Whether you have a set budget that you make for each month or you spend your income on other things and find that you have no money left for many groceries, you may find some helpful info here. Buying groceries on a tight budget can be difficult and seem impossible, but it really doesn’t have to be hard. This article will give you the best tips on buying groceries on a tight budget.
A large portion of a family’s budget is tied up in groceries. The bigger the family, often the bigger the budget. Unlike television, memberships, and extracurricular activities, groceries are not optional. Everyone must eat, and groceries have to be bought. But it can be done on a tight budget!
There are a few simple changes that you can implement to lead to a full pantry and make your bank account happy. Groceries on a tight budget does not automatically mean that you are going to only be eating poor quality food either.
Meal Plan –
This method is being listed first for a very important reason. When you plan what you will eat you are better able to control your spending. Having a list of meals for the week, this can range from all three meals or just dinner and sticking to it will substantially decrease your grocery budget.
Meal planning allows you to make a grocery list based solely on the meals that you have written down. Then when you are in the grocery store you will not be overwhelmed by all the choices and end up with a cart full of foods that won’t actually make a meal.
A grocery list will also keep you from wandering down the aisle that you don’t need to go down, which only leads to impulse buying. This may be hard to implement at first, but as you form the habit and see the benefits it will become second nature, you don’t know how you grocery shopped before without a meal plan and list!
Steps to making a meal plan include:
- Look at your calendar for the week and cross off any days where meal planning is not necessary. This can be done for each meal time; breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
- Start by planning breakfasts. Choose two or three breakfast options that your family will enjoy rather than trying to make a new breakfast every day.
- Now plan lunches. This may be tricky the more people you have to plan for, but if it is possible to try to plan that everyone eats the same thing no matter where they are eating it whether work, school, or home.
- Time to plan dinners now. Each night of the week where you will need to make a meal write down what you want to make. Have a theme night, a crockpot night, or a casserole night to keep it simple and save time and money.
- Now take out a sheet of paper and begin making a grocery list based on those meals.
- Check your pantry and freezer for items you may already have that are on your grocery list.
- Don’t forget to add in snacks for the week as well.
Coupon and Shop Sales Papers –
This may seem like an obvious choice but planning your meals for the week according to what is on sale at your local grocery stores can be really effective in lowering your grocery bill.
Many people will get caught up in only going to one grocery store but check out the sales papers from other stores in your area as well. You can also ask about the coupon policies at the stores near you because many grocery stores will accept competitor coupons.
Utilize Apps and Online Resources –
Along the same lines as coupons, there are many apps and online resources that can help you save money when buying groceries.
- Ibotta – This app will give you cash for buying certain things. Just link your loyalty card to the app and scan your receipt when you are done shopping. By linking your loyalty card, you can also see offers before you get to the store.
- com – This is a website designed to provide you with tons of coupons that can be used just about anywhere. They are generally for name brand items.
- Coupon Sherpa – An app that provides coupons and promo codes. Many of which can be used at the grocery store.
- Shopkick – A shopping app that gives you rewards for shopping. It is quite user-friendly and gives great rewards that can then be used towards grocery store savings.
- And your local grocery store’s own coupon app – Many grocery stores have their own apps these days. On there you can find coupons, sales, and even add items to a grocery list.
Prepare Food at Home –
Another method of savings before you even head to the grocery store. Make a meal plan for the week and include foods that can be made at home. You will find that your grocery budget is severely cut back when you have a plan and stick to it.
Base You Diet or Weekly Menu on Cheap Staples –
- Whole grain pasta
- Sweet potatoes
- Eggs
- Oatmeal
- Chicken
- Beans
- Rice
Did you notice that these staples are a great basis to a healthy menu? It is shocking how your diet quality can increase when you begin to purchase more affordable foods and eat at home rather than eating out.
Don’t Shop on an Empty Stomach –
Everyone knows that grocery shopping while hungry is the quickest way to blow your budget. Suddenly you believe you need everything that you pass and before you know it you’ve blown your budget.
- Eat a snack on the way to the grocery store.
- Go to the grocery store after a meal.
- Don’t make your grocery list while hungry either.
Buy Generic –
They really are essentially the same thing! Did you know that some generic foods are actually made by the same companies and in the same building as the name-brand versions?
The next time you are in the grocery store check out the ingredients and nutrition label on your favorite name brand food and it’s generic. You will find pretty much the exact same things and sometimes the generic may even be healthier, this is because fewer additives may have been added to enhance the flavor of the generic version.
Stock Up –
If there is a sale item of something that you eat often go ahead and stock up if it will not go out of date quickly. Foods like rice, cereal, oatmeal and shelf stable foods are great options to buy when they are on sale.
Be careful not to fall into the trap of buying just because it is on sale. If the item is not something that you would normally incorporate into a meal, then chances are you don’t actually need it.
Have a “Cheap” Night –
You’ve heard of a “cheat” night when you are dieting. A cheap night is a night where you are choosing to eat a cheap meal. This can be a fun theme night in the house. Consider rotating who gets to choose what the “cheap” meal is each week.
If you grew up on a tight budget where “cheap” foods were the norm this can be a great way to reminisce and appreciate where you came from. It is also a way to get the kids involved and perhaps even instill in them gratitude for what they have. It is a great reminder that there are people in the world who have no other choice but to eat a meal like that every day.
Minimize Food Waste –
It is estimated that Americans throw away around $640 worth of food every year. Are you a part of that statistic? If you notice something is going out fo date in your refrigerator then consider putting it at the top of the list to eat next. You may have to rearrange your meal calendar, but at list, that ingredient won’t go to waste.
Consider buying a smaller portion of an item that chronically goes bad at your house. Bananas, a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread; these are common foods that go bad before they are eating. Consider buying a half a gallon of milk and a few fewer bananas next time you’re at the grocery store.
Shop at Discount –
Also known as salvage grocery stores. If you have a discount grocery store in your area, consider shopping there first and filling in the rest of your grocery needs at other vendors.
Discount grocery stores often sell the same foods at a severely discounted rate because may have gone or are going out of date soon. This does not mean that those foods are dangerous, they have just past the standards that are required by some grocery stores to remain on the shelves.
The foods have gotten to these grocery stores for the following reasons:
- Near or past expired foods
- Foods in a dented or torn packaging
- Items in seasonal or otherwise-dated packaging
- Store closeouts from other grocery stores
- Manufacturer overstock items
- Salvage foods from truck wrecks
Some common tips and warnings about discount grocery stores:
- Frozen foods remain safe after their expiration date as long as they’ve been stored and frozen properly.
- Sell-by, best-buy, and use-by dates all mean different things. Know their differences before you make a purchase at a discount grocer.
- Don’t buy expired baby formula or food at a discount grocer.
- Cans that have been severely dented or dented along the lip can be unsafe. Botulism, a very deadly bacteria, can grow in dented cans.
- Check for potential recalls. While recalled items are not supposed to be sent to discount grocery stores, mistakes can happen.
Set a Budget –
This may seem like a no-brainer and you may already have a budget, hence the reason you are here reading this post. However, when you really tell yourself that you will only spend a set amount of money at the grocery store it changes things.
Set your budget and only take that amount of cash to the grocery store with you. It is a great motivator to keep you stuck to your pre-made list and not making impulse buys. As you go throughout the grocery store adding things to your cart, write down the price of what you are purchasing. If it goes over the amount of cash, you have in your hands you know that you have to make a cut somewhere.
Ways to Eat Healthy on a Tight Budget
You may now be saying; okay that all sounds good, but I’d really like to also eat a healthy diet, not just cheap junk. That is a completely understandable and achievable goal.
- Buy produce when it is in season and freeze it. Produce is generally less expensive when it is in season and most can be frozen and reused later.
- Whole grains and beans are your friends. You can make a complete protein by eating beans and rice together. A complete protein is a protein that contains all amino acids like animal proteins but choosing to eat a complete protein through beans and rice can be much less expensive than animal proteins, and healthier in some cases.
- Frozen is fine! Frozen fruits, vegetables, and even grains are great options that allow you to eat healthily and stay on a budget. Freezing very minimally changes the nutrient value of food but substantially changes the cost to your wallet.
- Microwaveable is okay too! The same as frozen, buying grains that are microwavable will allow you to still eat whole grains but at half the price.
Having a tight budget is not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes our budget is tight because we are having to make cutbacks and sometimes it is because we have made poor decisions. But the first step in the right direction is recognizing the issue and taking steps to correct it and get back on track.
Groceries are a budget area that you cannot eliminate, but you can control and make necessary cuts. These cuts are possible to make you just may have to sacrifice time and other luxuries.