The Grocery Budget

It's challenging to make a few dollars stretch to pay for everything a family needs. After several years of hoping, I learned that the best way to financial peace is a budget. Now, admittedly, I'm not feeling completely peaceful yet, but I have to say that I don't lose sleep over it anymore.

Most things are easy to budget for because, if you save your bills or have online access to them, you can look up how much you spent on your utilities last month, or last year, and get a good sense of what it will be in the coming months. Some things don't change, like rent or mortgage, and some things vary drastically, like the gas bill, but they are all predictable.

The hardest item to budget, for me, was groceries. How was I supposed to figure out what I was going to spend next week? Or next month? It seemed impossible. With just a little bit of planning, though, I've managed to make it all work with room to spare on just $100 per week. (For those of you who don't know me well, I'm feeding my husband, my two toddlers, my infant - who really doesn't eat many groceries right now - and me. We'll count that as 4 people)

Here's what I do:

• Step One: I make a quick list of dinners for the week. I know. I hear you complaining: "What if I get to Tuesday and I don't feel like having (___fill in the blank___)." Chances are that a)since it's already thought out for you, you probably won't complain, b) if you don't feel like having that on Tuesday, switch it with Wednesday, and c) why are you putting meals you don't like in your plan! Keep it simple when planning. Sometimes I don't even plan the exact recipe I'll use, just the main meats. Like I'll write "Pork Chops, Veggies, noodles."
• Step Two: I make a list of items I'll need. I use a regular sheet of paper, not a pad of list paper so that I have plenty of room next to each item. I'll tell you why in the next step. To make my list I keep in mind what I already have on hand. Make sure you think about breakfast and lunch. I don't write these down as I usually rotate through the same few things for breakfast, and lunches tend to be leftovers or sandwiches. I also include diapers or any household products I'm running out of.
• Step three: Go back through your list and write in an estimate of how much you think you'll need to spend on each item. Use old receipts if you need to. I always make sure that I estimate just a little high if I'm not certain of a price.
• Step four: Write in a total of your estimated prices. This gives you an idea of how much it's going to cost to do everything. Is your total too high? Go back and decide what can be purchased next week instead.
• Step Five: Shopping! As you pick up each item, write next to the estimate what it actually costs. Now you can see as you go if you are on budget or not. I am almost always under budget and am able to get something I didn't think I was going to! Or, if you don't need it, put that money away for next week's budget or just put it in savings (That's my current favorite choice!)

The more you do this, the better you will be at estimating. Since starting this I have begun to plan ahead for a few weeks for things I know I'm going to need. I go through more than 90 diapers a week, so I spread out my diaper purchases to keep myself from spending $60 all at once on them and having only $40 for food!

It is certainly worth just a little planning to get your grocery budget working well. (Planning also lets me get great use out of coupons!)

Does anyone have any tips or tricks they use to keep their grocery bill low?