Do you also land in the category of those people whose budget seems out of the control most of the time? If NO then great, but if YES then consider that the luck is on your side and you don’t have to worry about anything anymore because in this article we have mentioned some of the easiest ways which can help you to control your budget easily. So with the help of these easy ways you can save some extra money on your groceries, so you will have more money to spend on the other things.
So simply stick to us and we will show you the ways through which you will be able to save money on your groceries.
1 Use What You Have
Before you step ahead and start planning about what you are going to buy just take a look on the things that what you already have. If you have a freezer which is already full of meat or a cupboard which is full of the good items then you should use some of that up first before you go for shopping to buy some more.
2 Plan Your Meal
Planning meal is something, which I have started doing since past few weeks, and it has actually made a HUGE difference in my shopping routine. Usually on Saturdays, I try to plan my meals, after that I consider Sunday as a shopping day and then I start planning my meal on Monday. These free printed copies makes it even easier. I completely know what I will exactly need, which in return will help myself from buying a lot of extra food, have on hand “just in case”. By this way, I also don’t have to make a lot of extra trips to the grocery stores all around the week since the day I have stopped planning things at the last minute.
3 Make An Inventory Before You Shop
This is actually more than just taking a look on how much wine you have left behind! I have started doing this a while ago and obviously, it makes a difference, and especially when it is about impermanent like produce. Most of the time I would get to the store and I literally wouldn’t have any idea what fruits & veggies I had left in my fridge. At home and then when I would go back home and when all of that food gets thrown away and money is wasted, I realized that I already had plenty of food at home.
So it’s better to make an inventory before you shop so that you will be aware of what you have in stock at your home and what you need to buy, this will make your grocery shopping pretty much easier for you.
4 Make A Budget
You might not believe it that I have never did this until last few days when me friend and me had talked about budgeting for groceries but then I had to go to the store and get whatever looked good. Most of the time I didn’t even know exactly that how much I already had spent. I started budgeting and still I sometimes go over, honestly speaking I am so much scrupulous about how much I spend. And now at this moment of time since I have started budgeting I am actually less like to put those unnecessary items in my cart.
5 Create A List
Create a list & stick to it! Since the time I have been planning my meals I actually know that what I will need to actually have on my hand for dinner each night. Also I keep a pen and a paper in my kitchen on counter and on that paper I write up things as they come up in my mind. I really cannot tell you that how much this has made my life easier!
Since I have started making grocery list, I no longer get to the store and spend time in wondering that what I’m forgetting and it prevents me from making those return trips throughout the week.
6 Shop Once A Week
The another thing which I have started when I began planning meal and following a budget is shopping once a week and trust me that it is actually AWESOME!!! I really couldn’t understand that why in the world I waited so long to do this? Because I have been trying since ages to plan my shopping when my best friend stays at home to take care of the kids and make one big trip and not to go again until the following week. As compared to before, now I spend so much less now because that time I had to stop several times in a week just to buy one thing and I end up spending $30 at least. As of my experience I would highly recommend you guys to follow this tip!!
7 Take A Look On The Sales Ad
Frankly speaking, I don’t spend so much of time on this but the thing I surely do is that I check out those sales ads which comes in newspaper, but sometimes there are amazing deals which I might not have noticed at the grocery stores. Just keep in mind to not to buy those things just because of the reason that they are on sale or there would be no point of having a grocery budget. Like if you are the only one in your family who loves to eat melons, then an amazing deals on whole melon won’t be much good for you.
So keep in mind that don’t just buy things because they are on sale!
So this was the list of some those easiest ways which will surely help you to control your grocery budget and it will help you to save some more money and time, also please check out free food & drinks section. At the end we would only say that we would love to hear from you all, so don’t hesitate to drop a comment below and share your experiences with us and also let us know that which one of the above mentioned ways you have tried out and how much you’ve saved on your next grocery shopping. If you also want to save on your energy bills click here.