What’s the best way to keep your grocery budget in check?
Coupons don’t exist to save people money. They exist to make people buy things they wouldn’t otherwise buy. I never use coupons unless they’re for things I would otherwise want or need and have on my list.
I live alone and eat most of my meals at home, the times I eat out are balanced by the times I have a guest eating with me at home, so I feel my budget is fairly reflective of what it costs to feed one person. I have a budget of $150 a month for groceries. The only times I find myself exceeding my budget are when I don’t shop only around the edge of the store, don’t take a list, or go hungry.
I buy all my meats at Costco, I don’t have my own membership but my mom lives nearby and I can tag along with her once every couple months – within the past few years they’ve finally let non-members check out separately so I can easily pay for my own purchases now. I purchase all fresh meats and divide them up into individual portions and freeze them when I get home. I usually get one package of chicken and one package of beef and those portions last me about 3 months. I also get things that are particularly expensive for tiny portions at the regular grocery store, like olive oil and real maple syrup, at Costco.
At Safeway I mainly get dairy, produce, and bread items. I try to get mostly organic dairy and produce but some things just aren’t available organic at Safeway and some things I just can’t justify the price – my milk is always organic.
I’ve completely stopped buying candy and sweets – if I want something for my sweet tooth I find it very easy and cost effective to bake my own. And if I do buy sweets in addition to what I bake I find it unreasonable to eat up what I have baked before it goes stale.
To create my list I write down what I use up as I use it up, I also have a master list that I glance over and check to see if I’m almost out of any of those items, and I browse recipes online or in cooking magazines (you can read them free at the library) and if I see a recipe I’d like to try I put whatever ingredients I don’t already have onto my list.
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