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How to Feed your Family on a Budget
Here are the things I do to cut my weekly grocery bill in HALF!
My family of 5= $80.00 a week!
1. PLAN AHEAD
The best way to not go over your budget is to make a complete list of what you need and stick to it. If you don’t know what you need or want, you WILL impulse buy and spend a lot more! Here are some ways to plan ahead:
-pick the same day to do your shopping every week and don’t step foot in the store until that day the following week.
-compare the sale flyer from at least 2 of your favorite grocery stores to see what is on sale. (sale flyers are also online at your grocery store website. Some stores offer extra sales on their websites, so check them out too!)
-make your menu for the week based on what is on sale at the grocery store. If there is a sale on ground turkey, make tacos, a turkey meatloaf, or turkey meatballs during the week.
-make a complete list of what you need with the prices included on the list. Add your list at home and see how much it will cost. Don’t forget to take off for coupons (see #4) and recycled bags (if your store pays you to use them). If your list goes over the amount you want to spend, you will be able to take stuff off the list that you don’t need. (yes, there are things we DON’T need to survive) Never go shopping without a LIST!
2. Know what you can live without
On this new system, we have discovered that we were spending money on a lot of things that we really didn’t need. Need is different from want, think about it!
-We no longer buy juice boxes, for example. Not only are they expensive, and full of sugar, but just think of how many little juice boxes are in the landfills! Same goes for bottled water, a real environmental nightmare! We all have our own BPA free water bottles that we refill with our own drinks at home.
-we no longer buy prepackaged snack packs either. Those 100 calorie, individually wrapped snacks take a bite into any budget. You can easily make them at home with whatever snacks you like. We have containers for the kids that we fill with a mix of snacks: raisins, nuts, mini-marshmallows, pretzel sticks, animal crackers, dried fruit, etc...again, easy and just requires planning!
-don’t be afraid of the store brands, they really aren’t that much different! I finally tried store brand mayo and was shocked that it was just like my favorite brand! (and cheaper)
3.Make homemade snacks!
-My husband loves granola bars. In the store a box of 8 chewy bars can be found on sale for about $2.00. I can make an entire pan of bars, (16) with his favorite ingredients for at least half that! Plus, I sneak in extra healthy items like flax, bran, and fruit. Did I mention that I am also helping the environment by not buying prepackaged items!
-Make your own bread! In the store I was spending at least $2.50 per loaf of 100% whole wheat bread. We go through at least 3 loafs of bread a week, if not more! We started making our bread at home in our bread machine to save money and to be able to serve preservative free, low sugar, whole wheat/grain breads to our family. The savings are huge! I keep my pantry stocked with the bread making ingredients and it probably costs me less than $1.00 a loaf. The smell of our house, and knowing that we are eating good quality stuff makes the effort extra worthwhile!
-make homemade cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pudding, and other kid loved desserts, and make them with your kids! Again, fun time spent with your family, you know what the ingredients are, and it is saving
you money!
(Click here for recipe ideas!)
4. Shop only for the week!
Stores often have really excellent sales which make us want to stock up on those items. If you want to keep within your budget, you need to limit how many items you stock up on. Some might argue with my view on this, but I know that by only purchasing what my family needs for the week, I stick to my budget.
-buy the items you need for your weekly menu
-make sure you buy enough of the staples like milk, bread, and eggs, otherwise you will have to do a mid week trip and end up spending more than you planned.
5. Bring a calculator!
If you add up your bill as you are shopping for it, you will be able to see when you are getting close to you limit. Put the things that you absolutely need for your week in first. Then get the rest of the items on your list. If you need to take out an item, it won’t be something that you can’t live without that week!
6. Use coupons!
Coupons can be found in your local newspaper and online. There are a lot of sites that offer printable coupons (click her for links) When you are going through the store sales each week, check to see if there are coupons to go along with those sales. Many times things that the stores offer on sale also correspond to coupons!
7. recycle and get cash!
Some stores will give you 5 cents for each bag YOU bring to pack your groceries, so go green and save some green! Don't forget to return you cans and bottles, (if your state participates in this program) for 5 cents a piece too, all those nickels add up to savings!
8. Bring lunch to work/school!
SO much cheaper than eating out!
9. Plan take-out night or restaurant night.
Again, being prepared always saves you money!
10. Use the internet and cookbook for recipe ideas!
Share meal nights with friends and family members
I love this because it gives everyone a break from cooking!
THIS BUDGET WILL SAVE YOU MONEY AS WELL AS:
**PROVIDE HOMEMADE, WHOLESOME FOOD FOR YOUR FAMILY
**SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT BY PAYING ATTENTION TO WASTEFUL PACKAGING
**ALLOW YOU MORE TIME TO SPEND WITH THE ONES YOU LOVE
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