Other - Pregnancy & Parenting

Tips For Grocery Shopping On A Budget

In today’s economy, it is hard to make money stretch to match your budget. As a mother of two growing children, I’ve learned the hard way how to do just that. Here are some tips that I’ve learned 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:

(number of family members) x $34 (average) = (weekly grocery budget)

For example, since there are four people in my home; I have $136 allotted for the week. With any luck I will save more with grocery coupons and store sales.

2. Plan your meals around the store sales. Keep them simple: protein, vegetable, carbohydrates. If possible, plan to use the same type of meat twice in one week; you can buy in bulk, separate and freeze. Plan chicken for one night (cook a few extra) and two days later make a casserole with the leftovers.

3. With your menus planned make a list and put the price next to each item. You can easily get this amount from the sales ads and estimate the other staples on your list. If you are like me and buy the same staples often then you probably have a good idea of the cost.

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

Sometimes it feels like healthy foods are just too expensive. If your supermarket has a health food section you know what I mean. However, being on a tight budget doesn’t mean that you can’t get the healthy grains vegetables, fruits, etc. you need. The next time you make a grocery list, keep the following in mind:

Not all vegetables are created equally - 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. Just like with meat, you can often save when you buy frozen vegetables in bulk. Purchase big, resealable bags of frozen veggies so that you can use what you need and put the rest back in the freezer.

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.

Tags: Other - Pregnancy & Parenting