12 Easy Ways to Save Money on Pet Food
Owning a pet is not only a time commitment, it is also a big financial commitment. Pet food, toys, vet bills… It can really add up! If you’re looking for a simple way to cut back on pet care costs, I’ve got good news. You don’t have to break the bank to meet your pet’s nutritional needs. Check out these 12 ways to save money on pet food!
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The Ontario Veterinary Medical Association estimates that the average cost of owning a dog is $3,242 per year while cat ownership is estimated at approximately $2,083 per year. While the costs may vary from household to household, this is a clear example of the financial commitment of bringing a new pet into your home.
One of the major costs associated with pet ownership is the price of pet food. After all, you don’t want to skimp on your pet’s nutrition and well-being! Right?
If you’ve been searching for a solution to reduce your pet care costs, you’ve come to the right place.
Check Out These 12 Easy and Effective Ways to Save On Pet Food!
#1 – Take Advantage of Free Samples
While I’m not suggesting that you can feed your pet entirely for free, you can take advantage of free samples in order to lower your pet food bill.
If you are feeding a veterinarian requested diet, check with your vet’s office! Often, food manufacturers supply veterinarians with samples for their clients as a marketing aid.
While the samples themselves aren’t large, they can quickly add up!
Another place to check for samples is online.
Start by going straight to the source. Many pet food retailers will offer samples directly from their website.
In addition to the brand websites, there are many sites dedicated to compiling deals and samples. This makes it easy for you to find offers that fit your current needs.
Examples include:
Note: Pay careful attention when signing up for free samples online. While there are many out there that are truly free, others will require a shipping cost. Depending on the sample, this may negate any savings you experience from receiving the sample.
Don’t forget to keep an eye open for samples at your favourite pet stores!
Companies will often send samples when releasing new formulas or during a marketing push. If you know your local pet store staff, they may even give you a heads up when samples are available.
This is a good reason to get to know your local pet store staff better…
#2 – Sales, Discount Codes, Coupons and Other Deals
You may not be able to score free food, but discounts are the next best thing. Scoring coupons and discount codes may be easier than you realized, you just have to know where to look.
Much like the online free samples, it’s always a good idea to start your coupon search with the company itself. For example, Purina offers a full page of coupons on their website that you can take advantage of and Hill’s has a ‘Special Offers’ page with some great deals.
Don’t forget to join the company’s mailing list to stay up to date on all the latest deals.
Another great place to score deals directly from the company is to follow their social media accounts. Often companies will share exclusive contests, coupons and discount codes just for their followers on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
There are also a number of websites dedicated to sharing coupons and deals for your convenience. While these sites aren’t usually pet-specific, many include a pet section for easier navigation.
Examples include:
You can also watch deal sites like Groupon to pick up deals specific to your favourite pet store. For example, the site often runs coupon and promo codes for PetSmart.
#3 – Watch for Rebates
In addition to saving money upfront when purchasing your pet’s food, you may also be able to cash in a rebate and receive money back.
Pay attention to any signage when purchasing your pet food as some companies will provide rebate-related information to retailers in order to help get the word out.
In addition to instore signage and advertising, rebate options may be displayed directly on the pet food bag itself.
Check your bags over carefully before throwing them away, you may find a surprise!
Finally, try doing some online research to find out fi you can find a rebate specific to your pet’s food online.
While many rebates are advertised in store, you will occasionally find additional rebates available online.
#4 – Sign Up for VIP and Loyalty Programs
Most of the points on this list focus on an instant savings, but what about the long game?
If you are loyal to a specific pet store or pet food brand, check to find out if they offer a VIP or loyalty program. These programs often allow you to work towards discounts or free product with repeat purchases.
For example, if you shop at PetValu, you may want to check out the Your Rewards Program. This includes the buy 12, get 1 free Frequent Buyer Program (only for specified brands) as well as a 5% Case Discount Program for cans of wet food.
#5 – Don’t Be Swayed by Brand Names
There is a misconception that in order to feed your pet high-quality pet food, you must purchase the best known and most expensive brands. However, I’d like to challenge you to reframe your thinking slightly when it comes to pet food.
Rather than buying based solely on the brand of dog food and its reputation, try digging into the ingredients and nutritional value of the food itself.
There are many GREAT foods on the market that don’t have the name and notoriety of the biggest brands.
The difference? Often simply that they haven’t been around long enough to gain the same reputation…
Take the time to review the ingredients in your premium/name brand foods and compare it to some of the lesser known brands and you may find a lower cost alternative that will provide your pet with all the same great nutrition!
Nervous about trying something new? You can always reach out to your veterinarian for their advice!
#6 – Ask Around to Find Savings
If you’re looking to save money on a specific brand and/or formula of pet food, why not reach out to your network for their help?
You can post on your social media platforms asking your friends and family or even post in a local Facebook group for your region asking if anyone has seen a sale on that specific food.
Sure, you my come up empty handed, however, you may discover there is a sale nearby that you weren’t even aware of!
What do you have to lose? A couple minutes of your time…
#7 – Join Pet Store Mailing Lists
Many pet stores have e-mail mailing lists available that you can sign up for to receive their latest news and offers.
Why would you sign up to receive their ‘junk mail’?
Those newsletters often contain information about upcoming sales and even exclusive coupons and discount codes for their followers!
While traditional mailing lists are less common, you may also be able to sign up to receive flyers from your local pet store (if they still mail them).
This is another great opportunity to make sure that you don’t miss out on any great sales. Just make sure that you set some time aside to go through them when they come in! A flyer that is instantly set aside ‘for later’ isn’t going to help you!
#8 – Compare Recommended Serving Size and Price
If you read the packaging on your pet’s food, you will notice that it contains a recommended daily service size. This information is incredibly important!
Not only does this help you ensure that your pet is getting the nutrition that they require, but it will also help you find a good deal…
Often, we dismiss higher priced foods when looking for a good deal. But this may not actually be the key to saving money!
Lower-quality foods often contain a large quantity of ‘fillers’. These are ingredients that hold no real nutritional value, they are just there to bulk up the food.
What does this mean for you?
In order to meet your pet’s nutritional needs, you will need to feed them a larger helping and will, therefore, burn through the food faster.
To find the best option, you will need to do a little math…
Don’t worry, there’s a calculator on your smartphone for all the math haters.
Divide the total volume of the bag by the amount of food needed for each meal. This will tell you how many meals you can get out of a single bag (or package).
Then, take the total price and divide it by the number of meals. This will tell you the cost per meal.
If you are looking to save money, you want to find the food with the lowest cost per meal, not the lowest overall cost per bag. Sure, that cheaper food may only be $25 versus $40 for the higher-quality bag, but if you need 2 bags to cover the same number of meals, you’re actually spending more!
#9 – Buy Food in Bulk
It’s common knowledge that we can save money by buying items in bulk, that theory is what companies like Costco are built on.
But have you been applying that same theory to your pet food purchases?
Contact your local pet store and find out if they offer additional savings if you are purchasing in bulk. Many offer a discount depending on the quantity that you are purchasing at any given time.
No discount available at your local store?
Depending on how big your planned order will be, it may be worth reaching out to the manufacturer directly!
There are two important factors that you should take into consideration if you plan on buying in bulk:
- The expiry date of the foods that you are purchasing
- Storage methods for the food to prevent early spoilage
Remember, a bulk order isn’t going to save you anything if you’re throwing half of it away!
#10 – Cook Your Own Food and Treats
Most pet owners didn’t switch to homemade food options as a way to save money on pet food, however, with careful planning, it can be done!
The biggest concern with making your own food is to be sure that you are meeting all of your pet’s nutritional needs.
Therefore, you want to follow the guidance of a professional.
Leverage resources like the VetSpecialists Directory in order to find a qualified veterinary nutritionist in your area, or reach out to a professional open to online consultations.
Do you feed your pet a combination of wet and dry foods?
Consider switching to making only the wet food portions or ‘toppers’ for your pet’s food while continuing to feed their nutritionally balanced dry kibble.
If the idea of making your pet’s food makes you nervous, you can always scale back your goals slightly by focusing instead on making your pet’s treats rather than paying commercial prices.
Not only are homemade treats generally cheaper, but they allow you to control the ingredients and avoid many of the recalls that we have seen over the years on mass produced pet treats.
Dog owners, check out my recent post ‘Easy 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats’ for some great recipes and inspiration!
#11 – Search for Online Sales
Have you ever jumped online to search for a good online sale? Why not do the same with your pet food purchases?
It has been said that the Internet is the way of the future, and our spending habits reflect it! Recognizing that many customers prefer online purchases, we’ve seen an increase in the number of brands that are moving online.
The online marketplace is incredibly competitive, and we are the ones that ultimately benefit from that!
Before you make a purchase, take the time to do some online sleuthing. Often you can find the same products available at your local brick and mortar stores at a lower price point!
Just don’t forget to factor in shipping costs!
#12 – Delivery Subscriptions
If you know that you will be purchasing an item regularly, like pet food, why not take advantage of a delivery subscription?
These regular deliveries will not only save you the hassle of remembering when to stock up next, but they also come at a discounted cost!
Looking for some options? Check out the delivery subscriptions available at Chewy.com or Amazon. These programs are convenient, cost-effective AND you save on gas by having it delivered to your door!
Do you have any tricks to save money on pet food that I missed? What was the best deal that you ever scored?
I’d love to hear your success stories in the comments!
This advice looks great! I dont have any pets, but Im going to send this to some people who do. Thank you
Thank you!
We buy in bulk ourselves and try out new brands through samples. 🙂
Samples are great for that purpose – Helps to avoid purchasing a big bag only to find your pet won’t eat it lol
Great suggestions for pet owners! I believe this article is super beneficial as pet food is a great deal for owners!
Thank you!
These are really good tips. Unfortunately my dog needs special food for a health condition so we don’t have options in regards to what to feed him and this food is pretty expensive! We have found it a little cheaper if we buy it from certain retailers instead of the vets directly though x
I understand that. We are super limited on what we can feed Daviana due to her long list of allergies (she is allergic to all meats except seafood, grains, etc.). If you know somewhere that carries it, you can always talk to them about a potential bulk discount. We have scored some great deals that way in the past.
I’ve been wanting to cook my pup food myself! I think I’ll try it now!
It can be fun! In the beginning, try just making a food topper so that you can get used to it. From there, you can learn more about the nutritional needs of your dog and how to make sure that your homemade food will provide everything necessary.
Some great tips here, Britt. I tend to order dry cat food in bulk and always shop around before I place an order. That said, our local pet store has always beaten the online stores on price on the last couple of orders but that’s because they were shifting end of line (still in date) food. Now we only have normal cat food to buy instead of prescription diet, we can afford to shop around a lot more 🙂 Lisa
Purchasing normal food definitely helps. It’s much easier for me to shop around for the cats than it is our dogs due to Dav’s super strict diet.
Such a good post. I will need to share this with my friends who are due to get a new puppy in September! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂 xx
Thank you!
We have to stick to the same for with my dog but some of these are still really helpful. I know my mum loves the Pets At Home Loyalty Card Scheme they have going, it is always good when you can collect points! We also take a look at other shops that sell the brand too to see if they have any special offers on. I will have to take a look at Pet Store Mailing Lists to see what they are about. We love adding a little home cooked food to Coda’s dinner too. Great post with lots of helpful information x
We have to stick with one specific food for my girl too due to allergies, but we’ve definitely scored some good deals using these tips. I’m glad she’s got the loyalty card! If you’re shopping there anyway, you might as well get the points for it! Right?
A great list of tips. I know a few people who would be interested to see this. I will be passing this on for sure.
Thank you!
These are great tips. I am always looking for ways to save. It gets expensive.
It can definitely add up fast!
These are some really great tips, although I don’t have any pets I am sure many of my friends could use these points.
Thank you!
Great tips. Currently we only have a cat who doesn’t eat that much but even so, if I can save some money, I’m all for it. I will apply some of your suggestions.
It may only be a small savings each time you’re purchasing food, but that adds up over time!
While it is so enjoyable to have a pet, especially a dog in the house the rising costs of maintaining one prohibits many from going for it. Here in India we really don’t have many pet oriented food shops except in the bigger cities. So most households actually cook for their dogs. They tend to have rice, milk, bread and meat like most of us do. Oil is a strict no no though.
There has been a growing movement to cook for your dogs here or to switch to raw feeding. While I love the idea, trying to maintain my pup’s nutritional needs with her long list of allergies would be nearly impossible. As long as we’ve got her, we’ll have to stick to her allergy-friendly food. However, it’s definitely something I would be open to exploring if I wasn’t dealing with the additional challenges.
I love these tips, especially not getting carried away by brand names. When I was a child, we had a cat. My mom bought her the really expensive brand name food, but she just wouldn’t eat it. Instead, she loved the simple, store-brand type the best. Quality and price aren’t always linear.
That’s one of the biggest misconceptions. In fact, there are some GREAT foods that don’t carry the highly recognized brand names. The key is to find an option that has the nutritional value that you seek.
I use samples for cat treats all the time! I have a Tupperware container full of them, and I’ve trained my cat to know what it means when I shake the container. He always comes running. It is so nice not to have to buy him treats, especially since he doesn’t get them often. I already feel like I spend a fortune in food and litter for my little guy as it is. I definitely agree with buying in bulk when you can too. I have these buckets at home that fit a 25 pound bag of food from Costco in them, keeping it safe from ants when they want to invade. Being able to buy the big bags is so helpful just because I don’t have to go to the store as often either. Time and gas are just as expensive as the product itself.
We have buckets like that as well! It helps to keep the food fresh and safe from pests as well as any moisture in the event that we are facing a leak, spill, etc. (I once lost a bag of cat food to a mop bucket that was accidently knocked over by my dog lol)
Perfect timing on this post. We adopted a kitten last year and just adopted a puppy this month. Even with the lower cost of adopting from a rescue instead of paying a breeder, it is still adding up daily. We spoil them too. Will definitely share this post with my fiance and see if we can save a bit of money with your excellent tips. Thanks!
We spoil all of ours which is why I started looking so carefully at how to save money on things like this. Not that the money actually stays in our account, it just gives us more to spoil them with on other things lol
Agree with all of these! Especially not being swayed by brand names, can definitely use this for everything, not just pet food.
Yes, these tips apply to SO much that we buy every day! Why pay full cost if you don’t have to? Right?
I have a dog and a cat and their food is so so expensive. I can’t wait to try out these tips because I’m in desperate need of bringing that cost down asap. Thank you for sharing!!
We spend a small fortune on our pets, but these tips really help to cut that down a little where possible.
I have six pets and definitely need to try more of these!
I can only imagine! With 4, we already spend a fortune lol
I don’t have dogs anymore, but when I do get some again, I’ll be sure to try these tips out!
It’s amazing how much a small savings can add up!
These are some really helpful tips. I tried cooking food and treats for my dog a couple years ago but she didn’t like my cooking lol.
There are so many (simple) treat recipes out there! I shared a round up of different recipes here on the blog at one point!
I can imagine the pet expenses given I have 2 sons! (Not exactly a comparison, but both are money suckers!) This has made us become bargain and coupon hunters as well.
I find that most people who are good at finding bargains usually have kids or pets lol
As my cats get older I need special food for them and it is expensive. Good ideas to keep the bill down.
I understand that! My one dog has A LOT of food allergies, so she has to be on a specific food. It can add up quickly!
My cats are so darn picky that they will only eat one brand and flavor of food. Then they get sick of it, go on hunger strike, and I’m left with a bunch of food they won’t eat. It makes me afraid to buy in bulk. Lucky for them they are as cute as they are expensive!
Oh no! I’m lucky in that mine haven’t gone through the ‘I’m bored of my food now’ phase yet. I hope the dogs never do – I don’t want to go through the process of trying to find another Dav friendly food with all her allergies haha!
Thanks for these tips. I’m so excited that our family is adopting our second dog this weekend! These tips will come in handy for the arrival our newest family member. 😀
Congratulations, that’s so exciting! What breed of dog are you adopting?