When it comes to Japan, foreigners immediately think of the word “expensive”. Especially for those who have just come to Japan, if you convert everything to your home country currency, everything here is 100% guaranteed to be “very expensive”. Food expenses are one of the major expenses in monthly living expenses. Therefore, how can you both eat enough to stay healthy as well as save money? In this article, we will show you 9 essential tips to save money on your monthly food expenses in Japan.

Self-cooking at home:

When living in Japan, cooking at home will save you a lot of money compared to eating out. To pay for a normal meal at a normal restaurant in Japan, you also have to spend a minimum of about 10 dollars for a meal. So, for the whole day, you will pay about 30 dollars for 3 meals. If you think about it, the monthly meal will be very expensive. However, when you cook at home or cook with your roommates to split the meal, the cost will be much reduced, and you can eat a variety of different foods.

Another tip is that you should cook once, divide it to put it in the freezer, so it will save you time, electricity and gas.

Shopping at the end of the day:

In supermarkets in Japan, around 7pm or 8pm, fresh foods are all discounted by 30% ~ 50% or more depending on the type of food. This is your chance to go to the supermarket to buy food for the next day’s meal.

The Japanese supermarkets often put a 賞味期限 stamp on each fresh food to show that the food is best before the date written on the stamp. After that date, even though the food is still within its expiration date and still edible, it is no longer the best time to eat, so it will be sold for much cheaper. Therefore, in case of saving money, you can buy foods that have already passed the 賞味期限 dates but still been within their expiration dates.

Buy imported foods:

Instead of buying 国産 products made in Japan, you can buy imported ones from Canada, USA, Italy or other Asian countries because they will be 20% ~ 40% cheaper than domestic products. 

Bring dried foods when going to Japan:

When you first come to Japan, you can prepare dried foods for a long time to eat. For example: shrimp paste, dried fish, etc. This way will also help you save money on buying food in Japan. 

Buy vegetables and fruits at small stores:

Although vegetables in small stores or unmanned stores are not as diverse and well-packaged as in large supermarkets, they have the same quality and are even somewhat fresher. You can find vegetables and fruits in these stores to save more money.

However, you need to remember to carry extra coins because many stores do not have cashiers, only pay by inserting coins into the box.

Buy rice at wholesale supermarkets:

You can buy rice at wholesale supermarkets like Gyomu, Hanamasa or Donkihote because the price will be a bit cheaper. Besides, you can invite more friends and acquaintances to buy together to split the price, because buying 10kg or more will be cheaper than buying only about 3-5 kg.

Take advantage of promotions:

Most major supermarkets will have a special day offering 3% – 5% discount on all prices, an exclusive promotion for membership or a general discount for fish, meat, etc. Please pay attention to supermarket notifications and note them down if necessary.

Make use of loyalty cards:

Every time you go to a supermarket in Japan, you will usually earn about 1% of the total order value. Therefore, remember to bring a loyalty card to record credit points awarded for money spent. This way, although it may take you a long time, it’s critically useful when you don’t have much money in your wallet.

Grow your own vegetables:

You can go online to learn how to grow vegetables that are easy to grow and cook. Because the price of vegetables in Japan is much more expensive than in other countries, if you know how to grow some vegetables to eat, you can save a lot of money.