One Snarky Chica with Issues

If you haven’t noticed, food has been on my mind a lot this week. I have a good reason for that though. When I was doing my end of month tallying of my spending tracking spreadsheets I noticed that I spent less on food than in previous months and began looking back to see what the cause of that was. And actually, I was looking for a receipt that I missed as I thought there was no way that I had spent that little.

Guess what? I didn’t miss a receipt! I did make some changes in the way that I eat this past month, so I suspect that is what I can thank for the money saving. So, if you are looking to trim that grocery budget, you might want to read over what I did to see if you can implement it in your household.

Don’t have a strict weekly budget

I don’t have a strict weekly budget for food. I know where I want to fall for the month, but I want to be able to purchase any amazing deals if I see them. By knowing the big picture of where I want to be it just means that I might have less to spend the last week of the month. However, if I have spent more earlier in the month it will be because I bought something extra or a lot of something so I should not be going hungry that last week just because I have less to spend. For instance, I mentioned buying the roasting chicken for under $5 in a previous post. That was not on my shopping list. But I grabbed it and I also found some cabbage discounted as well as a bag of potatoes that was $1.00 off so I bought those also knowing that I could make potato cabbage soup with the broth I could get from the chicken. So for about $8 of things not on my list, I got a weeks worth of food.

Don’t buy a paper for coupons

I mean it. If you spend money to buy a paper just to get coupons you will feel compelled to use those coupons since you paid for the paper. Even if you do not need anything that the coupons are for. At least that is what happens to me. Plus I fall prey too easily to the thinking pattern of “But I could get it for only 25-cents with this coupon”for things I don’t need. Instead, I look for coupons online right before I leave the house. I hit up coupons.com, eat better America and the manufacturer sites for anything name-brand that I purchase.

Must haves: list, pen, calculator

I always go to the grocery store with these items. As I pick up items I write the price beside it on my list. This serves two purposes. It allows me to keep a rough running total in my head. And it allows me to easily catch when something rings up incorrectly. Since I started doing this I have caught items ringing up incorrectly every single time I go to the store. Right before I head to the checkout I get out the calculator and add up all of the costs, that way when I check out I will know by the total if something didn’t ring up correctly, in case I miss it when it is scanned. This is also a good way to shock yourself by the total if you have added any impulse buys into the cart.

Stick to the perimeter

Since I have embraced healthy eating, I have been sticking mostly to the perimeter of the store. And I have seen a pretty big decrease in my spending as a result. That means buying less prepackaged foods. It’s good for the wallet and the waistline! The times that I do venture into the aisles to buy something my grocery bill always seems to go up. For instance, I can make a pizza at home by making the crust, drizzling some olive oil, putting fresh tomatoes on it, a few spices and a small amount of Sargento mozzarella cheese on it for way less than buying a pizza at the store. How much less? When I make this pizza I put it in a big square baking/cake pan. It makes 4 nice, hearty servings for only 75-cents each, or $3.00 total.

Think outside the box

A key to saving money for me is thinking outside the box. For instance, I have to buy 1-lb bags of walnuts at least once a month. Why? Because my girlfriend gets migraines and the serotonin that is in items like walnuts prevents them. And walnuts are cheaper than medicine! But anyways, when I first started buying them I went to the nuts section of my grocery store in the produce section. They have bins of all sorts of nuts that they sell in whatever amount you want, as well as some pre-bagged ones. The next time I checked the price in the salty foods aisle, which is chips, popcorn and canned nuts. That one was WAY more expensive. Then I ventured over to the baking section. Guess what? Better quality walnuts, also in a 1-lb bag for about a dollar less!

You don’t need meat with every meal

Guess what? A meal can consist entirely of veggies! I know that is not the norm here in the States, but it is true. Heck, even a salad can be a meal! I know - it’s shocking! And so much cheaper than eating meals with meat most of the time. Last month I started only buying meat when I got a super good price on it, like the aforementioned roasting chicken. I decided that I was only going to buy meat if I could get it for about a buck a pound. And that is easier than you think. I have ground sirloin, london broil and some other red meat in my freezer right now. When I would see it at those prices I would stock up. Of course, after going a while without eating meat and discovering that I felt better because of it I have been thinking about giving up meat all together, but that’s another post.

Eat fruit with meals

If you buy in-season fruit you can get it really cheap a lot of the times. And it seems like apples are always pretty inexpensive. So, why not cut up an apple to go with your meal? It just might be more cost effective to take that meal and split it in two and have an apple with it.

Don’t buy more than you can eat

I used to buy things that were great deals that would spoil before I could use them. I always cruise down the area where they have the pre-cut fruits and veggies to see what is marked down. Sometimes you can get great deals there on items that have been reduced. When I bought the cabbage that I mentioned earlier, I bought two halves from the pre-cut section as they ended up being cheaper than buying a fresh whole head of cabbage by about 20-cents. I just had to use it sooner. I also bought a half of a seedless water melon for $1.15 from that section as it was reduced. Now, I used to go to the store buy up things like that as well as lots of other fresh fruit at the same time. And it always seemed that I was tossing things like strawberries that had gotten moldy before I got the chance to eat them. Now I only buy what I know will get eaten before rotting. If I run out before the next trip, I can always make a small trip for more!

And that is how I have managed to lower my grocery bill. Hopefully you will be able to implement some of these steps as well so that you can start seeing some savings!