In the {Budget Friendly Fridays} feature, we are looking at ways to live naturally, on a budget.
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE to grocery shop. And like most people, the more I love to do something, the more I want to spend time doing it. The problem with spending more time at the grocery store is I end up spending more money. Money we often don’t really have! Since I already take at least 3-4 trips to the grocery store a week (yes, at least- one for our main shop, one for a small shop and 1-2 for clients), I have had to learn some tricks to lower my extra spending and stick to our budget while shopping for food. Here are a few of my favorite ways to save on your grocery bill.
1. Come with a plan. This one is number one, because, it is NUMBER ONE. The most important thing you can do to stick to your budget and prevent overspending is to have a plan. First, you need to know what your budget is. This is a whole other topic that I’m not sure I’m qualified to discuss (we’re always working on our perfect budget plan)- but know what you can spend, either monthly or weekly. Plan our your meals- again, for the month or week, taking into consideration eating out, dinners with friends and nights you just feel like experimenting, write out all the ingredients needed and base your list on this, with your staple items (see below). Tally up your estimated bill and see if it’s within budget. If it’s not, adjust accordingly. Take this list and tally up the real cost as you go in the store. If you end up with some left over, great! Get that gourmet goat cheese you’ve been eyeing. If it’s over, reduce next week’s bill, or drop something unnecessary. I’ll go into meal planning more in a future post, but remember: it’s all about the plan.
2. Shop the sales. I love kale. I love it so much, I could buy it every single week and not get sick of it. But I know nutritionally, it’s important to vary your veggies, including your greens for optimum nutrients. So I buy my leafy greens based on what’s on sale, or in the warmer months, what is cheapest at the farmer’s market. Whole Foods often has sales on greens, so I go with that for my organic dark leafies for the week.
3. Don’t write off big-box stores. I love Whole Foods, and the farmer’s market when it is warm enough, but Metro and Sobeys (or Stop and Shop or Publix, etc) are not the devil. Sure, they can be more expensive (so is Whole Foods!) but you can find great sales on organics and many stores are now advertising the produce that is grown locally, too. Check your local flyer before spending all of your bucks at the pricier health food stores.
4. Have a ‘staples’ list. I keep a list in my food planning notebook of foods we buy pretty much every week (organic spinach for smoothies and egg scrambles, seasonal fruit, leafy greens-see above, organic whole milk for making yogurt, local free-range eggs, etc) with an estimate of how much these items cost us. This automatically comes off of our budget and we go from there.
5. Buy in bulk. I am obsessed with the bulk bins at Whole Foods and even Costco for bulk items (hemp seeds, coconut sugar, organic spinach, wild blueberries and canned wild salmon are frequent Costco buys). I keep all of my dry staples in mason jars in either my open kitchen pantry or fridge (nuts and seeds), and it saves us a ton of money by only buying what we will need for the month, or always having our staple dry goods on hand.
6. Keep a running list in your notebook or smartphone. This is a new one I’ve been using and it’s been working great. Do you ever find yourself opening the fridge, going to grab something that is always there and… it’s not? Instead of running out to the store and wasting gas or worse, buying extras you didn’t actually need outside of your shopping day- keep a running list on your phone so you remember to stock up on what you’re out of whenever you are at the store. Brilliant!
7. Buy locally. This one seems obvious, but it’s one of my favorites and it truly saves a lot of money. Go to Farmer’s Markets and buy local foods when in season ( and in bulk, if you can), at super reduced prices.
8. Buy seasonally. Similarly to buying locally, foods that may not be local but are in season, such as citrus in the winter, are much less expensive than when they are out of season. If you are going to buy out of your area, buy in season.
9. Go easy on the meat (or buy cheaper cuts). It’s no secret that reducing your meat consumption can save money. Meat is expensive, especially when buying high-quality. Now, I do believe meat is incredibly nutritious, but I also believe, as with anything, moderation is key. So choose wisely when it comes to quality and reduce your overall consumption for more bang for your buck. Choosing cheaper cuts (we are huge fans of ground lamb and beef) can help save, too.
10. Grow it yourself. If you are able to, start your own small garden and grow some food yourself! Even a small container herb garden if you’re in an apartment can mean grocery savings and delicious fresh-tasting meals! I am so excited to have a small patio now that has a little bit of planting-area for some herbs and lots of space for containers, and I’ve been crazy about planning my little garden for this spring and summer. So far I have kale, spinach, garlic and a whole bunch of herbs on my list!
What are some ways you save on your grocery bill?
all photos by Alison Rugg.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great post. I’m always looking for ways to do organic budget friendly shopping. Meat is the hardest thing for me because good quality meat can be 20-30% more than conventional. One day I’ll get a deep freeze so I can buy larger quantities of organic meat and freeze it.