Groceries It Is!

Thank you to everyone who voted!  Well, it certainly looks like groceries is the top area in which people want to save more money.  This is great, because this is my favorite place to cut costs.  In my opinion, it is one of the easiest too!  Starting now, I will begin a series of cost-cutting ideas along with yummy recipes that are cheap, easy, and nutritious.  Since health and beauty also received some votes, I will go ahead and throw in some tips on money saving techniques there too.  After all, you do find some of that stuff in the grocery store!

Let me start out with a disclaimer:  I do not like coupons.  They work for some people, and that is excellent.  I have tried them numerous times and always feel like I wind up spending too much on stuff I didn't really need in the first place.  Even if I did achieve some savings, I find it to be inconsistent.  I like saving money all the time, not just when I can find a coupon to do so.  If you are a coupon lover and are looking for ways to maximize your coupon usage, I strongly suggest Mavis' blog 100 Dollars a Month.  She is a coupon master.  I have so much respect for her abilities and I frequently read her blog in awe.  Please visit her even if you aren't currently a coupon user.  You may learn a lot to help you in your frugal journey!

Some of my tips may seem pretty obvious, and some may be new to you.  These are things that have worked for my family and myself.  This is not to say they will work for everyone, so please take whatever information helps you out the most.  I plan on tackling every grocery area I can think of, from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to baby food to pet food.  I encourage people to leave feedback, ask questions or give any tips you may have.  I am always looking for more ways to save money, and I'm sure it would help out other readers as well!

Okay, let's start from the beginning.  You have to have a goal to shoot for.  Look at how much you spend a week on groceries.  If you don't know how much you spend on groceries, you need to find out or you will never be able to chop that number down.   Now decide how much you would like to spend.  Be realistic.  My family consists of two adults, one preschooler, and one infant on solid foods.  My goal is between $13 and $15 per person per week (which equals $50 to $60 per week or $200 to $250 per month total).  This may seem crazy to some of you, but it is more than possible.  I am always aiming for $10 per person per week, but I am still working on that.

Once you have an idea of how much your initial goal should be (I say initial because it never hurts to always strive for better goals in the future), look at what you buy and start cutting the obvious things that you know you don't really need.  Examples are soda, coffee, ice cream, alcohol, protein shakes, candy, potato chips, and many many more.  Try to strip your budget down to the bare minimum of what you need to survive.  Things to not cut out would be vegetables.  You can never have enough vegetables.  Try creating your grocery list with the mindset that you don't need junk.  Yes, junk is nice.  But later I will tell you how to cheaply curb those cravings.
After you've skinned your list to the minimum, add back in a few items that you really would like to have.  If you have a sweet tooth, this may be ice cream.  Salt lover?  Then add those chips back in.  Celebrating a promotion?  Add the wine back to the list.  The idea here is that you don't need it all but you don't want to live in constant sacrifice.  When someone feels like everyday is a fight to give up what they love, then it will not last in the long run.  So pick a few and add them.  If you have a hard time cutting an item that you really think you should cut, just remind yourself of how much you spend on that item per year and think of the things you could buy with that money.  It makes it easier to decide to cut that product.  Being frugal is all about prioritizing.

Try not to get too overwhelmed.  The idea is to change your lifestyle, not feel like you are poor and wallow in self-pity.  You do not need to cut $100 on your first week.  Even if you can cut $10, that is $520 a year.  So think in baby steps.  It will get easier as time goes on.

Tomorrow I will start to tackle specific ways to cut costs on your groceries.  For now, just start thinking about your budget and come up with some obvious things to chop off the list.  You would be amazed at how much you will save by just subtracting one or two items per week.  While you are at it, go ahead and share with us what you decided to cut or what you would like your new budgeted goal to be.  Sometimes it helps to hold you accountable when you make it public.  So please share!