Today I’m starting a new series: “Confessions of a budgeting failure.” The purpose of this is threefold: 1) Accountability for me. 2) Sharing tips and tricks that I’ve found that help me through this process of “sticking” to a budget (be prepared for all the air quotes..I’m a fan) 3) Gaining any tips and ideas you guys have because I am certainly not writing this from a place of having arrived…I am deep in the weeds of learning how to get my spending under control. I have friends that feed families of 10 on half the money I have budgeted per month. I am not awesome my friends but I am growing and I am learning.
So I want to start this by saying that I realize that I am blessed. I am not complaining about having to budget or the size of my budget. I am transparent about the fact that I am not good at budgeting and that I am learning. Now that we have that out of the way let’s go!
Groceries are an area that I’m perpetually overspent on. Its also the area that’s probably the most controllable in our budget so I’ve been working diligently on getting this area at or under budget at each month.
Tip 1 – Cut the Excess
This is probably obvious but I feel like its necessary to mention anyway. Sit down with your receipts and evaluate the “extra” items you’re spending on and what you can realistically cut. Examples of this for me:
Bottled water/Hint water – y’all I love naturally fruit flavored water. I love the convenience of it, I love the flavor of it but let’s be real: spending $1.25 on water with fruit infused into it is kind of silly. Even cheaper “normal” bottled water is TERRIBLE for the environment. To counteract this I bought a fruit infusion pitcher and slice up some lemons and strawberries and keep it in the fridge and I have about a million yetis or yeti knock off cups that I use with these silicon straws. The straws are a game changer for me. I probably drink 5x more water when there’s a straw in my cup. Something about not having to lift the cup to my lips. Call me lazy but I’m well hydrated.
Pre-sliced fruit – I love the convenience of pre-sliced fruit but often they charge 3x the price. Instead invest in slicers like this apple peeler, corer, slicer, apple wedger, food chopper (so good for onions and nuts), pineapple wedger or simple slicer. They’re pricey initially but they save time and money in the long run (truth spoken from the girl that used to spend $6 a week on sliced pineapple when you can buy a whole pineapple for $1.50.
Individually packaged snacks/treats – buy snacks in bulk and use Bento boxes or even ziploc bags if you have to. They charge so much more for individually packaging things like chips and trail mix. Bag it yourself.
Non-essential food items – Desserts, beverages other than the essentials (coffee is essential in my world), sugary snacks. If you’re not eating it for breakfast, lunch or dinner its probably not essential. Keep some nuts, fruit and veggies on hand for snacks and call it a day.
Tip 2 – Meal Plan
Talk to anyone on a budget and this is probably their #1 key for keeping their grocery budget under control. If you’re like me you don’t like committing to things, even things as silly as meals. The biggest objection I hear to meal planning (and the one that always gets me too) is “how do I know on Sunday what I’m going to feel like eating on Thursday night?” so here’s my work around. I build in the flexibility to change my mind by putting everything on a chalk board. That’s right. I do my meal planning on a chalkboard in my kitchen. That way if I want to switch it up that night I can erase it.
When you’re meal planning you’re just planning what you’re going to eat on that particular week. It doesn’t have to be what you’re eating every night. Just get enough for 5 or 6 dinners, breakfasts and lunch.
Tip 3 – Only Grocery Shop 1x per week
Oh, this one was and IS so Hard for me. I love grocery shopping, it is like a sport and a treat for me so only going once a week feels akin to dieting or something. But I spend at least $50 every time I go to the store. I just do. I try not to but inevitably I do. So I try really hard to plan everything so we go only once a week.
Tip 4 – If you must go more than 1x a week make sure both trips still don’t exceed your total weekly budget
Does this seem obvious to you? Good, it should, but guys this was a thing for me. I used to blow my entire grocery budget on my once a week bulk order and then when I needed to run to the store midweek I would spend another $100 thus putting me WAY over budget. But NO MORE! Now I budget my weekly bulk order at about 60-75% of my total weekly budget. This gives me wiggle room for those last minute oops I forgot that I’m in charge of the fruit for my kid’s class potluck moments. For easy math lets just say my weekly grocery budget is $100 (my husband would absolutely love me if this was true and I stuck to it). This means my bulk order needs to be $60-$75. Realistically, my grocery budget is closer to $200 a week. I spend $125-$150 on my weekly haul and then save the remaining $50-$75 for those “oh crap” moments. I would love to tell you that I often save that extra $50-$75…but alas I have A LOT of “oh crap” moments.
Tip 5 – Order Curbside
Okay this tip probably seems counter intuitive but hear me out. My local grocery store offers free curbside if your order 48 hours in advance. Yes, there is a slight up charge on individual items but I feel like the fact that I actually STICK to my list when I do this more than makes up for it. You may have the self-control of a saint but for me when I go into a grocery store it is like a kid in a candy shop. All of a sudden I see at least a dozen things that I need, that we’re out of, that I forgot on the list. And then BOOM, before I know it I’m $50-$100 over my budget. Not good.
Ordering curbside means that if my grocery budget that week needs to be $100 I can play with it until its $100 or less. Do I really need to order that this week or can it wait? Do I need 6 apples or can we make it with 4. You get the picture. I treat it like a game. If you’re the type of person that can enter the store and buy one thing or exactly what’s on your list, skip this one.
PS. I also super love that this tip saves time and someone else loads the groceries into my car.
Tip 6 – Buy certain foods in bulk
By now you should know that I’m the caveat queen. Certain foods make sense to buy in bulk, others do not. Here’s a list of some of the things I buy or keep in stock at home. I try to keep my Costco runs to once a month and I try to shop there in lieu of HEB that week because it gets expensive. However, if you do it right you can avoid buying much meat the rest of the month.
Costco List:
- Organic Chicken Breasts – Typically the cost for these is around $4.99/lb and sometimes I’m okay with just getting the H-E-B Natural brand (not certified organic) for $3.99/lb but I love getting chicken in bulk and freezing it. Each “pouch” has about 2-3 large breasts which is perfect for an average meal for us.
- Organic Ground Turkey
- Organic Ground Beef
- Organic Chicken Stock
- Kerry Gold Unsalted Butter
- Almond Milk
- Fruit Snacks for my kids
- Bulk Nuts (Sliced Almonds, Pecans and Cashews are favorites)
- Canned Tomatoes, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Paste
- Rao’s Marinara Sauce – this stuff is AMAZING and its so much cheaper at Costco than other stores
- Simple Mills Almond Flour Crackers – these are in my opinion the best grain free crackers on the market
- Black Beans (Dried or Canned)
- Dried Fruit (typically raisins and dried mangoes for us)
- Oatmeal
- Rice
- Gluten Free Flour
- Sugar
- Oils (Olive Oil and Avocado Oil are my go tos)
- Diapers/Pull Ups
- Paper Towels
- Toilet Paper
- Tissues
- Toothpaste
Tip #7 – Use the Buddy System
Shop with a friend for bulk items and split them. I do this with my mom at Costco. Typically Costco produce is simply too much for me and my family to consume before it goes bad. So I shop with my mom and we split everything. I used this method and bought Bananas, Avocados, Oranges, Apples, Potatoes, etc. and spent $14.
Tip #8 – Do a Weekly Meal Swap
This is great if you or your spouse aren’t big into leftovers or eating the same thing multiple days in a row. I also do this with my mom (although I’ll be honest I’ve benefited more from this than she has lol). Find a friend who loves to cook and have one night a week where you double your meals and swap meals. Things like soups, roasts, casseroles, chicken dishes, etc. do really well for this. My mom will bring me her leftovers and I’ll bring her mine and then we don’t have to cook again but we’re eating something different. Everyone wins.
Tip #9 – Cook it once and eat it twice (or thrice)
I am BIG into leftovers. Our lunches are almost entirely leftovers. We are not sandwich people (mainly because I’m gluten free and my hubs is Mr. Low Carb King) so lunch time typically looks like leftovers or a salad with rotisserie chicken but lately I’ve been getting into cooking a pork shoulder or whole chicken or beef roast and then making two entirely different dishes from it. Pork shoulder I’ll do pork tacos the first night and then maybe BBQ pork in a potato the second night. Whole chicken can be enjoyed as an entree the first night and then the remnants can be used to make chicken soup or White Bean Chicken Chili the next night. For the beef roast enjoy it with carrots and potatoes the first night and then as roast beef sandwiches the second night. This method saves so much money, time and mess. I’m a HUGE fan.
Tip #10 – C.O.R.D.
This tip is straight from my mom (who cooked nightly for 8 people at one point since I’m the oldest of six kids). Once a week mom would institute C.O.R.D. or Clean Out Refrigerator Day. It was typically towards the end of the week on a Friday and we would eat whatever leftovers we had. Its a great way to prevent food waste and to avoid cooking. You would think with all of the tips I have for avoiding cooking that I hate cooking but I actually love it. I just get tired of it.
So there you have it. My top ten tips for keeping the grocery spending at bay. Give me your tips please! I need all the help I can get!