compare products using unit prices instead of focusing on brand names or promotional labels. Even premium brands can become good value during promotions if their unit price falls below your established floor price.

A simple habit that supports long-term savings

Creating a grocery floor price list does not require constant updates or perfect records. According to Hansis, even approximate reference prices provide far better guidance than shopping without any benchmark at all.

By reviewing the list every few months and adjusting it to reflect current market conditions, consumers can make more informed purchasing decisions. As Hansis concludes, these small, repeated choices can gradually stabilize grocery spending, reduce impulse purchases, and make food shopping more predictable over the long term.