Today on Facebook I shared my $100 per week grocery budget shopping tips!
Feel free to watch the whole video for details - lots of extra helpful hints in there! - but if you're in a hurry, the basics of the tips are listed below the video:
1. Only shop one day each week: If we run out of something (or forget to buy something), we just do without until the next shopping day.
2. Shop with a calculator and set a firm budget: I add up as I go using the calculator on my mobile phone and then at the end of each aisle I screen shot my calculator so I don't lose the total in case I press a random button and lose track. To keep to the budget, the first few weeks I used cash only - no debit card. Otherwise I would just go over budget and put it on my card. With cash, I had no choice but to put excess items back.
3. Develop a pattern that leads to less waste (which leads to less buying): We eat salads at the start of the week, and we have frozen veggies for the end of the week. I make soups mid week for my lunch and freeze portions, using the fresh veggies that are about to get too wilted for salads.
4. Use the last dollar (or dollars): If we come in at $98 instead of $100, I'll go back around and buy a can of diced tomatoes and a 99 cent dishwashing liquid and stockpile them, so in the future, I have them available if our budget is even tighter unexpectedly. I always buy basics with this extra money - for example, I'll buy the dishwashing liquid for 99 cents instead of dishwasher tablets for $4.69 - because if I need to save $5 in the future, I can still wash dishes using that stockpiled basic dishwashing liquid and I can put back the dishwasher tablets I would have normally bought that week.
5. Share the workload: We have family dinner with extended family every Wednesday. There are 3 households, so I cook one out of 3 weeks on a Wednesday. Now every third Wednesday, I need to feed 10 people (not our usual 7). So I keep that meal basic - meat, veg, potatoes, and a home made dessert.
6. Super simple back up meals: If our Wednesday family dinner doesn't go ahead one week, I still need to feed the 4 of us. So I always include a simple pantry option for dinner should we need it: Like mashed potato, frozen veg and baked beans, all in a pile in a bowl and I call in volcanos for dinner (thanks Bec from Tupperware for the idea!). Or cheap 2 minute noodles, and I stir fry them with a little soy sauce and some veggies. Or english muffins, we make mini pizzas!
7. Think sustainable: We stopped spending $3 a week on paper towel and now use reusable bamboo towels and wash them. We use less clingwrap (I'd like to completely stop, working on that!), we get eggs from our chickens, and I'm still looking for other eco friendly swaps that will save us money :)
Our simple meal planning program is here if you want to join us!
x Marissa
