What are your best money saving tips when it comes to grocery shopping in Japan?

Go shopping around 8pm or so; deals to be had on meat. You can pick up all sorts of cuts of meat cheaply. Even if it looks a bit yucky, but it through a minder and make 100% meat burgers. Great for summer BBQs!

Go online to Fushu.com and compare prices for all your local grocery stores.

Remember it is always bait and steal. Get you in store for a sale and buy at a whim higher priced stuff...but the next store down has it at a lower price. This is a great way to get in exercise by walking the routes between all your grocery stores. I do it daily.

There are so many special prices out there, but you got to stick to your guns and not be lazy.

For example: Ozeki in Chuorinkan on Mondays has Eggs for ¥98. Big eggs and fantastic price. But gone by 11 am. No other sales at that time worth hitting on for me. But, exercise and healthy cheap shopping is great.

Family run shops and not the chain stores. I save about 5% shopping at green grocers, fish mongers, butchers, and bakers. They will also give regulars free items that are about to go off. My husky loves the gifts from Yoshida-san our butcher.

Conbinis...

S

Shop at Hanamasa.

Bean spouts!

Get a nice Wok, some Avocado oil, any kind meat, onions, pema, etc. oyster sauce or molasses, you got the idea.

Don't go shopping when you're hungry.

Buying locally grown produce is cheaper, helps local economies and cuts down on the energy used to bring it to market. It usually tastes better too.

Don't buy ready made food, expensive and poor quality.

If you want real bread, make it in a bread machine. Much cheaper than a bakers. If you also have an oven, the combination will make you very good pizza. Better than most restaurants.

It's not hard to make bacon from pork belly. It doesn't have to be smoked, just a dry rub. A little bacon goes a long way.

In my town, the markdowns on meat and fish are at 5pm and 6:30pm. If you have a sous vide cooker, pretty much any meat, even cheap cuts, can be made succulent.

I try to always have some frozen things, bought stuff as well as leftovers, and retort packets of curry in the house. It stops us eating out at "can't be bothered" times or the mysterious half days my kids' schools have all the time. We do eat out, but only when we are out somewhere or actually want to go to the restaurant. We don't go out of laziness alone.

Going grocery shopping with a full tummy. Otherwise...

General wisdom applies anywhere : go shopping when you have eaten what you had, make a list of what you need and stick to it, prefer in season local whole food, organize storage, read labels and compare offers.

What is great in Japan is the mujin stands where gardeners and restaurants propose the produce they have in too large quantity for a coin.

If you have fridge space and plan to bake Xmas cookies, buy the butter in Autumn before price raises.

The extreme saver's basket is : "pan no mimi" (the edible part of spongy bread that they cut out to make the kombini sandwiches fit in the box), cut bananas, natto. Collect the leaves of daikon other people let in the shop. Tell shopkeepers you have a pet to feed as they may give you bags of partly damaged fruits and veggies. You should be between 100 and 300 yen depending on the area where you shop. Mix natto and greens, eat with bread. Fruits as dessert/snack.