"Stick go your list and use a calculator as you shop to stay under budget. We're under $50 a week for our family (two adults and two a toddler). No junk food either, it's doable!"--- Amanda N.
The average cost of monthly groceries for one person ranges from $162-372, married couples clock in at spending somewhere between, $371-773 each month. And when it comes to a family of four, the average cost for their monthly grocery bill shoots up to $570-1298! Yikes!
It is important to really begin to consider the difference between necessity and luxury when times get tight. You may also choose to tight up your spending habits simply to get out of debt or to save money for retirement. One of the easiest way to save money on food is to reduced the amount you spend at the grocery store.
You don't just have to take our word for it. By reading below you will convince by the simplicity of it. Here are 30 easy ways to go grocery shopping on a budget.
1. Check your pantry:
If you're about to plan your meals don't forget to check out your pantry. Challenge yourself to look through your pantry (or fridge) and see what kind of meals you can throw together with the ingredients you already have. There are many ingredients you could use and you're not aware of. Inventory your pantry and fridge helps you to know what to put on the list.
"Who says you have to stock up more groceries when there are perfectly good chicken thighs showed in the back of your freezer and a couple of unopened cabs of black beans and salsa on your shelves."2. Use sales wisely:
Our human brain ussually can't resist all the juicy offer's! How does it sound to buy a 2+1 free chocolate pack if you come into the store to buy the ingredients for pasta? It's still not free, you still pay for two of them. Use sales as your friend not enemy. Make a list if essential Good's every househood should have (e.g, olive oil) and stock them up when they're on sale, educate yourself on the sales.
3. Uses prices book:
A price book helps you save money on groceries by tracking sales patterns and the lowest possible price of item, so that you know the Best time to stock up. Additionally, the sales go in cycles, and you should be able to tell how much you need to buy until the item goes on sale again, you can make your own prices book with a notebook of three-ring binder. Write the item on the top of the piece of paper. Then list the price per unit. This will help you really determine how much you really are selling. Once you've started a page, look at your sales circulars each week, then the cost of each item. You can use this to compare them to the prices at warehouse club's to see the Lowest prices at any store.
4. Preserve and store away.
When ingredients are overflowing at the farmers market (or in your garden), buy in bulk and preserve them for the winter. yeah, it may seems like you are spending more during the summer between the extra produce and carning jars. But think of each one of those jars of tomato sauce or pickles as an investment.
You can buy a box of pasta for a couple of bucks and pulls a container of your homemade "summer in a jar" tomato sauce off the shelf in the winter, you'll have created an affordable dinner. Plus think about how gratifying it will be to eat sause you made!
And speaking of sauce, you can save yourself time and effort if you invest in a vacuum sealer. Plan a day where you make big batches of sauces-like curry, tomato, cheese, etc. Vacuum sealer and freeze them for when you want all the comfort of a flavorful sauce with minimal effort. All you need is some simmering water or a slow cooker to revive the sauce, bon appetit!
5. Plan your menu:
Before entering the store, be absolutely sure of what you are looking for! If you plan your menus a week or a month in advance, you will be able to take advantage of sales and bulk buying opportunities. It will also prevent you from eating out, you may find that you can cook similar main dishes all on one day, and then freeze the other for later, this will help on days that you don't feel like cooking. You can also plan your menus around your stores weekly circular, which will help you take full advantage of the stores sale prices. If you don't want to plan your own menu. You can also purchase your menu plan online it will make you decision way easier.
6. Round up your grocery cost estimate.
" I use tally marks to keep track of what I'm spending, and I always round up every item. Even if the item is $1.29 it's get two daily tally marks that way. By the time I check out, I'm both aware of approximately what to still be under what I wanted to spend." Julian H.This is a fun little trick to play on yourself when you're stumed for how to save money on your groceries why you are walking around with your calculator. Round up each items price the $1.59 product becomes $2, that $7.75 item becomes $8 and and so on, if you do this for everything in your cart, you'll still know roughly what you're spending, but, you you'll be pleasant surprised when you're standing at the checkout line and coming in under budget Everytime.
7. Avoid what's on the eyesight:
Even though it looks like grocery shopping doesn't have much thought behind it, it's actually where you're the the most attacked by various marketing strategies, when walking through aisles, always look up and down, Because most of the high margin items are right at your level of eyesight. Next time you see some irresistible, think about weather it's something you really need or a set-up.
8. Try out delivery:
Shopping online has tons of perks! But in some countries you might spend more. But right at the US here, I thought it's a great deal. You don't need to use a calculator to see how much you're about to spend. It's ideal from sticking to the plan. Sure, sure you pay something for the delivery, but you save on the irresistible goods and on time! Before doing your shopping online, always check whether the price is more expensive. Or similar compared to supermarkets.
10. Limits the amount of small things:
Try to limit the amount of "small things" that end up in your basket, especially bthe ones bear the checkout counters. You won't realize how you just shopped until it's time to pay! This areas are also very attractive for kids, so try living then at home for shopping or strict about the list.
11. Pay with cash:
Best way to be sure you'll end up with a better grocery bill is to stick to your budget and pay with cash. When you go to the store with cash in hand, you Know exactly how much you can spend-because once the cash runs out, that's it!
Plus, it'll help you prioritize the meat-and-vegetable necessities rather than the ice cream- cookie impulse buys, those little extras are okay if you plan for them!
If you still find that you've eating like royalty at the beginning of the month and then scraping at the end, take out cash for groceries every week instead of once a month. The way, you'll have a better picture of how much you can actually afford to spend each week.
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