Grocery Saving Tips – Tips on Budgeting
How to Save Money – Tips on Budgeting
How would you like to save $50 a month on groceries? Check out these three tips to get you started. I’m sure you’ll be able to find more online, and we’ll maybe do more posts on it in the future. But for now, as you’re getting started with some personal finance basics start with these 3 tips on budgeting.
Keep a Strict Grocery Budget With a Strict List – Do you know exactly how much money you spend on groceries every month? Most people wouldn’t. That’s why the personal finance basics lesson my clients get first is on budgeting. Look on google for a budget or check out our resource link for a comprehensive budget spreadsheet. When you know how much money you’ve allocated towards groceries, you’ll think twice about those HoHos. For example, if you’ve budgeted for $100, and essentials come to $99, you have a choice. Check out, or spend $20 or more on non-essentials and take away from other important parts of the budget.
Plan Your Meals – Have you ever wandered the grocery aisles looking trying to figure out what to buy? When my clients give me personal finance basics testimonials, they always thank me for teaching them the importance of planning their meals. With the menu laid out for the week you’ll know exactly what you need at the store. This also prevents buying extras and creates lest waste. This also doubles as a time saving tip. Take some time on the weekend and prepare meals for the week. It’s the financially responsible and health conscious way for instant meals. All you’ll have to do is cook the pre made meal, toss a salad and away you go!
Go on a Diet – I was floored one day reading about healthy eating and portions. Want to hear a disturbing insight into the history of McDonald’s portions in the early days. Apparently the current McDonald’s Happy Meal is the same size as the original combo meant for adults. The challenge with understanding tips on budgeting, reducing grocery expenses and practicing good personal finance basics is we have been conditioned over the last 30 years to want more and more food. Restaurants use large portions to satisfy patrons, but when we bring bigger portions to the kitchen table, we eat more than we need. The results, larger grocery bills and an overweight society.
There are so many other ways to save money on groceries, but I think these will give you a good start.
If you can think of any other useful personal finance basics as it relates to saving money on groceries, please comment on this post for others to see and benefit. And don’t forget to check online for other tips on budgeting, or search around our resource link for more information in our free ebook or for other financial calculators. Enjoy saving money as I leave you with this food for thought. Retailers are full time marketers of their products. You are only a part time shopper. Of course they’re going to win the game and get you to spend more than planned and buy things you don’t need. So go armed with the only defense, your list.
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I believe planning your meals two to three weeks in advance is THE number one way to save money on your grocery bill. My family has been doing it for over a dozen years and we save so much money mainly because we 1) only buy what we need; 2) reduce the number of trips to the store; and 3) eliminate trips to restaurants because we “don’t have groceries in the house.”
Interesting about the Happy Meal being as big as the original combo meal. I do remember when McDonald’s only had one size of french fries (today’s small size).
All the best,
Len
Stick to the list is easier said than done. I think guys have an easier time with it since we don’t enjoy the act of shopping. Another tip. When you’re going after one or two things, don’t grab a shopping cart. Then you are forced to pass on anything you can’t carry.
My wife is amazing at saving money on groceries, buying only on-sale items and items she has a coupon for. Albertsons has a frequent buyers program where you save additionally and your receipt shows a total of how much you saved. Sometimes she saves more than she spends in total!
Great post. Planning meals is such a big one, but mostly overlooked. If people realized just taking a few minutes out of each day to do this could help your bottom line, maybe they’d look a little more at it.
I agree with all your points. SO MUCH money is wasted grocery shopping every day with impulse purchases. I just wanted to add that I create my grocery list based on the sales circular for that store that week. Sure, there are staples that I may need to buy that are not on sale, but when it comes to fruit, I buy what is in season and on sale. Same for cereal and other things. We are open to many brands, so I can usually adjust what I buy based on what is on sale. Plus, I combine my coupons with those sales.
I used to go grocery shopping with my dad when I was young. Because he was frugal minded, we would travel to all the different grocery stores in the city we lived to pick up all the deals. He would literally end up saving thousands of dollars each year by doing that. It does pay to search around for a bargain.
Thanks for the comment!
I agree. If you plan out your meals, there is less chance of food going to waste and we all know how much food costs! It’s too bad that most of us a guilty of throwing away food. And you’re right, the same people that waste food are probably the same people that don’t draw the connection that throwing out food is the exact same as throwing out money.
As a mentioned earlier, I used to go shopping with my dad when I was young. We would save thousands of dollars each year just by go to every story looking for the best flyer deals.
Thanks for the post!
I guess by planning that far in advance you are able to screen the upcoming flyers to search for the best deals too! I don’t know that planning that far ahead would work for me. I tend to get a craving for tacos or pizza once in a while. I fell it is important to treat and reward yourself especially if you have worked hard to achieve something. But you are totally right. Proper planning helps you to save money with grocery’s too!
Thanks for the post
We feed a family of ten on very little. My wife has learned how to play the coupon game and it is amazing how many groceries you can buy for very little money. I think watching sales, using coupons, and sticking to your shopping list are the best ways to have a cheap grocery budget. We also live in the country and our garden and deer hunting skills in the fall save us a lot of money on groceries as well.
.-= Oscar At Real Life Money Management´s last blog ..Apr 19, Top Ten Budgeting Tips for the Family Budget =-.
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Couldn’t agree more with this post. Saving money on grocery shopping is hard, but so helpful if you can manage to save money because you do it so often.
Thanks for the comment! We always try to provide the best information possible for our readers and will continue to do so!
Grocery shopping is without a debt one of the biggest weekly/yearly expenses we have. If you can save even a small amount every week by clipping coupons and following tips on budgeting that can easily translate into thousands every year.
Cheers!
Using our natural resources is one option I would never have considered when trying to save money. A lot of people fish and hunt and it truly could save a great deal of money.
Thanks for the post.
Plan your meal will do and make sure to buy stuff which is really needed and we also need to consider the quantity of the food. (not so many but not less).
It is a good that we have this article and I really appreciate reading all the content here. I’ve learned a lot and it helped me realized something that I should change within me.
Thanks for the comment. It truly is amazing how much money we all spend (and waste) on food each week. Certainly to be kind to our wallets, it’s wise to stay in and cook for yourself rather than going out for every meal!