The Grocery Game

How much should I spend on groceries each month?  That question is ALWAYS on my mind.  Maybe I obsess about it a little too much... maybe I don't worry about it enough.  I don't know.  What I do know is that the grocery budget is the first thing I look at when I think we need to cut back our overall spending.  There's plenty of wiggle room there.  Monthly bills (car payments, mortgage, utilities) can't change like the grocery bill can.  


I read a couple of articles recently, one called "How To Eat When You Are Really Broke" and the other called "3 Meals Plus Snacks for $4 a Day".  Both are very interesting articles and give some tips on how to cut food costs and still eat nutritiously.  There are a couple of things from the articles that I want to point out.  


The first article, "How To Eat When You Are Really Broke", states that "the average American family of four spends around $730/month on food". Wow!  That's a lot!  I have a few questions about that statistic.  
1.  How old are the kids? Older kids, especially teenagers, eat a lot more than my two year old.  
2.  Does that include money spent on groceries and eating out?
3.  Does that include the cost of non-food items, (i.e., toilet paper, dish soap, toiletries, etc.)?




The second article, "3 Meals Plus Snacks for $4 a Day", was written by a woman who bought food for, my understanding, just herself.  So, over a month that would amount to $120 for one person.  That still seems fairly impressive.  However, I have some problems with this article...
1.  Again, does this include the cost of non-food items?
2.  She didn't buy any fresh green produce, because it's too expensive. Hmm...
3.  She went to multiple stores (grocery, Walgreen's, Dollar Store, Bakery Outlets, etc.) to find all of her grocery items.  I have 3 kids and not a lot of time to do that...
4.  How would this budget work for a family of 5?  I dont' think multiplying by 5 would be accurate.


As I said before, though, both articles have some good tips on how to cut grocery spending.  I think I have some pretty good ideas too.  So, I've combined all of them here...


1.  Look through the weekly sale ad.  Plan meals with things that are on sale.  Generally, my rule of thumb is that I won't purchase meat over $2/lb and fish over $4/lb.  There are some occasions when I will spend more. 
2.  Buy only what you need.  Even if your favorite toothpaste is on sale for 10/$10, do you really NEED to buy 10 tubes of toothpaste?! Spend $1 on one instead of $10.
3.  Buy produce that is in season, because it's generally cheaper.  Frozen veggies are generally inexpensive.
4.  Use coupons! No, I am NOT an extreme couponer... I do have a life!  However, I cut out the coupons that come in the free newspaper every Wednesday.  It doesn't take that much time. 
5.  Buy whole items as opposed to individually wrapped.  For example, instead of buying a box that contains 8 packages of Goldfish crackers, buy the big box of Goldfish.  Buy a big bag of chips instead of the box that contains 24 small bags of chips.  Buy a whole onion instead of a bag of chopped onions, a whole head of lettuce instead of the bag of pre-cut lettuce.  I think you get the idea!
6.  Don't be afraid to try new things even if it's not a name brand!  The grocery brand of some items are just as good as the name brand.  Check out the nutrition label, though, as some grocery brand items contain a lot more sodium than the name brand.  If the nutrition and ingredients are generally the same then why not try out the grocery brand.  You'll save! 


I suppose I ought to share what my monthly budget on groceries is to prove that my tips are helpful.  I have 5 members in my family, I include everything from food and beverages to toiletries to cleaning supplies to diapers in my budget, I shop at Fry's every two weeks, at Costco once/month, and I order Bountiful Baskets every other week for most of my fresh produce.  My average spending over the past year is $530 per month.  I continue to try to lower that amount.  It's sad but true... it's kind of a fun game for me. :)