Reexamining how you plan meals will lower your grocery bill.
As food prices rise, we have less money to spend on food, yet many times we end up wasting the food we have. Reevaluating what you buy at the grocery store and using what you buy in your weekly meals will open a path to deep cuts in your yearly grocery bill. Planning meals, clipping coupons and watching the sales may not be enough. Decreasing your grocery bill requires a different way of thinking and a different way of looking at how you consume food.
Instructions
Calculate a New Budget
1. Add up what you have spent on groceries for the last three months. The easiest way to do this is to tally all your receipts from the grocery store, warehouse club and local farmer's market (if they provide a receipt). Decide what you categorize as "grocery." For some, that means only food. For others, household items like as toilet paper count. Total only the items in your "grocery" category.
2. Multiply the total by four. Now you will have a rough approximation of your yearly grocery bill.
3. Calculate your new grocery budget. This is as simple as looking at your income, then looking at what you spend on groceries and finding a number you can live with. For example, if your yearly grocery total is $4800, you may consider making your new budget $4000.
4. Divide your yearly total by 12 to determine your monthly grocery budget. Next, think about how many times you go grocery shopping. If you go to the store about once per week, divide the monthly total by four. This is your weekly budget for groceries. If you go twice a month, divide the total by two and you'll have your biweekly budget.
Use the New Budget
5. Withdraw in cash your weekly grocery budget. Paying cash for groceries will open your eyes to how much you can buy. Placing the cash in an envelope labeled "Groceries" or paper clipping it together in your purse will help to keep the cash separate from your spending money, reserving it only for groceries.
6. Scan the circulars. For anything that you buy regularly, buy only when you see it on the weekly circular ads or coupons. Visit an Internet coupon site (see Resources) and search for coupons on the items you have picked out from the circular that you will buy. Many times, the reason why grocery stores have certain food items on sale is because the store bought it for a lower price from the distributor. Often, the same distributor will have manufacturer coupons on coupon websites.
7. Buy in bulk all of the items you have found on the circular and have coupons for. With staples such as eggs and milk, use coupons and/or only buy what is on sale. With fruits and vegetables, buy in season and freeze the extra.
For example, if bell peppers are normally $2.29 each, and you notice that they are $0.79 each on this week's circular, buy double or triple what you normally would. Chop up the excess peppers and freeze them. Doing this will save you $1.50 per pepper. If you consume 10 peppers per year, this is an instant savings of $15.00. On a yearly budget of $4000 ($83.00 per week) this $15.00 savings frees up 5 percent of your weekly grocery cost.
8. Reuse food that would normally be thrown away. Plan meals and eat food before it goes bad. Every time you throw out food, picture it as money being thrown away. For example, did a bunch of bananas go bad? Use them in a quick loaf of banana bread; now you have used the banana and enjoyed a loaf of bread instead of throwing a black banana bunch in the trash.
9. Use all the items in your pantry, fridge and freezer before buying more. Certain items will need to be replenished regularly, but many items take a while to eat through. Force yourself to use what you have to create creative and tasty dishes.
10. Cook in bulk and freeze small portions to reheat during the week. Create your own instant rice, pasta sauce and salsa. Recipes are everywhere: in old cookbooks you barely open, on the Internet or with a quick call to a family member. Making food from scratch not only gives you fast food for pennies on the dollar but is healthier for you, too.
Tags: grocery bill, your grocery, your weekly, your yearly, grocery budget