We have each implemented some budgeting strategies that meet the needs of our family. Who wants to reinvent the wheel right? Let’s share the wealth! We hope to grow our list of tips for budgeting our groceries with help from you! Comment below with what is working for you and help us create a community of like-minded people trying to help each other out. If you send us a budgeting tip we will add it to our running list. We hope as you look through this list you will find some new strategies to positively impact your family grocery budget.
General Budgeting Tips
- Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan – I save a lot more $$ when I buy food for the upcoming week or two. If you’re not an email subscriber, this is a great time to sign up, because we only send our handy meal plans and weekly prep lists to our email subscribers!
- Try to meal plan to use all ingredients in recipes. I don’t like it when I have a can of opened chicken broth or enchilada sauce that I don’t end up using, so I try to plan on using it soon or I will adjust the recipe to be able to use it all.
- In the Summer-time have a list of foods your kids would like to eat. Have it include snacks and desserts. Take a screenshot of the list so you remember what your kids like and don’t like so you aren’t buying the wrong kind of ice cream or frozen pizza that nobody will eat! Busy moms forget!
- Use the Walmart app for buying groceries! This helps you not buy unnecessary items that you tend to throw in your cart just because as you walk down the aisles. You can also see exactly what your total is as you add each item to your cart. No more surprises when getting up to the register!
- Track your current spending. My bank offers a service free online that does this automatically so I can see patterns over the years and know that I spend more in the summer months as an example. The more information you have the better you can prepare.
- Try to have one meatless meal a week. Meat is often times the most expensive part of the grocery bill.
HOLIDAY MEALS BUDGETING TIPS
The holidays oftentimes, sneak up on us, and all of a sudden we are not prepared. We have found that if you prepare a little in advance you can be ready for the holidays without breaking the bank! So please tell us what you have done to stay within budget while still enjoying the holiday season!
- Start saving $15 a week starting the second week of September, and by Thanksgiving week you’ll have $165 set aside to split between Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. This will keep you from using your credit card or dipping into savings when you don’t have to. This is easy to achieve, it just means 1 less lunch you eat out per week. Or 1-2 less “impulse buys” at the grocery store.
- If your budget is super tight and you don’t see where an extra $15 will come from each week, try couponing and using grocery store apps. With enough planning ahead paired with mindful shopping, this is a very attainable savings goal.
- PRO TIP: The more people you invite to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, the less you actually have to prepare and pay for yourself. People are always happy to bring a couple of dishes to holiday meals. They usually have family favorite recipes that they would love to contribute to the meal.
- Try to make ahead and freeze certain holiday items. My mom would make gingerbread houses in November and freeze them until December when we would assemble and decorate them. She would also make cookies and bars and freeze them so when holiday parties would come along, she already had a plate of goodies ready to go! From my experience, it’s best to make these while kids are at school and then put them in the deep freeze so they don’t get discovered and eaten before the season!! My mom was a good hider and had great will power – me, not so much!
- Start buying some of those classic holiday canned food items a couple of cans at a time, such as Pumpkin Pie filling, a few months before the holidays hit. That way you are not having to buy everything that you need all at once.
What Budgeting Tips Did We Miss?
We’d love to keep the list going with awesome tried and true ideas! If you have a tip, share it in the comments, and then we’ll publish it on the page!