New Year. New intentions, right?
We have kept a categorized budget on our computer where we keep track of our spending since we got married. It has been the key to living debt free.
For the last several years, I started combining grocers/toiletries/supplies all into one lump category. I wouldn't say I got "lazy" I just sort of stop itemizing out the different things I got at the grocery store. We always stayed with our budget but I just wasn't as specific. I also started getting groceries more often...5 or 6 times a month. This isn't bad. Especially when I have 4 kids and a niece living at my house....including 2 teenage boys. But for January I decided to break up the budget to itemize more specifically.
I also decided to only get groceries once a week: ideally when my kids were home to help with this process. This means that sometimes we'd run out of certain items and need to improvise or not have our favorites. If we run low on fresh vegetables toward the end of the week, we always have frozen vegetables in the freezer to use. They are second best and healthier than canned. The exercise is a good reminder in delayed gratification, being intentional and creative, and planning ahead.
For January, we spent $987 on food for our family of 6 / 7 (my niece only eats with us sometimes and I just couldn't resist). This was without stocking up on staples. There were no holidays, birthdays, or trips for us. We didn't eat out in January, either, so this is all of our meals and snacks. We get the majority of our food at Walmart. We also utilize Grocery Outlet for some snack food. An occasional item elsewhere.
Anyways, that is unfortunately a really good frugal amount for our family size even though it seems like an astronomical amount compared to recent years. A family of 6 on SNAP can get up to $1400 a month. Even AI says that a thrifty budget estimate for 6 people is 1450-1650. I know in an ordinary month when I am not being so meticulous and using things up, we spend quite a bit more even with making all our food at home. And as I have more and more teens in the coming years, and food continuing to increase in price...this challenge is sticking around.
Living within or under budget has helped us survive in meager seasons. In more abundant seasons it has helped us meet financial goals.
Here are a six reasons we are able to keep a frugal budget for our grocery bill:
1) I make a monthly meal plan for dinners. Many things on rotation, room for creativity, but structure to help any busy family. We also have a breakfast rotation. I have a year's worth of black monthly calendars and a few days before each month I sit down and conquer this task. Many things repeat but there is always room for creativity and I often will draw arrows to switch meals when life happens or if I don't have all the ingredients when the day comes. Monday is spaghetti theme, Friday is homemade pizza theme, etc.
2) I order my groceries online from Walmart Grocery Delivery. This saves me an incredible amount of time. Because we spend a lot of time preparing food for our family, taking away the time of in person grocery shopping is a wonderful provision for us. I don't live near a Walmart so the gas savings alone makes it worth the annual fee. I try to plan delivery when my kids are around to help. I am able to make an intentional virtual cart and add things throughout the week if we run out, when I'm meal planing, etc. I can compare price per ounce from the comfort of my home. It also decreases impulse buys.
3) I buy generic brands whenever possible.
4) I buy whole ingredients such as dry beans, rice, lentils, popcorn kernels, and flour that you can cook or bake with. Making things from scratch takes more time but you get a higher volume of food from a bag of dry beans than from a can. I make several types of beans from scratch, my husband makes homemade popcorn for us regularly, and we bake our own waffles/pancakes/muffins/pizza from scratch. Another reason this helps us is because we have a ton of allergies in the family to work around. When we make things from scratch we are in control of the ingredients.
5) We prepare our food at home. We pack lunch and coffee from home for work and school. We pack snacks if needed when going out. I make dinner at home. Sometimes portable style to take to a game or meet.
6) We don't buy much junk food. We buy pretzels and tortilla chips. But we don't buy candy, cookies, soda, sugary drinks, or potato chips, etc. They hold no nutritional value and are empty $$ wasters. If my older kids want cookies they are allowed to bake some themselves from scratch. Consequently my teens all like to and know how to bake. My younger kids enjoy helping us bake. We also always have frozen berries and things to make a smoothie. I promise they have all have plenty of snack food. We sometimes can get granola bars at Grocery Outlet when they're a good price. They are helpful for packing.
What is your best money saver for budgeting food costs for yourself or your family? Would you try a No-Spend Challenge: Pantry-Only Week?? This graphic from @InspiredBudget has some cool ideas on how to do it, too.
