Shopping and other errands are a quick way to burn through that tank of gas that you just filled up. Isn’t it worth your while to cut down all that running around if you can? The less time you spend in the car, after all, the less gas you need to buy. You might even free up some spare time that I’m sure you can find a better use for than shuttling groceries home.

There’s a simple way to cut down on your grocery shopping: surf the web. Many of us already go online to buy books, movies and clothes. Why not buy our food online?

High-Priced Myths

Every person I talk to assumes that buying food online is insanely expensive. That used to be the case: in the past, a lot of the food available online tended to obscure luxury items that companies could still make a good profit on after shipping. But Amazon and other retailers have ironed out some of the kinks in the shipping system, making it reasonable to buy at least some of your food online.

But what is worth buying online? Plenty of foods just aren’t practical to buy and have shipped — some, like milk, go bad. Others, like flour, have high enough shipping costs to make it less than worthwhile. But some items are ideal.

For the past year, I’ve bought all my spices online. Buying in batches allows me to get great deals on bulk amounts — and spices ship for practically nothing. Other good online buys are always non-perishable items. If you find an opportunity to buy with free shipping on anything, I always recommend stocking up. For instance, Amazon Prime members can often get free shipping on select items, making certain foods comparably priced to the stuff at your local grocery store.

The Coupon Game

There are some foods that will always remain impractical to buy online: milk and eggs need refrigeration and rapid transport, something that Amazon can’t exactly promise. But you can find coupons for just about every name brand online, if you’re willing to spend a few minutes at the computer. Even if you can’t time your coupon clipping to coincide with sales, you can still more than make up for the savings you might lose by shopping at only one grocery store. My grandmother used to shop on the basis on the sales papers. She’d go to one store for fruit, another for bread and a third for milk. Sure, she saved money that way, but I can save the same amount by going to just one store and not wasting gas. Coupons just make my food a little cheaper beyond that.

A Little Extra Help

If you’re willing to plan menus in advance and spend a little time thinking about where you’re going to buy your food, you can cut your grocery bill. Food costs trail only energy prices in how fast they’re rising these days. There are so many resources online for cutting your food costs, from online stores to inexpensive recipes that spending a few minutes in front of your computer is well worth your while.

Photo