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Do you budget your grocery spending each month? Is your grocery budget one of the most difficult categories to maintain? I’d be lying if I said we didn’t run into some issues with sticking to our grocery budget for my family of three.
Food is an essential expense that no one wants to skimp on. And no one should ever have to in an ideal world. I’m a big foodie and I love to eat, but I’m the type of person who doesn’t want to overspend on hardly anything. Each month we try to stick to a $150 grocery budget every two weeks. That’s only $300 a month, and it is possible, even with such a small budget!
Sometimes we go over, especially during holidays, birthdays, and other events. But for the most part, we stick to the $150 grocery budget and shop twice a month or every two weeks.
Table of Contents
A Snippet of Our Grocery Spending
Here’s what a grocery list could look like from week to week:
Corn tortillas: $1.44
Thin Chicken Breasts: $6.47
Whole Chicken Wings: $4.88
Tilapia: $6.50
Fruit Snacks x2: $4.00
Granola Bars x2: $5.96
7-100 Calorie packs of walnuts and almonds: $3.24
Veg. Oil x2: $4.56
Butter: $0.75
Broccoli: $2.30
Cauliflower: $1.50
Apples: $4.98
Asparagus: $3
Can of cinnamon rolls: $2.18
Alfredo Sauce: $1.77
Sugar: $1.07
DiGiorno Pizza x2: $10.00
Hotdog buns: $2.00
Beer Bratwurst: $3.50
Organic strawberries: $1.50
Avocado: 1.25
Total: $72.85
This is a typical shopping list for us and a general overview of the foods we buy. I know this doesn’t equal out to my $150 grocery budget yet, but that’s because I lost a receipt and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to see every little item we purchase 🙂 The foods listed above should be able to cover us for at least a week so if we double this total, our average two-week spend is $150.
Thanks to stockpiling, I have plenty of condiments, spices and sides like rice, potatoes, pasta, etc. at home. These items are ready to cook with meals with the other items I buy from week to week. I also have enough popcorn kernels for my air popper to last me a lifetime.
If you’re frustrated with managing your grocery spending and ready to call it quits, please don’t throw in the towel yet. Here are some helpful tips to help maintain your household’s ideal food budget.
Get Organized and Plan Accordingly
The first thing you need to do is get organized and carefully plan your shopping trip. I always sit down and spend 10-20 minutes creating a list of what I want my meals to be, then I create my shopping list based on the ingredients I’ll need for those meals.
It’s so important to shop with a certain meal in mind rather than to just wander around the store and pick up things as you go. If you’ve been longing to eat healthier on a budget but just don’t know what to prepare or hate brainstorming shopping lists, I’d highly recommend trying the $5 Meal Plan.
For just $5/month you’ll get healthy and affordable recipes and shopping lists delivered to your inbox weekly. The $5 Meal Plan also has gluten-free and picky eater-friendly recipes, plus you can try it out for free for 2 weeks. You’ll love it!
Take Your Time
I know most people dread going grocery shopping (self-included) but since we aim to only go twice a month, I try to take my time so I don’t miss anything or overspend. Creating a shopping list of some sort is a must for me or else I will be completely lost and just start picking up random stuff.
Usually, I have to be home and able to look through the refrigerator and all the cabinets to make sure I’m writing down things we are low on and actually need.
I may spend anywhere from 1 hour to 1.5 hours grocery shopping every other Friday or Saturday and sometimes I even visit up to three different stores to ensure I’m getting the best deal. Another thing I’ve been doing lately when I don’t have time to go grocery shopping is utilizing the free Walmart Grocery Pickup service. Setting aside enough time to do your shopping and not rushing through it will make all the difference in maintaining your budget.
Buy Ingredients, Not Meals
Another way to stick to a bi-weekly $150 grocery budget is to buy ingredients, not meals. In other words, buy whole and inexpensive ingredients that you can then turn into multiple meals, instead of buying premade food that may not be as good for you.
I know, I know, when you’re busy, you don’t have time to make a ton of meals from scratch. But, there are plenty of resources to help you make your meals healthier and quicker. My favorite is MyFreezEasy. It’s a membership that teaches you how to create freezer meals, so you spend less time in the kitchen. These are meals that you prep all at once, stick in your freezer, and pull out to cook when you’re short on time.You’ll also get access to hundreds of meals and meal plans.
If you’re not a fan of freezer meals, or don’t really like meal prepping, that’s okay. Sites like Pinterest and 30 Minute Meals can show you easy recipes that are super quick to whip together. Delicious and wholesome does not have to equal hours in the kitchen.
Alternate Snacks
Snacks are the weakest link within our budget. Whenever we run over, I know it’s because we grabbed too many snacks. It’s funny how we all eat different things as well. My son loves fruit snacks and granola bars, apples, and cookies, My husband can’t live without chips, trail mix and Cheez-its, and I on the other hand, can’t stand chips and I try to take a healthier approach with pretzels, nuts, berries, and homemade popcorn.
While snacks do help me get through long days, I know that at the end of the day we need to spend money on actual food because that’s what will keep us full. Every time I make a list and enter a grocery store I’m determined to locate food that can create healthy meals as opposed to snacks. We try to spend no more than $40/month on snacks for all of us and it’s very doable.
I bake a lot so we never buy cookies, cakes or pastries at the store as I prefer to make them myself – they taste wayyyyyy better that way. To keep our snack cravings under wraps, we alternate between our two favorite snacks each shopping trip instead of purchasing everything under the sun all at once.
For example, if my kiddo chooses to get fruit snacks and pineapple/apples the first half of the month he may want to get granola bars and yogurt or something the second time around.
Stop Being So Loyal, Hunt For Sales
If you have one store that you absolutely love for certain items, my advice is to not be so tied to one particular store and open your horizons a bit. I have my favorite stores too but I shop at quite a few different stores depending on what their specials are during the week.
I find that when you’re loyal to just one particular brand or store, you don’t see nearly as much savings as you could by diversifying your shopping. Just taking a few minutes each week to check out the grocery store ads that come in the mail helps me scope out the best deals so I can save on our favorite foods.
There are certain brands of rice and potatoes that I only get at Walmart since they have the best price by far and for snacks we always try Aldi first. Jewel can be a bit too expensive for my taste, but every now and then they have some great sales that I just have to take advantage of. When their meat, fish and organic produce goes on sale, I don’t take any chances and I’ll usually go there for what I need.
I recently discovered some great items at Target (extra cheap frozen pizzas!) as well so I’ll have to add that into the rotation. Since it’s summer, I’m also looking forward to checking out some of the produce from the local farmer’s market.
Use Savings Apps
To really stick to a $150 grocery budget, you can use savings apps as well. Fetch Rewards is a handy app that helps you stretch your dollar by helping you earn points and rewards on your regular shopping selections. It cuts out the hassle of coupon clipping and removes the stress of shopping around for the best deal in town. Not only do you save money but you also save time which is always a great thing. You can learn more about this awesome app here. It’s definitely worth looking into.
Another great app you can use is Ibotta. I love being able to get cashback on the items I was going to purchase anyway! With Ibotta, all you have to do is add the items you’ll be purchasing to your Ibotta “cart”, go purchase the items, and then upload your receipt to get the rewards. Once you reach $20, you can cash out. It’s really that simple.
What do you do to actively maintain your household’s grocery budget? What are your favorite stores to shop at?
My Favorite Resources
Ebates – This is my favorite and easiest way to earn cashback for regular online shopping. Ebates partners with most online retailers to help you apply coupons to your purchases AND cashback. They pay me a nice check every quarter with my earnings.
CapitalOne 360 – My favorite high-yield online savings account. Earn $25 when you open an account.
Survey Junkie – Earn money taking surveys online
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About Choncé
Chonce is a personal finance blogger and freelance writer who enjoys sharing debt stories (as she and her husband work their way out of $40,000 in debt) along with talking about saving, budgeting, conscious spending and improving your financial house. In her spare time,she enjoys working out, playing sports with her son, cooking, and thrifting.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Food is a hot topic button in the PF world and very personal. I have trouble maintaining a 320 budget just for ME! I won’t even go into it, and I certainly can’t comment on yours. I think if you feel you are doing your best with eating and feeding your family, then I think it’s great! 🙂
Chonce says
I agree, as long as you’re controlling your budget in all aspects instead of letting it control you, you’re doing a great job.
Kirsten says
I have learned that it is SO location dependent. We are in a very expensive area, and no matter how hard I try to trim, I always go over $200 a week for us (which includes things like diapers and toiletries). My husband was recently in another state, which supposedly has a higher cost of living. I had him price a list fo 10 things from Walmart, because it was the one store in common between our location and his visiting area. Turned out that everything was the same, except for a couple of things that were more expensive HERE. We just cannot win. One thing that does help is for me to not take the small kids with me. I can spend more time making sure I am picking out the cheapest things.
Chonce says
Food costs can definitely vary from state to state and even various different cities. Our food budget includes strictly food; groceries and food for work lunches to be specific. Household items and toiletries are budgeted separately and we may spend $40-50 depending on the month.
Kids can ask for a ton of stuff in the store and it can really through your list off. I usually grab my son an apple or a donut to snack on when he comes grocery shopping with me as it keeps him busy and satisfied. It’s totally worth the 75 cents or whatever it is. I imagine my grocery budget will increase as my son gets older and things change, but for now I’m enjoying the low spending.
Leslie R says
When we were buying diapers, I bit the bullet and signed up for Amazon prime. I paid $35/month for a case of diapers that were drop shipped from Amazon and then the annual prime membership. You can change the size if your child moves up, just as long as you do it before it ships. SO easy.
To put it in perspective, when my now 14 year old was in diapers, I paid $20 a week at Walmart or $90/month. 12 years later, I was spending less than half of that.
Chonce says
We have Amazon Prime too and I really like it. Shopping online can help you save a lot of money.
Sarah says
That’s impressive. Snacks and drinks eat up a large part of our budget. I cannot function without a cup of coffee in the morning and both my husband and I are large soda drinkers. We’re trying to give up the soda and drink more water, but it is hard to kick a 10+ year habit. I bundle household expenses with groceries (diapers, pull ups, wipes, cleaning supplies, etc.) but I wonder if I factor those out if my actual “grocery/food” portion of our monthly spending would be significantly smaller.
Chonce says
It might be smaller but if the way you budget it out works for you I would stick with it. Then again, when you try something new you might surprise yourself. A lot of people bundle all household expenses together and it seems to work for them but for me, I would just get confused and probably overspend on something. It’s just a mental thing for me. Soda is cheap, but it’s really not good for you. Maybe you guys can try some sparkling water or 0 calorie water to gradually steer away from it. I absolutely love this brand of flavored carbonated water at Sams Club and it’s called Sparkling ICE http://www.sparklingice.com/.
I use coupons and eat as fresh as possible and found that I get so much more for my money. Also cooking meals with 3 or less ingredients also helps a lot. Trust me I can’t wait to reach my financial goals so I can splurge a little more in the grocery store. I don’t care what other people think….I’m going to splurge with out guilt.
Chonce says
Cooking meals with 3 or less ingredients is a good idea but I honestly don’t think I could do it all the time but it’s simple and probably makes the cooking process less tedious. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with splurging on good food every once in a while. I used to buy $20 packages of snow crab legs and that was my guilty pleasure before I started cutting back a bit. We still ‘splurge’ on less expensive snacks and foods we wouldn’t normally eat but I will definitely appreciate it more when I do purchase some crab legs for the gumbo I plan to make in August 🙂
prudencedebtfree says
When I read that you spend half of what we do on groceries, I thought, “What am I missing?” But then I saw the prices you are paying. Butter for .75 cents? How much butter for that little? Canada is just more expensive when it comes to groceries : ( But your advice is stellar and still applies. Preparing snacks is something I could improve on. The problem with snacks around here is that once they’re made, they disappear really quickly. Hmmmm…. Any advice for that?
Chonce says
I had no idea you were in Canada 🙂 from what I hear it is more expensive but we’ve got our expensive stores out here as well. I get 4 sticks of butter for that much and I usually stock up and freeze some of it from time to time. I could easily spend $3 $4 or $5 on a tub of butter but I like the way I do it better because we have just enough and a ton of butter isn’t good for you any way. When I bake, snacks go fast in our house too but I just let it go because I’d rather us eat a pan on brownies in a few days then let it sit and go to waste for a longer time.
hollyatclubthrifty says
I’m a Kroger shopper~ We eat a lot of the same things all the time. It definitely helps us save because I can keep the same ingredients on hand without wasting them.
Chonce says
We just got a Kroger last year I think but it’s about 40+ minutes away from me so we haven’t been there yet. I love trying out new stores though, it’s a little guilty pleasure of mine.
believeinabudget says
When did apples get to be so expensive? They used to be my go-to fruit snack, but I switched to grapes and watermelon to save money, depending on the season. That’s funny your go-to splurge is crab legs – mine is the jumbo size shrimp. It’s too expensive to get all the time, so when I have some extra money I get it, ha!
Chonce says
I know right. Grapes can be a little pricey where I live, but we love watermelon in the summer. Seafood is my absolute favorite but it’s so expensive so I try to treat myself every now and then.
We go to two different stores to make sure we get the best deals, and we go every weekend. I HATE going grocery shopping and honestly am happy my wife is so organized so that we can get in and out as quickly as possible.
Chonce says
I’m not a big fan of actually doing the shopping, but I do like planning the trips and finding good deals. I shop during weekends as well mostly and I really don’t like it. Way too many people, but I have no other time.
Great tips Chonce! I keep my grocery spending at $120 and I don’t have to pay for much meat, except chicken. That really helps keep my grocery spending down.
Chonce says
That’s great! Meat can be really costly and I’ve been looking into creating more dishes that don’t include meat just as an experiment.
I only recently started looking in the food section of Target. I was amazed too at the cheap pizza prices! They were comparable, and sometimes even less, than Walmart. Down where I live now, Winn-Dixie has great sales and they’re close by, so it’s my go-to store. Plus, they do those fuel perks, so that’s another plus. I would LOVE to get our grocery bill down to $300/month. Right now, I’m embarrassed to say that for 3 people, we spend over $800. It’s ridiculous, and you’re right, it’s the snacks that really get ya. Thanks for the inspiration! I’m going to tell the hubby that Chonce only spends $300, and we can too! 🙂
Chonce says
I bet food cost more where you’re at too though. I couldn’t believe it when I started checking out the food in Target. They have some great prices and I agree, a lot of their stuff is priced better than Walmart and they have better brands than Walmart as well.