Groceries can easily eat up a family budget, but there are several ways to eat well while staying within your financial limits. Learning about your current grocery spending habits, using a list, planning ahead, and finding good deals are just a few of the ways you can reduce your grocery bill.
Learn About Your Current Spending
The first step in living within a budget is to learn how you have been spending money in the past. The easiest way to do this is to hang on to your grocery receipts for one month and then categorize your spending. How much are spending on fresh produce? Meat and other protein sources? Sodas and snacks? Once you see how you have been spending your grocery dollars, you can create a reasonable budget and set achievable goals for reducing your grocery bill.
Eat Seasonal Foods
Buying tropical fruits that have been shipped around the globe in the middle of winter costs you more. It is far better to buy fresh fruits and vegetables when they are in season and on sale. It is easy enough to freeze or can your own produce and save money in the process. Prices are at their lowest when there is an abundance of a crop. June strawberries, autumn pumpkins, and corned beef just before St. Patrick’s Day are far more affordable than when supplies are dwindling and prices are higher. Weekly visits to your local farmers’ market is another great way to focus on seasonal foods, eat foods that are fresher, and support local businesses, all while protecting your grocery budget.
Read Sales Flyers
Most families receive tons of junk mail each week, but the sales flyers from local grocery stores offer teasers, foods priced below cost, in an effort to get people in the door. Stock up on non-perishables when they are priced at their lowest to save hundreds of dollars each year. Also, choose your grocery store with an eye for saving money. Discounted canned foods, pasta, and home cleaning supplies cost far less from discount stores than Whole Foods. Choosing the right store for what you need can save a lot of money on your grocery bill.
Plan Ahead & Use List
Planning meals ahead of time is another way to maintain control over the family food budget. Another helpful tool is to maintain a running shopping list. You can use your smart phone or Post-it notes on the refrigerator to make it easy to see and use. As some foodstuff starts to run low, simply add it to the list. Using and sticking to a shopping list can help prevent unnecessary, duplicate purchases and make staying within your food budget easier.
How To Shop
Most grocery stores make the bulk of their profits from impulse buying. If you don’t need something from an aisle, don’t walk down it. Millions of dollars are spent each year in marketing research, packaging, and placing products in ways that make you want to buy them. Processed foods and already prepared foods can quickly eat up a family grocery budget. You can do nearly all of your grocery shopping by sticking to the perimeter of the store and save a surprising amount of money. Also, leave the kids at home. Children are especially susceptible to marketing ploys and they can be a real distraction while you are trying to focus on getting your money’s worth.
Use Coupons/Store Memberships
Coupons can be a goldmine of savings, once you learn to use them effectively. There’s no point in clipping coupons for items you wouldn’t normally buy, but coupons can reduce your grocery bill significantly when you use them to buy regularly purchased items. In the same way, many grocery stores now offer memberships that provide personalized savings and special discounts. These savings can reduce your grocery bill by as much as 10-20% when used consistently.
Start A Garden
Growing many of your own foods is far easier than most people realize. Herbs can be very expensive to buy but they grow with little or no care, look good in containers, and require no fertilization from bees. Tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, garlic, salad greens and spinach all grow easily in containers and they require very little space.
Feeding your family on a budget is not difficult. Planning ahead and shopping for discounts and seasonal foods can save a significant amount of money each year.