I think a lot of families want to trim the old budget especially when grocery shopping. Have you noticed that product size seems smaller but costs more?
Unfortunately, I used to be one of those people who went to the grocery store, drilled up and down the aisles, and loaded our shopping cart with whatever looked appealing. Yes, it was the "see and buy" method.
One day, two things happened. We had to eat healthier food, and it was "trim the budget" time to cut expenses and save money, which we should have been doing anyway. Here’s how my honey and I trimmed 50% off our food budget. Anyone can do it:
1. Inventory pantry. Make a list of everything in your food pantry from packaged pasta to cans of tuna. Know what you have, dust it off, and use it or bag it for the food bank.
2. Inventory freezer. Do the same with your freezer.
3. Leftovers. If after a meal, you have leftovers, but the portion is too small, don't store it. Toss it. Give it to the dog. If the leftover is a food you could add to a meal, put it in a container and use blue painter's tape to label it. Blue painters tape sticks, won't fall off when frozen and comes off easy.
4. Write meals planned on the calendar. Decide what meals and how many you need. We buy groceries every two weeks, so I plan lunches and 7 dinners and 7 leftover dinners. I write the name of the meal on the calendar, including what else I plan to serve such as healthy salads, fresh fruit snacks and side dishes low in carbs and high in antioxidants.
5. Write the grocery shopping list. If I don't already know what ingredients I need, I find recipes. I use the free Wal-mart app to create my shopping list because it gives me the current prices and shopping cart total. I easily add items to my list by just saying the item. I can also type it or scan the bar code. The "app" also shows what aisle in the store that the item is in. Very convenient.
6. Check the tickle list. I keep a separate listing of what I call "all the time" foods, such as milk, bread, salt, tea and dog food. On my tickle list, I also have personal items such as toothpaste, cleaning supplies and so forth. Now, this isn't my shopping list. It's a tickle list. I check my tickle list to see if I need to replenish any regular items. This helps me not forget things I need, which avoids making an unscheduled trip to the store. Every trip to the store is more money spent, so my tickle list saves us from overspending.
7. Coupons and foods on sale. Of course, we clip coupons, check ads and foods on sale at the store in addition to several other steps to cut expenses and save money. The Wal-mart app tells me a coupon is available when I add an item to my list so I can clip it right then. That makes it real easy to use coupons and save money.
The happy outcome is that we trimmed 50% off our food budget. We eat better and I always have the ingredients I need to cook with in the kitchen.
In the beginning, it was a challenge to stop buying food that wasn't on the list. I'm the worst offender. My honey is loyal to the list. I limit myself to three not-on-the-list items. That eases the transition from wild spontaneous buying to a more controlled and budget-friendly habit.
My honey has big smiles each morning when he checks the calendar to see what's on the menu for lunch and dinner tonight. That's a wonderful side benefit.
I hope your Sunday was restful. It's a new week and with it comes the opportunity to save save save. Eat good food. Shop smart and be happy.