Buying Groceries on a Budget: How to Determine a Budget

This past month, I spent a lot of time preparing to teach a class about “Buying Groceries on a Budget.” I received many comments from those who attended about how informative it was. So over the next few months, I will be posting a series of articles on this topic to hopefully encourage and help all of you too. This week, we will begin with how to figure a grocery budget for your family.

Determining a grocery budget will save you money and frustration. Without a budget, all of the work you do to find deals and clip coupons will NOT save you money. You might be purchasing a lot of amazing deals out there, but in fact, you might be spending more money in an effort to save money.  Rather than spending money freely, a budget controls your spending. Here are some simple steps to take on how to determine your grocery budget.

1)Evaluate Your Spending
First, look at what you have spent on groceries over the last four weeks and take an average. Eventually, you are going to cut down your budget, but don’t cut it in half right now.

2)Be Realistic
Don’t place excessive pressure on yourself by coming up with some extremely low figure for your grocery budget. Set realistic expectations so you won’t get discouraged and give up. You want to be able to persevere and see the long-lasting benefits.

3)Pay Attention to How Much You Waste
Are you throwing away more than you are eating? If you are, then you are throwing away money. Try cutting back on those food items you are throwing away or find a creative way to use them.

4)Slowly Lower Your Budget
It takes time and practice to reduce your original grocery budget fairly significantly. You are not going to cut your grocery bill in half this month. However, slowly challenge yourself to slowly start cutting 5% here and 5% there from your grocery budget. Within 8-10 months, it’s possible to have lowered it by 30-50% or more.

5)Try a Cash-Only Budget
It is easy to justify over spending when you are using a debit or credit card. With each paycheck, take out the amount of cash you will need for the month to buy groceries, and place it in an envelope. Then calculate how much you can use each week. Paying with cash forces you to stick to your budget and you’ll quickly see how easy it is to overspend. You will be more likely to carefully evaluate every purchase or great deal you find, and you’ll begin to ask yourself, “Is this in the budget?” and “Do I need this?”

A good rule of trying to determine a budget for your family is about $100 per person per month. Our family of five has a grocery budget of $400 a month. I usually only spend about $300 a month at the grocery store, and with the rest of the money, I use it when there are case lot sales or to pick up bulk items at Sam’s Club or Costco when the sales don’t come around soon enough. If you have teenagers or family members who have food allergies, your budget will probably need to be more. Remember that each family is different, so determine a budget that will work for your family.

Other Posts in the Buying Groceries on a Budget Series:

• Buying Groceries on a Budget: How to Determine a Budget
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Couponing Misconceptions
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Where to Find Coupons
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Organizing Coupons
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Find Sales & Stack Coupons
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Valuable Tips to Prepare for the Shopping Trip
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Tips During the Shopping Trip
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: 8 Additional Tips When Shopping at the Grocery Store
• Buying Groceries on a Budget: Organization & Patience