Tips For Sticking To A Monthly Food Budget
I love to shop, and I love to do it wisely. It's very easy to get carried away when you have cash at your disposal and just when you think you have more than enough, you spend it on unnecessary things. This applies to every form of shopping including food shopping.
The food aisle is one of my favourite places to shop at because, well, it's food 😄 You always have to buy food and there's no compromise on that. But how do you shop wisely then?
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Despite the inflation rates affecting food, you need to eat healthy balanced meals still. It's harder than I thought as I've had to cut down on my food budget in recent times.
Here are some ways I save money while shopping for food.
Make A Comprehensive Shopping List
You definitely saw this one coming, didn't you? I used to go shopping with a list and I'd just buy in as the spirit leads quantities. The total bill was always shocking and I'd wonder why it looked like I got so little for so much more money.
I resolved to stop letting the price of the goods control my budget, instead, I made sure everything I wanted fit into my budget. I did this by making a comprehensive list of all food items and fitting it all into a specific amount that I was going to spend.
Every food item on my list has the specific quantity I'm getting with the most recent price written on the side. This way, I knew that if I was going to the market with 30,000 Naira, I would get a bit of everything on my list with that amount. I never go overboard with my shopping and I am satisfied with my purchase.
Meal Planning
I noticed I was spending more because I'd buy food items that I didn't immediately need. For example, I'd buy fresh veggies for a chicken sauce or for a salad without giving much thought to it prior to the shopping.
It always turns out that I'm never in the frame of mind to make these dishes if they were never part of the meal plan for the week and all of the veggies would rot. This happened over and over until I figured out that I had to draft out my meal plan for the week first before shopping.
If I was buying anything fresh that I didn't want in the freezer, it meant I was going to use it that very week. This helped a lot in cutting my losses and I stopped wasting money on veggies I wasn't going to use.
Bulk Buying
There are great deals that come with bulk buying, especially in my local market and I always take advantage of that. I get good discounts when I buy two or more of a food item and it's usually enough to last me the whole month.
Buying in bulk is good but I always make sure that my bulk buying for the month is for things that would actually be useful that month. I won't buy 7 packs of milk when I know that I would be okay with 5 packs and the remaining money can be used to get me chicken instead.
Go For Economical
I always go for the most affordable food items and I would jump on reasonable sales offers. Emphasis on reasonable because a lot of the sales offers are dubious and not really helpful to the buyer.
Be open-minded and willing to try out different brands. You just might find them equally good and save some bucks.
Take Your Time
When going shopping, be sure to eat well before leaving the house because you would need the energy to walk around. You also won't be hungry and crave random things in the store/market that would add to your expenses.
Don't be too rigid while shopping because how else are you going to discover the good deals and new variety of food items if you don't walk around? Still, remember not to stray away from your shopping list.
Doing all of these has helped me stick to my monthly food budget and sometimes I get to save more money than I expect when I'm done shopping. It also guarantees that I eat healthy because I have different foods in the right proportions.
This is my answer to the second question of the #KISS blog ideas this week and I'm inviting @estherscott and @ozohu to share a #KISS blog with us.
Thanks for reading!
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Making a meal plan for the whole week is a good tip. We now do it since many years. In the beginning it was hard for me to stick to the plan. But as time goes by it's getting better. It's amazing that the pile of garbage is a lot less since we work with the food plan. No more expired food anymore.
Same here! I don't have wastage and cooking is less of a chore too.
Hello @wolfofnostreet,
You've mentioned some great points. One that I relate to very much is:
I haven't been doing supermarket shopping since I've been back in the UK, but I make sure to make a strategic list for my husband, and he's more in tune with the prices here in the UK.
Thanks for stopping by:)
A strategic list makes shopping way less stressful.
Always a pleasure!
You're very welcome!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend:)
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It's also interesting to keep shoppers psychology in mind when considering store layouts. There's a reason that place related items far away from each other in order to get you to see the higher-margin and higher-priced items they really want to move. I learned about this when I stocked shelves at a supermarket.
I also agree in the bulk buying that you mentioned, and it's something I started doing a few years ago when items were on sale. You can save a lot of money by knowing what to buy, and when to buy.
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That's an interesting strategy you mentioned. I haven't noticed it in the supermarkets here because related items are usually placed together.
Knowing what to buy and the right time to buy is key!
Being open minded about other brands is a helpful tip. I try to apply that sometimes.
I totally relate to the veggies part. Impulse buying always end up in wastage for me, especially if it is food. Fruits are exception to this though. Its funny how I always can't wait to get home and devour the fruits.
Is it just me or does anyone feels the need to have a fruit treat after every market trip?
Yes but whatever you do, don't compromise on ketchup. Always stick to the ketchup brand you know and trust lol
I can only imagine because I don't do ketchups!
Like tomatoes + sugar? No, sir. I'll pass.
It's great that meal planning works for you. I tried and didn't work 😂 not to mention sometimes I randomly travel and it just doesn't fit. Maybe I'll give it a try again once I am settling down.
Lol. It makes my life easier and I don't find cooking as tiring anymore when I know exactly what to do.
I'm useless at meal planning ... well, that is, I make the plan and then I don't fancy whatever it is that I've set for the day 😂.
It happens 😄
I wish I could do this, I usually try but then I wake up one day with a craving and I spend all the money I've saved on food 😆
Lol. My cravings would be the end of me so I always stick to there's rice at home.
Omo I can't do that, I don't know how to control myself.
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What are you craving? Some special kind of food, or a craving for some other kind of spending, on clothes or something like that?
I crave a lot of sugar food myself, uncontrollably. So I eat a lot of protein and that helps in suppressing it.
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Most time my cravings are things I don't make; I get tired of eating my cooking so at that time I want something else.
Very important points but the points "bulk buying" and "meal planning" got me. In as much as you don't want to get too flexible with youur shopping,don't get rigid with it either. Find a balance! Love this...learning already!
Exactly! Find a balance
You have made very good and systematic points for having a healthy shopping experience. !LOLZ. I would agree with going to the market with filled stomach. Seriously, it is very difficult to buy the right things while hungry. The list always helps not missing anything and be stick to what is necessary
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When you're hungry you'll start adding lots of biscuits and chocolates that you wouldn't ordinarily buy and they're usually pricey 🤦
Besides buying extra things I think when you are hungry you forget to add the right things in your shopping basket.
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That's great coverage of everything and the all important "have some boundaries but be prepared to flex". I used to buy excessive amounts of things when I was younger and got my first salary. One time I came home and there was no room to fit the shopping into my store cupboard!
LOL! That was a lot of shopping. You had to learn to cut down else you'd be cheating yourself with your salary.
It certainly was! 😂