We all need to know how to food budget & spend less on groceries or we can really overspend.
With its brightly coloured packages, tasty food, and thousands of choices, grocery stores are designed by professionals to part you from as much of your money as possible. From the moment you walk in the door and catch a whiff of freshly baked goods, you are like a rat in their carefully constructed maze.
How to food budget & spend less on groceries
However, with a little discipline, and a few tricks up your sleeve, you can resist the temptation, save money and provide healthy food choices for your family.
How to food budget? Set a Budget
Start by setting a budget for your groceries. There is no magic formula for this number. It will depend on your income and the number of people in your home. Start low, and adjust it over the first few months until you find an amount that works for your family. To make yourself stick to the budget, withdraw the amount from the bank at the beginning of the month. Then place the cash in an envelope. Use the money in the envelope to purchase your groceries. When you are out of money, you aren’t allowed to buy any more groceries. After having to eat pork and beans the last few days of every month, you will learn to ration your money out more effectively.
Resist Temptation
You may have heard that you shouldn’t go to the store hungry. It is true. A growling stomach will have a head start in convincing you that you really do need that gallon of gourmet ice cream that you would otherwise resist. Likewise, don’t go shopping on payday. It may have been a while since you’ve been able to buy anything, and with a pocket full of cash, your resistance will be low.
Once you have built up your overall resistance, focus on ways to save money on the groceries you buy. Some ideas are:
Planning your Meals is how to food budget
Use the store’s weekly ad to plan your meals. Decide on the recipes that you will be making for the week and purchase just what you need to make those meals. Try to plan meals that use some of the same ingredients so you can buy those items in bulk. For example, you can make two recipes that use hamburger meat, like tacos and beef stroganoff. You can also double the size of some meals so that you can have leftovers for lunch, or freeze for meals later in the month.
Cook from Scratch if you want to know how to food budget
The fewer prepackaged meals that you make, the cheaper your meals will become. You can make your own versions of Hamburger Helper, or Pasta Roni for about half the cost of buying them at the store. Also, your version will have less sodium, taste better and be healthier for your family.
Use Coupons
You will have to learn how to use them effectively, but once you do, you can significantly reduce your grocery bill.
Buy Generic
The store versions of many of your favourite products are nearly identical and sometimes better that their brand name counterparts. In fact, my father used to work for a bakery. He said that as the bread came down the chute, about half of it would be put into name brand bread wrappers, and half would be put into generic wrappers. It was the same bread, but it was sold for very different prices.
How to food budget? Buy in Bulk
There are many products at the grocery store or warehouse store that are much cheaper in larger sizes. However, this does not work for every product, so you will need to compare the price per ounce of the various sizes. Also, only buy things in bulk if you are sure that you can use it all before the expiration date.
Buy Together – thats’ how to food budget
Some bulk items that are too large for your family, can be purchased and split by several families. This is an especially good idea for fruits and vegetables that have a limited shelf life. There are also local food co-op programs or food networks. One that is popular among many people is Angel Food Network. For $30 you can buy a box of food that will feed a family of four for about a week. A similar program called SHARE can be found in several states as well.
By following these ideas, you can stick to your grocery budget and save money. Keep track of your savings, and put at least some of it away for a future vacation or big purchase. Watching the amount grow will motivate you to stay focused on your budgetary goals.
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