Maybe you and your spouse just bought a house or an apartment and a additional car loan or two on top of that and just want to save on food to have more playroom with your money. Or your want to have the vacation that you dreamed about for many years now and want to lower your food costs for that reason. The reason could also be a layoff, which is not unusual in these times and therefor you want to save on food spending.
What ever reason you have to save on food costs in this article we will show an example of a $50 a week budget on how to prepare three meals a day for two adults the entire week.
You can grocery shop for $50 a week for two adults if you are on a very strict budget, you are not hungry when grocery shopping, look for bulk or whole sales, plan your meals and going to the grocery store just once a week. One crucial thing is you should need to plan the menu ahead for the whole week to stay in the $50 budget. If you follow these steps you can manage to stay on budget
If you have been used to cook and eat meals and not think about the price before, then starting to make food on a budget will take planning and practice. Here are a few useful things that low price hunters use when they are shopping for groceries.
Make a weekly budget and stick to it
One way to make your weekly grocery budget is that you save the receipts for a month, adding it all together and then dividing the sum with four. This sum is what you are spending now for a weeks worth of groceries.
If you are far away from the $50 a week you can start with cutting the spending with 10% a week until you are down to $50 for a week. If you were around $100 before it can be a small chock to cut it to $50 straight.
The idea with this is to set a goal for your weekly spending, it don’t need to be exactly $50, it may vary depending on your personal situation or maybe where you live too. After you found your goal then stick to it.
When going to the grocery store for your weekly shopping remember to bring only that amount of money that you set your goal on. And be sure to leave the credit cards at home, with a $5000 limit in your pocket you not really have the right mindset of saving money on groceries.
One way of saving on your grocery shopping is by clicking the link under here and you can get a months worth of groceries without paying anything.
Plan The Menu For The Whole Week
This should need to be done before you do the budget, just sit down maybe with your spouse and plan the meals for the whole week ahead. Planning for the whole week can first feel somewhat out of the ordinary, for example, Sunday night you have to plan the whole week all to next weeks Sunday. Things doesn’t feel right at the beginning but you get used to it.
Having the menu planned for the whole week also gives some sort of release, you don’t have to think every time when about to cook a meal what to do now or this time. So it’s actually easier to do it this way and saves time too.
The menu don’t need to be exactly down to every ingredient in every meal what you plan to make the whole week, you just decide what meal or dinner to cook on what day. Ingredients may vary and you can use what you find and it’s always nice to change ingredients a little to discover new flavors.
Start Shopping Store Brands
Often we think when going grocery shopping that I have to have the brand I have always used, and my parents used the same brand too when I was a kid. Next time you go grocery shopping take a minute to check prices for store brands and name brands and you will be amazed how big of a difference it can, considering the fact that almost always they are manufactured in the same factory too.
This is just a habit that can be hard to change and start using store brands instead of name brands. When store brands go on sale then they are really cheap and it’s hard to find anything like it.
Beware Of The Food Wast
According to study’s about 40% of food is thrown away in the United States. Already here you have the potential of saving 40% of your weekly grocery budget right away. This just by being aware of what you really need. This is why it’s so important to have a budget and a menu and stick to it all week.
After some time when you have been practicing this for a while you will notice more and more ways and where you can save on groceries.
Another big reason why food gets thrown away is when it goes bad. After finished eating immediately save leftovers in the freezer if there are any, and place them in the freezer or the fridge that way so you see them every time you open the freezer or the fridge. This way you won’t forget you have them there.
Shop With coupons
You are not going to get turned in to an old lady with a scarf around her head and her hands full of coupons running down the grocery store aisle shouting, these days you can get the coupons straight in to your smart phone where you can have them organized in a good way.
Coupons can also be printed at home, so you don’t need to buy the Sunday paper too, that’s another saving right there.
What Grocery Stores To Shop In
If you are used to do most of your shopping in the small convenience around the corner you will be able to save a whole lot of money just by choosing a grocery store or a supermarket, or a bargain store like Aldi. Just check before going after those on sale prices if the store requires you to have their card or not to get the discounted price they are offering.
According to studies prices can vary from the most inexpensive to the most expensive with up to 20% in a local area, so it can be wise to study and compare prices before doing the weekly shopping.
Try Avoiding To Eat Out
Going to restaurants and eating out is not really possible with a budget of just $50 a week, so it you want to stick to your goal to save on groceries you may want to avoid going to restaurants.
With your new skills of finding bargains and where to shop for the most inexpensive prices you could invite a bunch of friends for dinner and a bottle or wine of a fraction of the cost of going to the restaurant to eat.
Final Thoughts
These steps and advice should get you around $50 a week, this article doesn’t mean that you have to be at exactly $50 or under or trying to go as low as you can. No one want’s to live like this for extended periods of time, life must be fun too. With the help of this article you should be able to decrease your spending on food so that you can set away money for other things you want to do in your life.