5 Rules for Stretching Your Food Dollar

photo credit: roblisameehan
It seems like every several months, my family’s grocery bill starts creeping a little higher , based on what we normally spend per week. It usually not a huge jump, but a gradual increase over a period of time.

When this happens, it is kind of hard to figure out the exact cause- it is not usually because of anything in particular- for example, our eating habits may have changed slightly (especially with young kids) , or we buy certain seasonal fruits or vegetable at certain times of the year- but these are usually not the causes.

I usually realize it is just simply a gradual loss of focus on getting the most for our money at the store.  We get away from the basics that allow you to stretch your food dollar when grocery shopping. After we focus on these, our grocery bill usually drops back down to what we think is a more reasonable level.

Here are 5 of the “basics” for stretching your grocery dollars that I find most useful:

Plan Your Meals- Meal planning is a great way to create a grocery list, and not end up with a bunch of items from the grocery store that you don’t really need at the time. It also allows you to make use of leftovers, either as a lunch, or as another dinner later in the week. Planning you meals, especially dinners, can eliminate both food waste almost completely, and keep your spending at the grocery store in check.
Limit Trips to the Grocery Store- Keeping yourself out of the grocery store except and your trips to a minimum keeps you from making spur of the moment purchases when you are walking around the store to pick up that “one item” you forgot. If you have a good grocery list, a once a week trip, followed by maybe one more quick trip for things like milk, should be plenty.
Check Unit Costs- When you usually buy the same things week in and week out, it can be easy to stop looking at unit prices and making comparisons based on unit prices. But prices change, and new products and product sizes are always coming out on the market, so it can pay to check unit prices fairly regularly.
Avoid Convenience Foods and Portions- Its fairly common to avoid convenience foodss, per se- they get a bad rap, and usually for a good reason. But a lot of times, a perfectly OK grocery item can be “packaged” for convenience- even fruits, meat cheeses, etc.- and they frequently cost a whole lot more than larger or even bulk size packages.
Use Coupons Wisely- Coupons can be great, but there are 2 caveats when it comes to using them. One, is that you have to use them regularly, and it is easy to stop using them from time to time-even though you can cut them out in just a few minutes, it can be easy to forget, or you just stop doing it for whatever reason. If you want to save regularly, you have to make it a habit. Second, is that it is easy to buy things you normally wouldn’t (especially new products) because you have a coupon. Avoiding this can help avoid necessary spending.

What are your best tips for saving at the grocery store?

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Tagged as: food bill, food budget, grocery shopping, meal planning, spending at the grocery store

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