Notice that I titled this "How I Save Money at the Grocery Store". I don't claim to be an expert and I make mistakes quite often, but I've made huge strides. I was only going to tell you the ways I save money, like using coupons, etc., but then I realized that I used to do those things and didn't save a penny. So for part 1, here are some principles that should really be practiced if you want to save money at the grocery store:
1. Budget
Obvious and easy, right? When Lucas and I first got married, I looked at how much money we were spending on groceries and that became the budget. This is fine if you don't need to change your lifestyle or if you need your "budget" to be an estimate of expenditures. When things became even tighter a while back, I had to reassess and was rocked to reality by a friend who did a Facebook poll asking how much her family should be spending. People were saying they spent $200-250 a month for families of 2-4. WHAT?!?!
Now to be painfully transparent, I had budgeted $400 a month and usually had no idea if I was staying within that until the month was over because of the good ole debit/credit card. After a closer look, I wasn't staying within that at all. Sometimes I was much as $100 to $200 over budget. I was literally grieved because this was a way I was serving my family... and I was failing.
So how much should you spend? I should clarify that I consider groceries to include not just food, but also health and beauty supplies, the occasional household item, and cleaning supplies. I determined that $200 wasn't doable for us because these people were talking about just food and I'm a one-stop shopper. In addition to that, I'm gluten free, and though I don't buy many specialty GF products, my diet is still more pricey than my lucky gluten-eating friends'. With that to consider and my health-conscience husband who loves his protein, we decided to shoot for $300 a month ($75/week) and adjust if needed. We haven't needed to adjust and have stayed within that nearly every month since, saving us a pretty penny.
2. Cash
Man, did I resist this. It's a well-known fact that if you're spending cash, you'll spend less. Spend what you have and when it's gone, it's gone. The pragmatic side of me didn't want to worry with it. A card is so easy. I don't have to worry about making sure whoever is picking up an emergency item has money on them, etc. I was great at thinking of every possible of excuse to not use cash before I finally caved.
3. Count before you buy
So if you only have so much cash in your pocket, how much money will you need to cover what's in your cart? I'll admit it, counting the cost is a pain but you need to know how much it will cost before you buy it. I did it for long enough that I don't do it anymore because I can check out now with a very good idea of how much is in my cart. For the first several months after I began using cash, I used an app called "Shopper Tally". It's an extremely easy to use and primitive app. I put something in the cart, I added the price to my tally, and continued shopping. There are much better apps out there but the ones I found weren't free. The first few weeks I was the crazy lady pushing my cart through the store and putting things back on the shelf that we couldn't afford. Spending cash at the grocery store has very possibly helped save more money than anything else and it's not that difficult to do.
4. Get organized
I make a list and I stick to it. Rarely do I buy something that isn't on my list. When this happens, it's either because I forgot to put it on my list or there was something on clearance that we use all the time. Committing to stick to your list means you're not making impulse buys.
Having an organized list also helps me avoid going to the store more than once a week. I'm not a perfect menu planner, but when I go to the store, I know how many servings of vegetables I need to buy to get us through a week of dinners.
5. Shop smart
I won't go into great detail because that would be a whole other blog series, but if you're on a tight budget, you should know you won't be eating filet mignon every night. Do things like buy whole fruit and veggies instead of prepackaged and cut, and buy the store brand when you can (and when it's actually a good deal because sometimes it's not).
Part 2 will explain how I price-match, coupon, and use fun money-back apps to help stay on budget.
1. Budget
Obvious and easy, right? When Lucas and I first got married, I looked at how much money we were spending on groceries and that became the budget. This is fine if you don't need to change your lifestyle or if you need your "budget" to be an estimate of expenditures. When things became even tighter a while back, I had to reassess and was rocked to reality by a friend who did a Facebook poll asking how much her family should be spending. People were saying they spent $200-250 a month for families of 2-4. WHAT?!?!
Now to be painfully transparent, I had budgeted $400 a month and usually had no idea if I was staying within that until the month was over because of the good ole debit/credit card. After a closer look, I wasn't staying within that at all. Sometimes I was much as $100 to $200 over budget. I was literally grieved because this was a way I was serving my family... and I was failing.
So how much should you spend? I should clarify that I consider groceries to include not just food, but also health and beauty supplies, the occasional household item, and cleaning supplies. I determined that $200 wasn't doable for us because these people were talking about just food and I'm a one-stop shopper. In addition to that, I'm gluten free, and though I don't buy many specialty GF products, my diet is still more pricey than my lucky gluten-eating friends'. With that to consider and my health-conscience husband who loves his protein, we decided to shoot for $300 a month ($75/week) and adjust if needed. We haven't needed to adjust and have stayed within that nearly every month since, saving us a pretty penny.
2. Cash
Man, did I resist this. It's a well-known fact that if you're spending cash, you'll spend less. Spend what you have and when it's gone, it's gone. The pragmatic side of me didn't want to worry with it. A card is so easy. I don't have to worry about making sure whoever is picking up an emergency item has money on them, etc. I was great at thinking of every possible of excuse to not use cash before I finally caved.
3. Count before you buy
So if you only have so much cash in your pocket, how much money will you need to cover what's in your cart? I'll admit it, counting the cost is a pain but you need to know how much it will cost before you buy it. I did it for long enough that I don't do it anymore because I can check out now with a very good idea of how much is in my cart. For the first several months after I began using cash, I used an app called "Shopper Tally". It's an extremely easy to use and primitive app. I put something in the cart, I added the price to my tally, and continued shopping. There are much better apps out there but the ones I found weren't free. The first few weeks I was the crazy lady pushing my cart through the store and putting things back on the shelf that we couldn't afford. Spending cash at the grocery store has very possibly helped save more money than anything else and it's not that difficult to do.
4. Get organized
I make a list and I stick to it. Rarely do I buy something that isn't on my list. When this happens, it's either because I forgot to put it on my list or there was something on clearance that we use all the time. Committing to stick to your list means you're not making impulse buys.
Having an organized list also helps me avoid going to the store more than once a week. I'm not a perfect menu planner, but when I go to the store, I know how many servings of vegetables I need to buy to get us through a week of dinners.
5. Shop smart
I won't go into great detail because that would be a whole other blog series, but if you're on a tight budget, you should know you won't be eating filet mignon every night. Do things like buy whole fruit and veggies instead of prepackaged and cut, and buy the store brand when you can (and when it's actually a good deal because sometimes it's not).
Part 2 will explain how I price-match, coupon, and use fun money-back apps to help stay on budget.