how I shaved our grocery budget by 50% (or more!).
Several friends have asked for the specifics of my current menu and grocery plan. I’m happy to share them one time. Blogs are handy that way! I must start by saying that this system is the result of a confluence of events and efforts.
I’m a consistent shopper and have always spent the same amount weekly. When we were a young family, I spent $60 a week on groceries. During our season as a growing family, I spent $130 per week with a slightly larger family. Three years ago, we ran out of leftovers and we committed to avoiding the every-so-often food emergencies that led to eating meals out. As a result, our weekly shopping run began hitting the $160 mark. Food was under control though, and as I began planning for all 21 meals in a week, meal emergencies became a thing of the past and all seemed well. Soon after, however, prices began to escalate and even the not-so-budget-conscious AK felt that anything approaching $200 was simply too much to spend on food. I have books to buy, as you might recall, and thus, this journey was underway.
Over the years, I’ve tried more than several popular grocery shopping strategies and have found them sadly disappointing. One system required that I use store ads and stock up on foods that were on sale. I understand the premise of buying ahead and stocking the pantry at low prices, but I suspect it works better if you prepare meals made with prepared foods! Overall, I found that this method led to purchasing foods that were not needed because they were on sale. I’m sure it works well for others, but it definitely wasn’t the slam dunk I needed. Other methods produced similar results, but I eventually gained the experience needed to develop my own.
I began by budgeting a certain amount for each meal of the day. I don’t remember my exact figures now, but this will give you the general idea. When I made my menu I kept in mind my goal of spending about $10 on breakfast – for the week. I doubled the amount for lunch and more than tripled it for our dinners. The remaining funds were distributed on sale items and seasonal or special meals. This system was an excellent training ground. I’ve made menus and shopped according to a menu throughout our marriage, but this helped me focus on the least expensive and fulfilling breakfasts and lunches so that we could eat like kings at dinner. It worked well and my budget fell back to the more book-buying happy $130 area.
This system worked well for over two years, but a transformation occured at some point. I’m not sure when it happened, but I think it was around the time I read America’s Cheapest Family by Annette and Steve Economides. They recommend shopping monthly – one of the many systems I tried years ago (along with once a month cooking) that bombed. However, based on their experience I decided to give bi-weekly shopping a try. This has become the foundation of my current system. In addition, I now prepare my menu based on our nutritional needs and preferences rather than by meals. I suspect this has grown out of the years of doing it the other way and seeing patterns in the way we use our food. I’m not sure if this will apply to any other family, so if you give it a try be sure to let me know! I’ll share my rationale for bi-weekly shopping and give specific how-tos in an upcoming post.
