Frugal Living: Grocery Shopping On A Budget
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008In today’s economy, it is hard to make money stretch to match your budget. As a mother of two growing children, I’ve learned the hard way how to do just that. Here are some tips that I’ve learned along the way.
Planning Your Budget
The best way to live frugally is to plan ahead. Looking in the grocery ads can cause a wave of despair and worry that you won’t have enough money. Here are a few tips on planning your grocery budget that may help you stretch your dime into a dollar:
1. Calculations - Get a rough estimate of the cost to feed each person in your household. Throughout the years, I’ve found that it takes approximately $30 - $37 dollars a week to feed one person - it may be more or less, depending on how much your family eats and where you live. Here is a simple formula to figure out your weekly grocery budget:
(people in the house) x $34 (middle ground) = (have to have for groceries)
Since there are four people in my home; I have $136 allotted for groceries. With any luck I can bring this down with coupons and store sales.
2. Plan your meals in advance. Keep them simple: meat, vegetable, carbohydrates. If possible, plan to use the same type of meat twice in one week; you can buy in bulk, separate and freeze. Hamburger, for example, is a good meat to use twice. One day you can make hamburgers; two days later, you can make spaghetti with a meat sauce.
3. With your menus planned make a list and put the price next to each item. You can easily get this amount from the sales ads and estimate the other staples on your list. If you are like me and buy the same staples often then you probably have a good idea of the cost.
4. Round up to the nearest dollar. Even if you’re buying something that’s $0.39, write it down as a dollar. Those pennies add up; I end up spending $10 to $20 less than I planned to, using this rule.
5. Add up the totals as you go along, keeping in mind your “have to have” amount. Once you have reached that total, stop and check your meal plan. If you’re at your “have to have” amount and only have three meals covered, you need to reassess your meal plan; it may be too elaborate.
Although every household has different eating habits, this is a good start for budgeting groceries. You may have to adjust things to fit your situation.
Healthy Meals on a Budget
Sometimes it feels like healthy foods are just too expensive. If your supermarket has a health food section you know what I mean. However, being on a tight budget doesn’t mean that you can’t get the healthy grains vegetables, fruits, etc. you need. The next time you make a grocery list, keep the following in mind:
Not all vegetables are created equally - Buy frozen if you can’t afford fresh. The juice in canned vegetables is where most of your vitamins are. Not so with frozen vegetables; the vitamins are still in the food itself. Buying frozen vegetables generally gives you more for your money as well.
Buy potatoes, noodles or rice, but use them sparingly. Give larger amounts of vegetables, with the starches as a sort of side dish.
Buy carrots as snack foods for the kids. You can buy a large bag for low cost, peel them and then cut them up. Not only do they get vitamins this way, but they’re also low in calories. Most kids like carrots because they’re sweet.
Buy in Bulk
Whenever you can - and if you have the freezer room - buy your meats and vegetables in bulk. Though it’s sometimes more expensive to buy this way, that’s generally not the case. Meats, especially, tend to be cheaper in large amounts.
You can do many things to cut costs at the grocery store; these are just a few tips. However, the biggest thing is to look at cost vs. amount. While generic foods may look like a better deal, the contents of the container may weigh much less than name brands. Do your research - though it may take more time, you will end up saving more money.
