Frugal Living: Grocery Shopping On A Budget
With the cost of gas and groceries constantly rising it is getting harder and harder to make ends meet. As a stay at home mom I have had to find creative ways to feed my family within a budget. Here are some tips that I have picked up 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 - Try to get an idea how much it costs 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 meal plan in hand, make a grocery list using the store ads and write the dollar amount of each item beside it. It’s essential to make a list; without it, you end up buying things you don’t need, as well as forgetting some things that you do need.
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 shop. Since you are rounding up you can probably keep a running total in your head. Once you have reached that total, stop and check your meal plan. If you’re at the amount that you allotted yourself for and only have three meals covered, you need to reassess your menus.
Although every household has different eating habits, this is a good start getting on a grocery budget. Try to tailor this plan to fit your family’s needs.
Eating Healthy on a Budget
The plain truth is that it’s hard to buy healthy foods when you’re on a tight budget; noodles and rice become your main staples. However, being on a tight budget doesn’t mean that you can’t get the vegetables and fruits you need. The next time you make a grocery list, keep these thoughts in mind:
Not all vegetables are created equally - meaning that fresh isn’t the same as frozen, and frozen isn’t the same as canned. 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 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 calorie. Most kids like carrots because they’re sweet and this is a great way for them to get more vegetables in their diet.
Buy in Bulk
Whenever you can - and if you have the freezer room - buy your meats and vegetables in bulk. You can save a lot of money this way. Meat is usually cheaper by the pound when you buy the big packs.
You can do many things to turn your dimes into dollars; this outline is just the tip of the iceberg. 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, it will take less money.
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