Shopping for a small or large family can be a very daunting task, especially when you live on only one income. As our family grew, it became very clear that I needed to be more careful, especially with our spending. I have to admit that this wasn't easy for me. I had to learn how to be frugal. Everything that I do today came from years of research and practice.
When we were first married, we were very young, 21 and 22 to be exact. My husband was successfully managing the front end of a grocery store and I was in college and working for a bank. Neither of us made over $10/hour at the time and he was the only full time income that we had. It was clear, right from the beginning of our marriage, that we needed spend carefully. It was in those early years that I started shopping at Aldi. I had heard about it from a friend of mine, and since neither of us were brand loyal, TJ and I decided to give it a try. We were amazed by the prices! We began shopping there and fell in love with many of their grocery items. Although I was thrilled at the savings, I have to admit that I was young and impressionable. People around us, who had never been in an Aldi before, had a lot of opinions about shopping there. Some people are convinced that if the product doesn't have a name brand on it that it is inferior, or that by shopping at Aldi, I am exposing my family to food that is old and expired. Well, I am standing here (shouting from the rooftops!) that neither of those assumptions is correct! The food is delicious and affordable and the food is not expired or old. No one should feel ashamed for providing their family with healthy food options because of where they shop!
Okay, now that I am off of my soap box, I can go on to explain what I really want to share with you...some tips on how to grocery shop on a really tight budget. Last year around this time, I asked a friend to help me start this blog. She was already blogging, pretty successfully, and I needed some advice. When I explained that I could feed my family of 7 (my dad was living with us at the time) on $75 a week, she asked me to write some of my tips in an article that she would put on her blog. Many of you probably came here using the link that she has on her blog, happydealhappyday.com. For those of you who read that article, this post might seem a bit repetitive, but I promise, there may be additional information in this post that might be helpful to you, so please keep reading!
I am constantly asked how I can manage to buy groceries for our large family on just $75 a week, and I basically follow these guidelines every time I shop. Let me be honest and let you know that I do not shop for organic foods, and if you are worried about eating organic, then you won't be able to fall below $75 per week. It's okay...no judgment here. If you want to buy organic than you should. You may have to adjust your budget since organics typically cost a little more.
So here are the top five tips I have for grocery shopping on less than $100 per week. I hope that you find them helpful!
1.) Meal planning is essential. I have an entire page on my blog dedicated to meal planning because it is so important to staying within a budget. I try to plan at least 2 weeks worth of meals before I go to the grocery store and I usually plan for all three meals including two snacks daily for my kids. I try to pay attention to details when I am creating my grocery list so that no ingredients are forgotten. Keeping the recipes handy is really helpful so that you can easily reference them when creating your list. Check out my meal planning page for details on how you can start menu planning today!
2.) Be open-minded- Growing up I was raised on generic brands and so making the switch was easy for me. I know that some of you are very attached to your brands and that is perfectly okay, however, if you are trying to stay on a tight budget you may want to try a store brand, or better yet, try going to Aldi. I find that almost every generic option on the market is delicious and has the same or similar ingredients to their name brand counterparts. Check them out, you may be pleasantly surprised!
3.) Cooking from scratch- okay...it's time to put your Betty Crocker apron on and trust me! Cooking from scratch is not difficult, although it may seem so. I love to cook, but I realize that not everyone is like me. That's why I choose easy, delicious recipes to post. Many of the recipes I make can be on the table in an hour or less and don't have any weird ingredients in them. I find that I can make a full dinner for less than $1.00 per person when I am cooking from scratch.
4.) Spread out your meat purchases- This is a great tip if you want to spend less money per week! I look at the flyers and decide what I want to purchase based on what's on sale. Then I spread my meat purchases out through the month. I have a freezer so I always buy meat in bulk or in the Family Pack at Wegman's. Usually I will purchase chicken during the first week of the month, ground beef the second week, pork on the third week, and miscellaneous meats during the last week. Those might include a chuck roast, turkey breast, steak, or whatever is on sale. By doing this, I am not spending more than half of my weekly budget on meat alone!
5.) Choose a from a variety of recipes and change it up! Last year, our family went through a period of time when we were going through 4 boxes of cereal a week. I realized pretty quickly that not only was this practice unhealthy, but it was terribly expensive! Even shopping for generic brands, I was spending nearly $10 a week on cereal alone. Then when you added milk into the equation it was even more! Now, I look for healthy alternatives. I make breakfast from scratch at least 4 times per week and the choices include my Banana Oatmeal bake, Oatmeal cups, cream of wheat, and pancakes. In addition to breakfast, I also change up the snacks in our house. I make my own trail mix, granola bars, and offer the kids several other healthy options. By changing it up, we aren't caught up in any "must haves" so if there isn't room in the budget for something, I know that we can make do with other options.
Long article, but hopefully it's full of great information that you can use to save money when grocery shopping!
Do you have any money saving tips that you would like to share? We would be so grateful for you to share them with us!
Check out my meal planning and recipe pages for more information!
Have a Blessed Day!
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