Food: Grocery Shopping on a Budget

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Grocery Shopping on a Budget
Sunday, April 09, 2006

Most people are on some type of grocery shopping budget. Even those with seemingly endless amounts of money probably have a plan of some sort for what they will buy and how much they plan to spend, even if most of their dining involves eating in restaurants! But for the average citizen with a fixed income and a designated amount of money to be spent on food each month, it is important to try to get the most bang for your buck, while still buying healthy foods for you and your family, as well as foods you all like and enjoy.

The first step to making a grocery budget is to look at your entire income and see how much you can really spend on food. Then look at past months and figure out a ballpark figure of how much money you spent on groceries. For instance, if you have a family of four, and over the past few months you spent an average of $500.00 per month on groceries, then you may assume this is what you will spend in the future. Check your overall budget and make sure $500.00 is an amount that fits in to all your spending. If it is too much, you may need to cut your grocery budget down a bit by using coupons or buying less expensive brands; or you can cut another item in your budget to allow for a larger grocery budget.

Once you have decided how much money you are able to spend, take a look at how often you go grocery shopping. Most people go at least once a week, though some go more, and still others are able to do the bulk of their shopping every two weeks. It often depends on how far you live from your local grocery store, as well as whether or not you have access to a car. When you decide how often you will visit the grocery store, divide your grocery budget money by the amount of times you will shop each month. For instance, if you decided on $500.00 per month as your grocery budget, and you will be shopping once a week (approximately four times each month), then you will use approximately $125.00 per grocery store visit.

While many of us have the self-control to plan to use only this amount, the best way to ensure you don't go over your budget is to use cash. If you show up at the grocery store with your list and only $125.00 in cash (no checks, debit cards or credit cards stashed away), you will not be tempted to buy things over and above your budget; especially things such as check-out aisle items, candy, or spur-of-the-moment purchases. Some of us may want to bring a bit more, say $130.00, just in case the items on our list go a bit over our budgeted amount, and then we can balance it out the next time we go shopping.

After your money planning is set, it is time to plan for what food and other items you will buy. Begin by making a meal plan. If you are going to shop once each week, plan meals for seven days; this should include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, special events and occasions, and lunches or meals that will be taken to work or school. Once you have your meal plan listed, use another piece of paper to go through and list all the items that will be needed for each meal or snack. Many items you may already have in your cupboard; simply scratch those off the list. To make it easier on yourself, after your entire list has been made, consider re-writing it in order of the aisles of your favorite grocery store. For instance, when you enter the store, if your first stop is in the produce section, list all the produce first, and then go from there. This saves time as it prevents you from running back and forth around the store when you've forgotten something.

A word about coupons: if you choose to cut coupons, only cut the ones for items which you use regularly. Sometimes an item may catch your eye that you would not normally buy, and you'll only end up spending more money than you would have, had you never seen the coupon.

After your grocery shopping excursion is over, consider putting any leftover money into a special piggy bank or bank account to go toward a vacation or some other special purchase. This will give you special incentive to save money and stick to your budget!

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