v30.1: Break Free from High Priced Groceries

Howdy folks,

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For most of us, making ends meet is a fine art.  The worry and stress that comes from the lack of money flow is enough to drive anyone insane.  In our house, we constantly struggle with our budget and we often need to let certain things slide in order to take care of the more important things like food.  Food is a necessity for life and as such, should be your first priority.

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If budgeting for food is an art, then my wife is Picasso because she has found a way (somehow) to spend less than $4/day per person in our household to feed everyone (including diapers and formula for the baby).  How does she do it?  Careful planning and the fear that I may lose it if she spends over our budgeted amount.  Of course like anything, you can't expect to save money if you don't invest a little bit of time and energy to find the deals and shop around.  You also need to plan, plan and plan some more to ensure you take into consideration shelf life of some foods and whether you can freeze foods to thaw later at a later date.  In the end, not only will you eat healthier, but you will also start seeing a savings in your spending each month.

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Step 1: Start off with a list.  This list will be meals every day until the next time you go grocery shopping.  In our house we do groceries once every two weeks so my wife will plan for approximately 14 days.  Think of each meal ahead of time so you know exactly what you need (and how much) so you avoid the potential for impulse buying.  A couple quick tips you should know before you go grocery shopping:

• Eat first!  Shopping while hungry will lead to impulse buying.  You will see something "quick" that you can buy to eat to satisfy your hunger.  If you eat first, you are less apt to buy something "quick"  so make sure you're not hungry.


• Stick to your list!  What is the point of creating a list if you don't stick to it?  Pretend you only have enough cash in your account to cover the items on that list.


• Pay with cash!  If you're worried about overspending, take out just enough cash to cover the groceries (plus a few dollars buffer) and leave the card(s) at home.  You will be less likely to overspend if you know you only have a certain dollar amount.

Step 2: Determine how much food you need.  How will you know how much of each you food you need to buy?  There are several websites out there that can help you with this but for the most part you're only going to figure this out through trial and error.  Keep track of your grocery lists every week so you can reference back and make slight changes.  Once you have it worked out, you too will become a Picasso for budgeting food.

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Step 3: Healthy eating is the trend these days (and it should be) but if you have spent any time in a grocery store you can quickly see that eating healthy has a much larger price tag attached to it than eating unhealthy foods.  Why is that?  The plain and simple answer is money.  Why worry about separating the saturated fats from foods when you can process the food quickly and get it shipped?  People will buy it regardless since it will be cheaper than the lower fat brand.  Sadly this has become the trend in the food industry and the price gap between healthy living and unhealthy living is growing every year; but there is hope!

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There is this magical place called a Farmer's Market.  You've probably seen them on the side of the road before.  These people typically sell locally grown produce and goods.  One huge advantage of a farmer's market is the cost is usually cheaper than a grocery store since they don't have the overhead and usually don't have food shipped over long distances.  Since a lot of the product is locally provided, the cost is much lower and the fruits and vegetables are typically more fresh and better for you.  Ever wonder how you can buy "fresh" California Grapes or Oranges from the Grocery store yet you live on the East Coast?  Yeah, you don't want to know.

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To maximize your savings each month sometimes you need to shop ahead and look for the deals.  Walmart sells food as well and sometimes their prices can be a lot cheaper than the grocery store.  Dollar stores are also good because they sell stuff for a buck that usually would cost several bucks at a grocery store.  Learn to shop around and find the best deals you can.  Grocery stores live by the motto that they are convenient and a one stop shop.  They make their money on "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" deals to make people feel like their saving money but in reality they're spending more money.  Why buy two of something when you only need one?  So you can get a third one free?  Did you take note of the price of one to see if they price changed slightly to make it look like a good deal?  Do your research and really stop and take a look at what you're buying.  Is there a cheaper brand?  Typically when we go grocery shopping we buy the "No Name" brand version.  The quality is usually a little less but not enough to ignore.  In some cases, the "No Name" food is better for you despite the taste; remember to read the labels and nutrition information!

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Lastly, I want to talk about the cost in between trips to the grocery store.  There are just some things you can't buy in bulk to last a whole pay period.  Sometimes you just run out and need to make your way to a store and pick up something.  A good example of this is milk and bread.  While we often freeze our bread to have later, there isn't always room in the freezer to do that especially if you don't have a deep freeze.  Typically when people run out of these things they head to the closest store to pick it up.  In most cases, the closest store is a Convenience store.  Yes, it is called a Convenience tore for a reason and it isn't because their prices are low.  You usually pay a higher price for things at a Convenience store than you will at a Grocery store.  Typically for us, we pay a whole buck or two more for milk than we would at a grocery store.  That adds up after awhile when you consider I need to buy milk 3-4 times every two weeks.  Take into consideration, on average, I spend $1.50 more a container at the Convenience store.  In the run of a month I'm spending an extra $12 on milk.  Multiply that over a year and you're looking at $144 that is basically wasted money.  It wouldn't cost you $144 to drive to the grocery store would it?  Probably not, unless you drive a 747 to the store.

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As I mentioned earlier in my musing, you can't expect to save money if you don't invest a little bit of time and energy into it.  At the end of the day, you get out of grocery shopping what you put into it.  I can only give you the lessons I've learned and pass them on.  Good luck, and remember, coupons are your friend!

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Cheers,

Al