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Need help budgeting my grocery bill!



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noosheen




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 03 2015, 5:29 am
I know this topic has been talked about before but bare with me please.

I definitely spend too much on groceries/food. Hardly buy take out. But I don't really have a system to shopping for essentials and Shabbos food shopping and how to organize my week so I'm not scrambling for last minute food items on friday and paying too much. I like to buy some healthy items I.e. Organic spices, healthy cereal, grape seed oil, and went yesterday and purchased them but eating healthy is sooooo expensive!
Do you conscious shoppers ever buy an impulse product? Plastic goods?
What am I doing wrong? I need a good system in place!
Truth is one of my children moved back home in the summer and food bill is higher since then. Any advice?
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Teomima




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 03 2015, 6:06 am
It's possible to eat healthy and affordably. The secret is to buy bulk and buy as unprocessed as possible. For example, instead of buying healthy cereal, buy natural rolled oats from the bulk bin and make your own granola. For spices often doing something as simple as grinding your own can help a lot, since jarred, ground spices tend to be overpriced.

As a general note, lots of people spend way too much on meat/poultry/fish. With a balanced diet of whole grains, fresh veggies, legumes, etc, all of which can be bought on the cheap, there's no reason to spend money on unnecessary midweek animal protein.

Try keeping a family food diary for a week, see where things go, and where you can cut down.
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33055




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 03 2015, 6:51 am
I use "Color Notes" which is an app and I enter an item whenever I am running low. I then can pick it up when I am near a store that sells it cheapest.

Buy in bulk for non perishables. I stocked up on Meat before Pesach and filled up my freezers with cases of chicken and beef. I buy disposables in bulk also. Metal trays are around a penny.

Buy in the cheapest store. I buy my produce from non Jewish stores. It is cheaper and better quality. I buy healthy food items like non hydrogenated shortening from national health stores. It is about 25% cheaper regularly and almost 40% on sale. I buy my rice, beans and non ground spices from ethnic stores. I buy eggs and kosher specialty items from the Jewish stores in town.
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underthestars




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 03 2015, 11:48 am
It also helps if you have a menu plan for the week so you know what you are serving, and don't buy unnecessarily. I usually make up a menu plan (dinners and lunches) for the week motzei shabbos so when I go to the market, I know what I need to buy, and that cuts back on impulse shopping as well. Buying in Bulk for non perishables is great, and helps lower costs, and if you can think ahead, so if you know you will need something and you see it on sale now (and will need it next week-ie-running low on foil, etc), it is helpful to purchase.

I usually know what things cost and where they are sold for the cheapest prices around me, and so if I am somewhere and see it for a different price, I KNOW that is a good price.

Healthy eating could mean just substituting more fresh veggies and salads and less meat/ckn etc, but one has to think and plan it more. There are a lot of recipes that you can make for your family that kids will actually like AND won't "break the bank", but it will take some time to research and commit to organizing a shopping list and cooking those meals. I try at least 1 or 2 times every 2 weeks to make something "out of the box" which is healthy and not my usual daily meals, w/o spending more then a few dollars per meal (my usual on my budget).

Good luck and I hope this helped some....
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mummiedearest




 
 
    
 

Post Tue, Nov 03 2015, 5:22 pm
make up a precise menu plan for the week before shopping. note how many of each fruit/veggie you buy and check a week later to see what's left. keep notes to figure out how many of each kind of produce you are likely to use per week. the biggest grocery loss in my experience is fresh produce that doesn't get eaten.

once you know your produce habits and your proposed menu for the week, make a grocery list based on your menu and what you actually have in the house. don't buy extra. if you like to cook for the freezer, add one dish a week to the menu for bulk cooking. the ingredients for that should be added to your grocery list.

I find that ordering groceries saves me money. I'm not tempted by things I see in the store if I don't go to the store. if your local grocery store posts its weekly sales online, check the listings before planning your menu.

make note of how many leftovers you throw out per week. if you throw out a lot, you either cook too much variety, too many servings, or need to learn to freeze leftovers on time.
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