I have to admit that my family tends to spend a lot on groceries on a monthly basis. But with increases of food costs due to our sluggish economy, I have started cutting back.
I have asked a lot of friends who are married or have children on how they are budgeting for groceries and many have expressed spending around $200-$400 a month on groceries. Many who feel that the costs are getting to expensive for their families but to them, it’s part of a necessity for their family.
As for the decisions that I have made, partly more for health related decisions and cutting costs, I hardly eat out anymore unless its business related or certain meet ups with friends or family. For the first time, I also started taking an interest on various grocery establishments that give you a great deal.
Recently, I went to Costco with family and although they have great deals on meat, wine and if you want to buy in bulk, I feel that these type of places, I can end up spending more money because of the non-food items available at the store. In fact, I find myself in this position at Super Wal-Marts and probably at a Super Target because it’s one thing to spend little on groceries but once I hit another non-food section, I end up buying things. So, I try to not go to these areas to shop for groceries.
I checked out the Grocery Outlet stores which are great for prices on food, especially canned or processed food. But I’m trying to not be dependent on processed food because of its high sodium content. But it’s great place if you are on a budget.
And that is the first thing that one should do. Establish a budget. How much do you want to spend on groceries. Heck, I would love to spend only $100 on groceries a month if I can. Is it even possible for a family of three? That is the current experiment that I’m trying to see if it’s possible.
For one thing, I have stopped purchasing my favorite “Special K with Vanilla Almond” because the prices keep going up from $2.74 to like $3.29-$3.99. So, I have been trying to find alternatives and found a General Mills version which taste great and bought it at Grocery Outlet for $1.99. What a deal! But I learned that things that come in to the Grocery Outlet, once it’s sold out, you probably won’t find it for months. So, I started trying other brands than the typical traditional, popular cereal brands and trying others and so far, they are around the $2.25, under $3.00 range, so that worked for me.
Friends recently told me about a place called Winco where you can just go in and select cereal that is sold by bulk and not in boxes and just fill up to what you need. I’ll probably be checking on that next.
I also buy whole wheat breads (about $1.89) and started making my own type of sandwiches and also bought a few different condiments, sauces and low fat mayo, since I tend to get bored of things, so definitely like trying different condiments to change the taste. I also buy whole wheat pasta which are also not too costly.
We also are trying the canned tuna (in water) foods. Before we would buy the more expensive Albacore but because we are in this smaller budget, we are eating more chunky tuna.
And as for basics, we are trying out non-major label brands and trying for the cheaper Kroger type products.
Some friends recommended making sandwiches or burritos in advance and refrigerating them. I haven’t tried it but I do know that when we had Japanese students living at my home, they would make a lot of it and since they were living on a budget, survived on tortillas, refried beans and taco bell sauce.
As for beverages, we buy a lot of water and low-fat apple juice. The good thing is I stopped drinking soda a few years ago (I do drink it at a party or if invited to a home and that is what’s offered) but this has helped save money. Although, my wife is addicted to Diet Pepsi and I doubt that she will stop that anytime soon.
So far, we are staying within budget but where I find it challenging is cereal and milk. We go through it so quickly and milk is so expensive. Personally, I thought dairy prices were according to gas prices but with gas prices down, I sure haven’t seen milk prices go down.
Also, I found myself having to stop eating grapes this past week. For one bag, it was about $8 and not sure if that was what I was paying because I just put it in my cart and never look at my receipts but recently I went on a grocery trip for cereal, milk and grapes and was surprised how much seedless green grapes were going for. Not sure if it’s because it’s the season or what…but I should pay attention to the prices of fruits because heck, I used to buy two or three bags of seedless green grapes (which probably cost $21-24) and now I’m probably going to cut this out of my purchase because of the cost.
Anyway, this is just an experiment and I’ll follow up to let you know how it works. If anyone has any suggestions of what they do at home, please share!