Shoppers eyeing discounted surplus food as a grocery money-saving hack
Americans spent Thanksgiving Day around tables loaded with food. At the same time, many households are also looking to scale back on grocery spending. One tactic they’re trying? Snagging salvageable food before it heads to the waste heap.
Consumers, according to a recent reading, are feeling less optimistic about the economy and their finances for reasons including the rising cost of necessities.
While spending hasn’t come to a halt, experts say price-conscious shoppers are focused on hunting for deals, clipping coupons, trading down on brands and buying less of everything—including food and beverages.
Some shoppers are increasingly checking out deeply discounted surplus or soon-to-be-discarded vegetables, fruits, meats, frozen and refrigerated foods, deemed safe for consumption but are otherwise seen as less suitable for store shelves because of imperfections or looming expiration dates.
“It’s not so much that food itself is so much more expensive,” said Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert with NerdWallet. “It’s that everything else–housing, utilities, consumer goods across the board–is pressing on their budgets. That means spending on food, which is a huge and … variable portion of most household budgets, will be cut back, especially for lower-income households.”
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