Tips To Cutting Your Grocery Budget
The first thing you should do is establish your monthly average food budget
. In order to accurately track what you spend per month, you need to enter everything in a spreadsheet for several months and then look at the monthly average for groceries.
You can do this by dividing the monthly total by the number of months. It's hard to see what you're really spending per month since a lot of the food you buy isn't just for this month. You might buy a jar of honey that lasts you three months, or a giant bag of rice that lasts for six months.
This is why you have to take an average over several months. Then you must set a goal for cutting your budget. It's important to set a goal, an actual fixed number, for a monthly budget.
If you don't have a number in mind, you won't stick to it.
If you're currently spending $1000/month on food (average), and you want to cut that in half, set your goal for $500/month. If you think that's crazy and impossible, set your goal for 25% - $750/month.
Next, you need to analyze your expenditures. Only then can you see where you can cut costs. You might also find that you're spending a lot of money on things you can do without - like disposable diapers or paper towels. Perhaps you can switch to cloth diapers and you'll have an extra $50/month for raw grass-fed butter.
Writing a weekly menu plan is not hard to do and it really helps you get organized. One easy way to do this is to sit down with your recipe books once a week and write up what you will be eating that week.If three meals a day is too hard, then just stick to dinners.
Then you can figure out what ingredients you need to buy. You are much less prone to impulse buys and buying stuff you do not need. Also, you can balance the week's costs , a few nights cheaper meals like beans and rice, or soups or stews , and then do something more expensive, like a roast chicken or duck and maybe some seafood on the other nights.
Now you can figure out the cost per meal. Get out your menu plan and the corresponding recipes, and figure out the cost per meal. If your recipe calls for 4 ounces of butter and butter costs $2.50/lb ($2.50 divided by 16 ounces = .16 per ounce), that's 64 cents. Add up all your other ingredients and you will know the cost per meal.
Now you are ready to write up your shopping list. Never go to the grocery store or farmer's market without a shopping list. This way you only buy what you need each week. You can still buy in bulk, but since you know your costs per meal and costs per week, you know you will be staying within your monthly budget.
If you want to find ways to cut your costs even more, try shopping around for cheaper sources of food. You might want to find some local growers or farmers to buy from who have smaller costs. You can also find ways to buy in bulk or starting or joining a buying club for organic food.
You can also join a CSA with a local farm - or buy 1/4 or 1/2 of a cow. Avoiding processed foods saves a lot of money. Most people would prefer to spend their money on health and nutritious foods rather than on junk like chips and cookies.
It really can save you money. If you doubt this, then buy your usual frozen and packaged foods for a cycle or two of groceries. Then put into practice what you have learned here and buy more fresh foods to prepare at home and see what your difference in cost is. Plus you will look and feel much better when you eat fresher!
by: Jack Landry
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