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February 15, 2019 · Leave a Comment

How To Save On Groceries | 4 Tips To Save Before The Store

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Budget· Budget Tips· Frugal Living· Meal Planning· Printable· Saving· Ways We Save

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It’s payday.  There’s nothing left in the fridge or pantry, and you need to go shopping.  You’re not really sure what you’re shopping for, you just know that you need to get some food back in the house.

Or maybe you just stock up on food on the same day each week, and get the same items week after week, but don’t really notice you’ve got way more packs of cashews than any human can eat in a month.  Don’t worry!  We’ve all been there at one point or another!

How To Save On Groceries | 4 Steps To Save Before The Store

I may plan our meals monthly, but I shop weekly.  I tried bi-weekly shopping, and while I loved the simplicity, and honestly how infrequently I had to be around people, I found don’t have the fridge space for two weeks worth of produce and dairy.

But I also do not actively sales shop simply because my house is not blessed with a giant walk-in pantry.  It’s more arm’s-length pantry.  Yet I’m also able to save hundreds each year simply by going through these four steps before getting to the grocery store.

 

How To Save On Groceries Before You Get To The Store

Start With A Meal Plan

I check our monthly meal plan, and choose our meals to match our schedule for the week.  If it’s a particularly busy week, I won’t be adding in a bunch of longer, more complex meals.  If I need to stretch a smaller amount of money for the week, I would choose roast chicken for the weekends, then use the leftover roasted chicken and make chicken sammies with it, and maybe chicken chili.  Three meals for the week using only one main ingredient.

Whether you want to plan monthly, bi-weekly or weekly, you need to start with a meal plan.  It makes it much easier on you throughout the week when you know what’s for dinner long before dinner time comes.

Take Inventory

Now is the time to compare the recipes you chose to what you have on hand in your fridge, freezer and pantry.

Keeping with my earlier example, for my meal of roast chicken, I see that I have some russet potatoes leftover from a previous week and can make baked potatoes with them, and just grab a can of peas, or a fresh veggie instead.

Create Your Grocery List Around What Is Needed

To help me keep track of what I need, I always write out a grocery list.  We’ve done this for years.  Back to our previous example… if know I would need a whole chicken, but I maybe I would like a fresh veggie with the baked potatoes and chicken.  I also see that I need to pick up some buns and peppers for the sammies, and some dry beans for the chili.  I write down what I would need in order to help keep our expenses low.

The same can apply to things you go through on a week to week basis.  Maybe I see that we have 1 half-gallon of Lactaid in the fridge, and we go through 3 half-gallons a week.  Rather than buying all 3 that we go through each week, I would only need to pick up two more.

Have A Running List Of Stock-Up Items

Another way I’m able to save up money on groceries is by keeping a running list of what is needed.  If we used the last thousand island dressing from the pantry, I’ll write it down on our white board {which hangs on our pantry door} as a reminder that I need to buy more.  When we have a week with some wiggle room in our grocery budget, I’ll add the dressing to our grocery list and put them in the pantry so it’s there the next time we need it.

 

To help you keep track of your meal plan and grocery list at the same time, I created a grocery list printable, free for you in my Resource Library.

It’s based off how I’ve set up our grocery lists for years now.  Not only are you able to see everything you need to get, but you can also see your meal plan at a glance.  I have found this to be a game changer over the years because I can see what would get shifted around or easily modified if the need arises.  Or I can remind myself: while we don’t have sour cream at home, no, we really don’t need a container of sour cream this week because we don’t have meals that need it.

How To Save On Groceries | 4 Steps To Save Before The Store

I can’t tell you how many times I have been to the store and based my list off of getting a family pack of chicken breasts, but there are no more.  So a quick peek at my meal plan would tell me that maybe tenders would do in a pinch, or even boneless thighs.

For more tips on how to save once you’re at the store, check out:  Simple Steps To Save Money On Groceries

 

How To Save On Groceries | 4 Steps To Save Before The Store

Simple Steps To Save Money On Groceries
Simple Steps To Save Money On Groceries

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makingcentsmatter

makingcentsmatter
Only you can determine what your financial goals a Only you can determine what your financial goals are. If that means you're adding money to your savings account, or contributing to your retirement, while you are paying off debt, then so be it!⁠
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Do what looks right for you and your personal finances.⁠
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The trick to meal planning is to make it predictab The trick to meal planning is to make it predictable. But predictable doesn't mean the same thing week to week. You could have a chicken meal, a soup meal, a pasta meal, a leftovers meal, a family favorite meal, and so on.⁠
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We always try to go with themed days, but some weeks are so hectic the theme is literally "fast". Thankfully that hasn't been the case lately.⁠
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I can only hear about my extended warranty I never I can only hear about my extended warranty I never purchased so many times. 😣⁠
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March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠ .⁠ House: $51 March Debt Paid numbers are in!⁠
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House: $511.13⁠
Citi: $0 – this has a residual $3 in interest charges since payoff, due in April⁠
D NelNet: $100⁠
K NelNet: $100⁠
K Chase: $600⁠
Explorer: $336.27⁠
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Total Paid in 2021: $8,258.84⁠
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Extra Payment: There isn’t one this month since we were $25 away from zeroing out the budget for our February 15th monthly paycheck. That $25, and monies left from our January 15th paycheck, covered our OOP costs for Hubs’ filling. We also have some savings goals coming up that need to be met, making our debt payments a little lower for the time begin.⁠
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The battle for who can charge what tonight is abou The battle for who can charge what tonight is about to begin. 😬⁠
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My kids run off with my charger, plug it into one outlet 5 feet from where they found it like that particular outlet is the only one in this house, and then proceed to fight over who can charge their device first at night.⁠
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Then they get grumpy when it's their turn and it's not the proper input cable. #itwasmychargerfirst #dontlikeitgofindyourown⁠
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A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a A needs his wisdom teeth taken out. I've talked a bit in our February Budget Check-In about how much of this I think we'll owe, and you can check that out on my YouTube channel if you're interested, but I wanted to say here...⁠
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To the mother with little kids struggling to get your finances in order, it will get better. I wish I could have heard those words years ago.⁠
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Nearly 10 years ago we were facing a $1,400 out-of-pocket portion for A's Phase 1 orthodontic work (I looked it up after I uploaded the video... we had a $1,400 portion).⁠
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It was a lot of money for us at the time. Our kids were 6, 2, and 3 months old. I don't think we even had $500 in savings, and I just left a part-time teaching job because it wasn't paying the part-time daycare bill, so paying our portion in full was just a dream I didn't think was achievable.⁠
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I was even stressing about the monthly $100 payments. We were so strapped. It was our breaking moment to start cutting costs and budgeting more effectively. We've learned a lot in that time period.⁠
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What we've learned is that it does no good to stress about it all the time. Life happens. All you can do is try to plan ahead, and if it's something that's unplanned, readjust. It won't always be easy, especially at first, but it will be worth it.⁠
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Nearly 10 years later, we are still paying off our debts. Student loans suck. But I see this bill as a reminder of how far we have come. Seeing a bill like this doesn't stress me out like it used to, and I know we can easily create a plan that can get it done and out of the way.⁠
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Will it delay our debt-free date more? Yes. But it's not worth stressing over. Life happens, readjust, and continue on down the path. It's called a journey for a reason.⁠
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It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budget It's almost payday! Here's how our variable budgeting categories are working out for the pay month.⁠
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Food is looking good this far into our paycheck, probably because miscellaneous - which includes eating out - took a hit with unexpected purchases. Pet is low for this time of the month, and Household is spot on.⁠
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Fuel looks like it'll be lower than last month (yay for weeks of snow days & delayed school starts), and Therapy had one more appointment than initially planned.⁠
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Garden, Dental, Medical & Propane are not included in these estimates so far because those expenses are coming from sinking funds. Once we're done with the month and review the budget, I'll move over the total amount spent from those sinking funds.⁠
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How's your paycheck budget coming along?⁠
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#realbudget #monthlyincome #monthlybudget #budget #budgetupdate #budgeting #savingmoney #variablecategories #savingmoney #savings #debtfreecommunity #debtfreejourney #cash #financialgoals #personalfinancetips #personalfinance #frugalliving #frugalblogger #budgetblogger #makingcentsmatter
Automating your finances makes saving money and bu Automating your finances makes saving money and budgeting more convenient, and therefore easier on you. Out of sight, out of mind, right?⁠
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What's one thing you can automate this week to make your finances easier?⁠
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Me? I'm going to set up our sinking fund transfers to automate every payday (the 15th of every month). Our bank set up a feature on their app where we can schedule savings transfers now, and I'm going to take advantage of it!⁠
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#personalfinance #personalfinancetips #budgeting #budgettips #personalfinancemadeeasy #savingmoney #savings #sinkingfunds #cash #frugalblogger #frugalmom #frugalliving #debtfreejourney #debtfreecommunity #debtfreeprogess #financialfreedom #makingcentsmatter
Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone Oh my word... our miscellaneous category has gone a smidgen overboard this month!⁠
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I foresee a goal for March's paycheck to at out less than twice. That's where this category went awry. $99.16 of it went to eating out. 😑 Some of it was avoidable, but not all of it. Having to drive to multiple appointments in one day during snow squalls and rearranging our whole day was one of those unavoidable instances.⁠
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Tracking our expenses - much like a budget review - is vital to sticking to your budget!⁠
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#makingcentsmatter #debt #debtfreejourney #debtfreeprogress #debtfreecommunity #realbudget #budgetcategories #monthlyincome #savingmoney #savings #frugalliving #frugalblogging #budgeting #zerobasedbudget #financialgoals #personalfinance #personalfinancetips #financialfreedom #expensetracking #budgetfail
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