When I was young and just starting out on my own it took a bit of trial and error to figure out what worked for me grocery shopping, and as my family grew so did my grocery bill so my way of shopping adapted with the change in amount spent.
I have come to notice that there seems to be some struggle even in more mature people with how to do grocery shopping.
I don't work outside the home I take care of the house and kids and run the local elementary schools PTA. none of this generates a income so we only get payed on my husbands pay schedule, this happens every two weeks. If we got payed once a month or every week my shopping and budgeting might be different.
Because we get payed every two weeks this is also how I do my grocery shopping.
First I set down and make a list of dinners for two weeks.I add anything I don't have in the house for those meals to the list. Then I look at my fridge, cupboards, and pantry and make a list of things I might need for breakfasts, my kids lunches and the occasional lunch we are home as a family for. I don't make a actual list of breakfasts and lunches but you could.
There are some things I buy in bulk like flour that I store in a five gallon bucket and fill the canister on my counter as needed.
I get on coupon websites and only look for coupons to the things on my list. Its easy to get carried away with all the coupons and end up buying things you don't need just because you got a good price.
Learn about extreme couponing and apply where it works for you. I do not extreme coupon for everything I buy because a lot of the things that you can do this for are things we don't eat. If your really really hurting to save some money you might have to sacrifice some of the healthy eating for buying cheap but keep in mind that cheap food almost never has health benefits.
Unprocessed raw food is the best for you and for this reason the biggest chunk of my grocery bill is spent on produce. I don't make a list of produce I just go to the store and get whats in season and available. I live in a pretty rural area and so what is at the store is always anyone's guess. However there are a few things that are always kept on hand and in my house those are things like onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and apples. then we pick and choose from what we can get organic, and what is in season. My bakery is right by the produce in my store and they make fresh bread daily, there are fewer additives in there bread then other brands so that's what I buy plus its almost half the price. There might be a few canned items that I buy and some dried goods but then its off to the frozen section where I get most the veggies that are served as side dishes like frozen green beans or peas. I never buy canned veggies. It is easier to find Organic veggies and fruit in the frozen section so this is where I get all our berries for shakes and desserts. Then I go to the dairy section where I get lots of cheese and yogurt and pick up some almond milk. My husband usually hunts for our meat once a year (don't get all crazed on me telling me about killing animals and such) So I don't really have to buy meat from the market if I do I go with local meat over the name brand stuff shipped from who knows where.
For my family of four (really right now its 4 1/2) It costs me under three hundred sometimes depending on what is still in my house only two hundred for the two weeks this means I spend a average of five hundred a month on groceries. the national average is nine hundred a month for a family of four and I buy what I can organic and spend a lot on fresh produce. If you keep your eyes open you can sometimes find coupons for produce as well. The reason i save so much is the amount of times I walk into the market. the more you walk in the higher chance you have that you will buy something you don't need. I am sure you have heard it before don't go shopping hungry, and stick to your list.
Try to balance nutrition with price if those organic onions are three times the price of the other ones then don't get the organic ones. (you don't need to buy onions organic anyways)
Try to cook as many of your own meals as possible from the most basic ingredients that you can. will you really save a lot of time adding that frozen bag of mixed veggies vs chopping them yourself? Maybe set aside a sunday afternoon to prep veggies if you need to. It probably takes me two minutes to chop all the vegetables for dinner. So the extra spent on the bag of mixed vegetables does not save me time or money I could buy five times the amount of vegetables from the produce section for the price of that frozen baggy. and that means five times the vegetable I will serve my family.
It might take six months to get a good foundation for what you like to buy and saving money but it can be done.
I have come to notice that there seems to be some struggle even in more mature people with how to do grocery shopping.
I don't work outside the home I take care of the house and kids and run the local elementary schools PTA. none of this generates a income so we only get payed on my husbands pay schedule, this happens every two weeks. If we got payed once a month or every week my shopping and budgeting might be different.
Because we get payed every two weeks this is also how I do my grocery shopping.
First I set down and make a list of dinners for two weeks.I add anything I don't have in the house for those meals to the list. Then I look at my fridge, cupboards, and pantry and make a list of things I might need for breakfasts, my kids lunches and the occasional lunch we are home as a family for. I don't make a actual list of breakfasts and lunches but you could.
There are some things I buy in bulk like flour that I store in a five gallon bucket and fill the canister on my counter as needed.
I get on coupon websites and only look for coupons to the things on my list. Its easy to get carried away with all the coupons and end up buying things you don't need just because you got a good price.
Learn about extreme couponing and apply where it works for you. I do not extreme coupon for everything I buy because a lot of the things that you can do this for are things we don't eat. If your really really hurting to save some money you might have to sacrifice some of the healthy eating for buying cheap but keep in mind that cheap food almost never has health benefits.
Unprocessed raw food is the best for you and for this reason the biggest chunk of my grocery bill is spent on produce. I don't make a list of produce I just go to the store and get whats in season and available. I live in a pretty rural area and so what is at the store is always anyone's guess. However there are a few things that are always kept on hand and in my house those are things like onions, carrots, celery, potatoes and apples. then we pick and choose from what we can get organic, and what is in season. My bakery is right by the produce in my store and they make fresh bread daily, there are fewer additives in there bread then other brands so that's what I buy plus its almost half the price. There might be a few canned items that I buy and some dried goods but then its off to the frozen section where I get most the veggies that are served as side dishes like frozen green beans or peas. I never buy canned veggies. It is easier to find Organic veggies and fruit in the frozen section so this is where I get all our berries for shakes and desserts. Then I go to the dairy section where I get lots of cheese and yogurt and pick up some almond milk. My husband usually hunts for our meat once a year (don't get all crazed on me telling me about killing animals and such) So I don't really have to buy meat from the market if I do I go with local meat over the name brand stuff shipped from who knows where.
For my family of four (really right now its 4 1/2) It costs me under three hundred sometimes depending on what is still in my house only two hundred for the two weeks this means I spend a average of five hundred a month on groceries. the national average is nine hundred a month for a family of four and I buy what I can organic and spend a lot on fresh produce. If you keep your eyes open you can sometimes find coupons for produce as well. The reason i save so much is the amount of times I walk into the market. the more you walk in the higher chance you have that you will buy something you don't need. I am sure you have heard it before don't go shopping hungry, and stick to your list.
Try to balance nutrition with price if those organic onions are three times the price of the other ones then don't get the organic ones. (you don't need to buy onions organic anyways)
Try to cook as many of your own meals as possible from the most basic ingredients that you can. will you really save a lot of time adding that frozen bag of mixed veggies vs chopping them yourself? Maybe set aside a sunday afternoon to prep veggies if you need to. It probably takes me two minutes to chop all the vegetables for dinner. So the extra spent on the bag of mixed vegetables does not save me time or money I could buy five times the amount of vegetables from the produce section for the price of that frozen baggy. and that means five times the vegetable I will serve my family.
It might take six months to get a good foundation for what you like to buy and saving money but it can be done.
