The One Trick That Saves Me Hundreds on My Grocery Bill

Did you know that the average American family of four spends between $150 and $250 a week on groceries?  This does not include eating out at restaurants or money spent on household items like toilet paper, shampoo, etc.  SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) bases their aid value on the estimate of $146 a week for healthy meals for a family of 4.

 

There are also regional differences to consider (such as the high cost of living in many cities in the Northeast or the difficulty of accessing healthy, local food in parts of the South, such as rural Mississippi).  And, you can certainly spend more if you try to purchase mainly local, organic, whole foods.

 

With all of that said, many families would like to lower their grocery bill and find ways to cut costs at the grocery store.

 

I am not a extreme couponing queen nor a frugality whiz (if you search on Pinterest, you will find people who can feed their families for around $30 a week!), but I have been the main budgeter, planner, and shopper of our family for the past 7 years.  During those 7 years my husband and I have been blessed with three kids and had a grocery budget that ranged from $40 a week to our current $70 a week.

 

How  do we do it?  Planning.  More specifically, menu planning–with one little trick at the end.

 

 

What is Menu Planning?

At its simplest, menu planning is know what you will be eating and buying the food to fit that plan.  There are dozens of methods (just Google it!) and even companies that you can pay to do it for you.

 

I’ve found that, for me, the simpler the better.  If something takes a lot of time, requires special tools, or has a steep learning curve, I tend not to do it.  (Maybe I’m just too lazy?)  🙂

 

Instead I have used this incredibly simple menu planning process to save thousands at the grocery store.  Here it is, step by step:

 

One quick side note:  Much of what I learned about menu planning and reducing my grocery budget is thanks to Crystal Paine’s audiocourse Grocery University.  If you are serious about saving money at the grocery store, I highly recommend it!

 

My Menu Planning Method

1. Set a Budget

If you don’t know how much you want to spend, chances are you will end up spending more than you want.  So, decide on a weekly amount that fits your particular family situation.

 

If you are brand-new to budgeting, you may want to save receipts for a month and see what your typical weekly grocery bill looks like.  Are you happy with it?  Are there areas you could scale back?  Does one particular store tend to be more expensive?

 

If you are married, make sure that you and your spouse agree on your grocery budget.  Nothing kills a budget faster than marital discord.  (You can check out my post on The Budget Tracker: How a Piece of Paper Helps My Marriage for more ideas.)

 

2. Look at Your Pantry

Now that you know how much you can spend on this week’s groceries, take stock of what you already have.  Do you have canned goods in the pantry?  Pasta?  Spaghetti sauce?  Is there meat in the freezer?  Do you still have leftovers in the refrigerator?

 

Use this as your starting point.  If I have pasta, sauce, and meat already on hand, I will go ahead and schedule a spaghetti night for one meal.  Then I will just need to buy some type of vegetable or salad to round out the meal.

 

Don’t forget to look at your baking staples, too.  Do you have flour, sugar, etc.?  Maybe you’ll have breakfast for dinner one night and make pancakes and eggs.  Just buy some fruit to serve as a side and you’re all set.

 

3. Check the Sales

Next, you’ll want to see what items are on sale at your local grocery store, or what is in season at your farmer’s market.  Most grocery stores now have their weekly circulars online, so you can easily take a few minutes to see if there are any great sales.

 

Also, knowing what produce is in season and purchasing that at your local farmer’s market can be a cost-cutting measure.  I go to our farmer’s market each week and spend a few minutes talking with the farmers.  For example, one week they told me that new potatoes, peaches, and sugar peas would be ready soon.  So, I added those into my meal plan.

 

(As a side note, I’ve found that the smaller the farmer’s market, the lower the prices tend to be.  There is a very large and justifiably famous market in a nearby town, but there prices are incredibly high!  However, we have a tiny market–around 6-8 vendors–less than five miles away.  One week I got 2 tomatoes, 3 zucchini, 3 cucumbers, and 1 squash all for less than $5.)

 

4. Make Your Menu

Once you know how much you can spend, what you already have, and what will be inexpensive this week, it’s time to make your menu.  I take a very simple approach to this part of the process.

 

Each week I divide a piece of paper into three parts:  breakfasts, lunches, suppers.  I don’t generally schedule specific breakfasts or lunches for each day.  I just write down a list of possible meals.

For example:

 

Breakfasts

Cereal and milk

Oatmeal with raisins

Eggs and toast

 

Lunches

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches

Grilled cheese

Leftovers

Soup

Yogurt and fruit

 

However, I do plan each dinner carefully.  I make sure to have a main dish with protein and then 2 vegetables or fruits.  For example:

 

 

Monday’s Dinner: Homemade Pizza (with chicken, green peppers, and onion topping) Salad Apple Slices

I also try to think about our schedule as I’m planning meals.  Are we going to be rushed one night?  I’ll make sure to plan a crock pot dinner so that I don’t have to spend time in the kitchen. Or I’ll use one of my 8 Frugal Meals for When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking.

 

 

5. Make Your Grocery List

I make my list on the same paper that I use for my menu.  I just write the ingredients that I need on the right side of the paper where I can easily see it when I am at the grocery store.  In the scenario below, I already have baking ingredients, spaghetti sauce, shredded chicken in the freezer, and onions on hand.

 

 

 

Monday’s Dinner	Items to Buy
Homemade Pizza (with chicken, peppers, onions)	-Mozarella Cheese -One Green Pepper
Salad	-Lettuce
Sliced Apples	-Bag of Apples

 

6. Estimate Costs

This final step is perhaps the most important one in menu planning. (Here’s my biggest trick!  This is how I save hundreds of dollars a year on my grocery budget!) You can have a great menu planned out, but is it within your budget?  How can you tell?

 

This is where estimating the cost of each item on your grocery list come in.  I write down the estimated cost of each item right next to it.

 

Monday’s Dinner	Items to Buy
Homemade Pizza (with chicken, peppers, onions)	-Mozarella Cheese ($2.50) -One Green Pepper ($.75)
Salad	-Lettuce ($2.00)
Sliced Apples and Pears	-Bag of Apples ($3.00)

 

 

After I plan all meals, I will add up my estimated total.  If I am over our budgeted amount, I go back and change something.

 

This additional step adds a little time at first, but it soon becomes second nature.  It also forces me to pay close attention to the prices of all items that I frequently buy.  Because I know the exact price of eggs at my store at the moment ($2.50 for a dozen), I can create a menu plan that fits our budget exactly.

 

And, that’s it!  All together, this process takes less than an hour, but it saves us hundreds of dollars a year.  We are able to feed our family of 5 healthy meals for substantially less than the average American household–all thanks to menu planning.

 

If you’re looking for more tips and tricks when it comes to your grocery budget, I highly recommend Grocery University by the Money Saving Mom.  This amazing audio course  is available for less than $10 and will help you reduce your budget by up to 50%!  The course contains over two and a half hours of audio material, a 40-page workbook, and a PDF file of rock bottom prices.  You’ll make your money back in savings just in the first week!
Do you do a form of menu planning?  What works for you?

 

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(Linked to Thrifty Thursday.)