If you only had $300 a month to devote on food for a family of four, could you do it? What types of grocery items would you still buy and what would your family simply just have to learn to live without ?
So just how much do you think you could save on food ? How about $50 or $100? Possibly you could cut your bill by close to 50% if you take to heart some of the following approaches :
The first thing you will need to accomplish is to split your grocery budget into 3 categories ; weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. After you’ve done that, try to come up with a way to make it work . If you budgeted too tight, only then consider how much more you really need to spend .
Second, identify your WEEKLY needs ; milk, bread, fruits . These will be your saving graces when the troops are hungry . Stock up on these foods every week so as to make sure that you always have a healthy snack ready . This should run you about $15/week .
Thirdly, determine what your family consumes in a 2 week time period ; eggs, cheese, vegetables, meat and cheese for sandwiches etc. Try maybe $20 or $30 every two weeks. Go for leaner cuts of meat like chicken and prok as they are generally cheaper than beef.
Fourth, get the rest of your food items at one store . Only bring enough cash to pay fot items listed (to avoid the desire of over spending) and create a grocery list before leaving for the store . You only need to do this once as many of the items (Cereal, meat etc.) are going to be purchased at regular recurring intervals . Other items (sugar, flour etc.) may be exchanged every other month. In this example you have $200 left.
Fifth, come up with an idea of different dinner dishes you can rotate . Cheap, healthy meals like stir fry can be cost effective as they use less meat than full pieces of chicken or beef for dinner . Plan to have a meat meal offset by a simpler dish like pasta every other night. By doing this you will accomplish two things. first you’ll have a better meal variety and secondly, you won’t use up all the good dinner ideas the first week leavinf you family complaining the second week as you feed them hamburger helper every night .
Another obvious thing that will help you lower your grocery costs but in worth mentioning is to always be on the hunt for kroger coupons .
In conclusion. the $300 suggestion will depend on a number of factors like the size of your family , the age of your children and how much your budget exactly allows. Whatever your money situation , taking the time to create a strategy and thinking about your choices will guarantee that you keep more cash in your wallet for other important things.
If your interested their is a website that is offering $250 in kroger coupons . I recommend you check it out .
Enjoy!