$3 for a dozen eggs. $3 for a gallon of milk. $3 per pound of chicken. Truly, these are the end times.
Groceries expenses are getting out of hand and it hurts me when I hear what others are spending on groceries. So, I have compiled a list of things that I do (and don’t do) each month to keep our grocery bill on track.
*Note, we are a family of 3, so if you have more mouths to feed, obviously your budget will need to be a little higher. But follow these tips, and I’m sure you will see a huge difference in your wallet.
1. I don’t buy at Sam’s/Costco or any membership warehouse club. Here’s why. We tried it, we went in, bought a little over $100 worth of pantry items with the idea that these would last us for about 2-3 months until our next trip. We got stuff that had a long shelf life, obviously, but that was in September, and we are in April and I am still sending Pringles’ cups to school for my son’s snack. The large condiments that we thought we should stock up on due to my husband’s remarkable ability to drink ranch, buffalo sauce, and ketchup right out of the bottle, didn’t fit in my designated condiment section in the fridge. Like, it was straight up chaos, and it was not for me. And in the grand scheme of things, the items we were buying were the same unit price at our local Walmart, so while it was fun, it just wasn’t worth it for our lifestyle.
2. I also don’t meal plan. That’s right. I. Don’t. Meal. Plan. I know, that’s the #1 rule to getting on a grocery budget. But, what if I told you that’s not true? Yes, you can meal plan, go to the store, get exactly what’s on your list and nothing more and stick to your budget. That is doable. But is that saving you the most money? No. Instead of looking at the sales and working with what coupons, deals and BOGOs there are, you are going straight for your $4.36/lb Ground Beef and bypassing the $1.99/lb chicken breasts that are on sale that week.
If it helps you mentally to meal plan, it keeps your house in order, takes one more thing off of your plate, then by all means, meal plan! But try Reverse Meal Planning (I literally just made that term up). Take a look at the Weekly Ads for your favorite grocery store. See what is on sale. To find out if it is a true sale, compare it to Walmart prices. You can do this easily on their app. In fact, I always have my Walmart app pulled up when I’m at another store because that helps me make purchasing decisions. Once you see what items are on sale, then you make your menu for the week. When you find sales on items you would use in your weekly meal plan, stock up! I am not kidding. This will help you on the weeks that the sales aren’t that great. I stock up on meat sales especially, get home, portion the meat out, label and freeze.
3. I portion our meat. When I buy a pack of chicken breasts, I am placing each one in its own bag. Separating them
helps them defrost faster, and also give me flexibility. If I am doing a meal that we do not need leftovers for the next day, I am using one chicken breast. Yes, one chicken breast. If we need leftovers, I am using two. How is that possible? No, I am not Jesus feeding the multitude with loaves and fish, even though it does feel like it! I quarter our chicken. Instead of one full chicken breast per person (which is usually too much for me to eat anyways and gets wasted), I cut them into 4 pieces. I try to buy chicken breasts that are thick, that way I can cut them in half, and take each piece, and cut them in half again depth wise. There’s no real easy to explain this, so I have a picture for reference!
4. Sides, sides, sides. Sides are so important. When portioning our meat, you might think that is not enough food. Yes it is. When you supplement it with sides. Meat is expensive, so you need to offset that price with 2-3 sides that are $1 or less each. Canned/frozen vegetables, salads, pastas, bread, and my personal favorite: potatoes.
Canned/Frozen vegetables- Green beans, peas, squash, broccoli, corn. These items are extremely cheap, and even cheaper and better for you if you get fresh produce and freeze it or can them yourself.
Salads- House, chef, caesar, so many options. The main take away from this point is do not buy salads in a bag! They are so expensive it makes me start hyperventilating. Buy heads of lettuce for $1-$1.50 each and make your own. The lettuce will taste better and last longer. We get about 2-3 salads with our meals on one head of lettuce. Add croutons, cheese, boiled eggs, deli meat, anything you have in your refrigerator that you think would go good on a salad, use it!
Pastas- I’m talking the Knorr pasta sides, rice, macaroni and cheese, or straight up noodles with parmesan cheese on them, it doesn’t matter. This is a cheap and easy side for your meals.
Bread- Rolls, biscuits, garlic bread. Judge me if you want to, but when we have spaghetti, I am pulling out my loaf of white sandwich bread, breaking slices of bread in half, throwing some butter, garlic salt and parsley on top, placing it under the broiler until it starts to brown- boom, garlic bread. It cost me less than $1.
Potatoes- So versatile. I’m not talking instant, I’m not talking frozen, I’m talking the potatoes you get in a 5lb bag in the produce section. At my local Food Lion, they go on rotation so that about every couple of weeks, they are 2/$5. That’s 10lbs of potatoes for $5! We use these potatoes so often. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, potato wedges, roasted potatoes, fries- channel your inner Bubba and the possibilities are endless.
5. I do one large grocery haul at the beginning of each month from Walmart. I usually set this budget to around $250. Some months it might be more (but only a little), and some months it might be less. If that’s the case, I usually find something I can stock up on to hit my $250 number, because it’s already built in, right? The idea behind this grocery haul is to get things that will last the whole month, and make smaller weekly shopping trips for fresh items that expire quickly. Also, do pickup or delivery for this haul so that you are able to keep your cart in budget. That is so much easier when you do your groceries online!
6. Weekly Shopping Trips: I set my budget to $30 each week. I know the staples I buy every week- cheese, milk, fruit. And I know what they are going to cost. So with the rest of the budget, I look at the weekly ad and see what items we typically buy are on sale that week. I also have money built in my budget for meat. That is a huge expense, so if there is a deal on meat that week, that is not going to take out of my $30 weekly budget. I will just add it to the total I expect to spend because my meat budget is built in. I have looked at the weekly ads for so long, I know when the deals are actually deals, or if I should hold out another week or so for a better deal. This just takes time and experience. And honestly is it is not on sale, I just don't buy it, unless it is an absolute need. I only shop at one other grocery store, Food Lion. Yes, I know Aldi is great, and Trader Joe’s has good deals, I just don’t have it in me to do all of that leg work. I don’t have time to track all of the different stores to find out if the meat is $.05 cheaper per pound at Harris Teeter vs. Publix this week. I just don’t. I decided on one store, and remained loyal to that store and that has allowed me to become very knowledgeable in their products and their pricing, and ultimately able to know exactly what my budget is each month. Pick your store and know it like the back of your hand.
7. Remain loyal. If you remain loyal to your store, there are rewards! At Food Lion, they offer a Shop and Earn every month. They will tally all of the money you spend in various categories and once you hit their set goal, they will give you cash back.Some months, they offer good rewards, other times it’s offered on stuff I just don’t buy there. Last month was a good month! I earned about $15 cash back last month. Last week, I went in (the second time that week) to pick up some things I forgot, thinking that I was going to go over budget for the month, but my total was $.50. I got lettuce, tortillas, and bananas. This should have cost me about $5 plus tax, but I had forgotten about my Shop and Earn Rewards. Boom! $.50 total. Whatever your store’s reward program is, know about it, how to activate it, and how to use it to your advantage.
8. Use cash back apps. I use Ibotta, Fetch, Inbox Dollars, and Coupons.com. These apps are simple ways to get cash back. I will say, that when you do buy a lot of store brand items the cash back doesn’t stack up as quickly. Yes, it would be nice to get $2 back on that name brand item, but you could buy the same item half price and save $3, so you really just have to weigh your options. I go the store brand route, and let the slow and steady win the race. I will cash out these apps every couple of months and it is an easy way to get some additional cash back in your pocket.
Use these referral codes to get a head start on your cash back:
Ibotta: rjelysq
Fetch: XDXVH
Inbox Dollars: Use this link to get a $5 head start on your earnings!
9. Avoid Pre Packaged and Processed Foods. Stop relying on packaged goods for your main source of food. Instant mashed potatoes, boxed macaroni and cheese, I know, the good stuff! Making these items from scratch are not as time consuming as you would think. They are also cheaper, and in case you needed one more reason to make the switch, they are so much healthier for you and your family. I am not completely against these products, I have some in my pantry right now, but I do not use them every night. In fact, they are only in my pantry for the nights that I actually have no time to cook and I need to pull something out of a hat. For example, instant rice packets are currently about $1.12. But why not buy a box or bag of rice and make it your own? Add vegetables, broth, cheese, anything you can think of into your rice and your box of rice only cost you $2.88 for 28 oz. The rice sides are 5.7 oz, and honestly it is a lot of rice for all of use to eat, and then pack lunches, there’s always some left over. It can be a waste. But even if your family eats all of it, you are paying about $5.49 in rice sides, when you could be paying $2.88 for the same amount.
10. Make time to cook. Yes, it is nice to come home, pull something out of the freezer and put it in the oven and forget it. But guess what, you are paying for that convenience. That is what you pay for. It is definitely not for nutrition, or healthy and fresh ingredients. You are paying for convenience only. Once you get in the mindset, and it becomes a habit to just cook every night you will be surprised how different your overall grocery expense will be.
11. Make your family’s plates. I know, I know, we are not on the Oregon Trail, and times have changed. But making your husband’s plate will save you! I didn’t realize it until my husband wanted to lose some weight and asked me to make his plate. He said his issue with overeating is his portions, and that he just finishes his plate because it’s there, not because he is hungry. I agreed just thinking I was helping him reach his goals. But what came from that was realizing that when he makes his plate, we saved a lot of food. He was normally full with the plate I fixed him, which meant we had more food left over for the next day. I was even able to cut back on the amount of food I prepared. This trick blew my mind and I have been doing it ever since. I take it a step further and make our leftover plates first, that will show me how much I have for our actual supper plates.
12. No more eating out. No more, I am going to run through the drive thru and bring something home. Don’t do it. I am not saying you can’t go out at all, but be intentional with it. For us, I cook Monday-Thursday, and Friday is a “whatever you can find day”. That is where the frozen tater tots, or fries, boneless buffalo bites, meatballs, or anything quick and easy that I purchase in my large monthly haul comes in. Sandwiches, are totally under estimated. My son jumps for joy when I offer him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich- and my bank account does too! Charcuterie “bowls”, pull out crackers, deli meat, cheese, fruit, and boom, done. Saturdays are similar, and depending on our schedule, we do run through a drive thru here and there as long as it is in the budget. The same for Sunday, I try to cook 2 Sundays each month, and the other 2 we will go out to eat. Don’t think of it as punishing yourself, but as a reward for doing so good during the week!
Here's one more for free- Don't sleep on the store brands.
If all of these tips scare you, that’s okay! Pick a couple you can work on consistently and you will see a huge difference in the amount of money you are spending at the grocery store. You know your family, you know what will work for you and your schedule, and some of these might not work for your situation. But don’t be scared to try something out of the normal. The only way to change your long term situation is to change your short term habits. If this is something that will help your family, that’s all the reason you need to make a change.
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