Food rocks. It tastes good and it gives us energy, but it is also where a huge chunk of our paychecks go. You can find articles on saving money for large families, but what about those of us who are a smaller three person unit? Here is how I keep the bill at bay:
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Make a meal plan. You might say you don’t have time to do this. Yes, you do. I am a very busy person but still find time to do the things that I need to do. My daughter is considered “medically fragile” and we have at least four therapies and doctors visits per week, but I still have time to grab a cookbook and make a grocery list. I even make time to share my strategies with you
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Make a list. If I don’t make lists, I will get too much or forget the things I went for in the first place. I allow for incidentals, though. I make two or three extra lines to write in something that I see and decide is necessary, but after those three lines are used, that’s it.
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Wholesale Clubs. This one is arguable. Great for big families, but for our little household, you have to have self control and blinders for those “great deals” that you didn’t plan on getting. We get all of our staples there. Rice, pasta, canned tomatoes (you can do ANYTHING with canned tomatoes) meats, etc. Things that will last. We get our fresh fruits and vegetables at the regular store. This list is imperative for me here, WITHOUT the extra write in spaces!
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The Coupon Trap. Sometimes coupons are great, if you already use that product. Otherwise, you doing precisely what they expect; you’re buying something because it looks like you’ll save. Sometimes you can buy two store brand boxes for the price of one brand name box. So you save fifty cents on the brand name. Big deal, you are still only getting one. I do use them, I just have to be smart about it.
When you have kids, they make grocery shopping even harder. I don’t mean with the tantrums and “I want it!” Those blasted cartoon characters alone can add ten bucks to an otherwise manageable sum. My daughter can’t eat food right now, but she doesn’t really see a lot of cartoon characters anyway. When she does see a box featuring one she recognizes, she doesn’t make a big deal out of it. I have to tread lightly on this subject since our situation is atypical! All I’m going to say is avoid the characters! That may mean a temper tantrum or leaving the kids out of the shopping altogether.
Americans have the food thing down to a (very unhealthy) science. Fast food rules. Not in our house! After cutting fast food when I was pregnant, we saw how much we were saving and it floored us. When I did eat it after such a long hiatus, it tasted inferior and greasy. I can make a prettier hamburger and my pancakes will rock your world. Get in the habit of carrying an energy bar or something from home. I’m not saying it has to be carrot sticks, but don’t grab on the go and you willsave cash. I know, energy bars are expensive in their own right and usually taste gross, so why in the world would you buy it? I found some that taste AMAZING. We get all of our cleaning products, vitamins and makeup through melaleuca.com and their Access bars taste like girl scout cookies. No joke. The mint chocolate actually satisfy my sugar craving. After using these as snacks for a month, I dropped 6lbs and one pant size. Not snacking on crap really does pay off!
