FIINANCES: Groceries

Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, 

Which, having no chief, officer or ruler, 

Prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. 

Proverbs 6: 6-8

Grocery shopping--one of those tasks that someone in the family must do generally at least once a week.  I actually enjoy grocery shopping and hunting for bargains.  It's one of the few regular variable expenses in a household that you can control by your  choices and preparation beforehand.  I shop in two stores primarily--Sam's Club for bulk items and some perishables and Winn Dixie or Walgreens for most everything else. These three stores are literally 2 minutes from my house. There are other stores (including a Wal-Mart Supercenter) a little farther away, but why waste the time?  

I cut coupons on Sunday or Monday and belong to The Grocery Game which does a lot of the calculating and recordkeeping to determine the best price  in a given store. There is a small fee for this. [Another similar site with no fee is The Coupon Mom.]   I was skeptical at first, but taking advantage of this website has  really helped me save quite a bit of money in the 3 months since I joined.  My whole concept of food shopping has changed.  Of course, if we are completely out of something I will restock it whether it's on sale or not, but generally my guidelines are: 

1. Keep a running list in a convenient place for everyone to use (whoever used the last of something writes it down here)
2. Plan rough menus  for the upcoming week (what meats if any you'll use)
3. Make a shopping list
4. Sam's Club:  Purchase primarily basic foods in bulk--meats, milk, eggs, some perishables, etc.
5. Winn Dixie:  Buy ONLY  what is on my shopping list and/or what is the absolute rock bottom price of an item that we would use  (I only take with me the coupons I will need to make sure that I do this).
6. Visit one or two stores no more than once during the week

By regularly sticking to these guidelines I am always "stocking up" on things on sale at their lowest prices.  Knowing your family's eating habits and their favorite foods is necessary, but so is  thinking ahead for items that will always be purchased (toilet paper, soap, toothpaste, etc.).   I have a pantry in my kitchen and another storage area in the laundry room for surplus which we either consume ourselves or is given away.  This summer there were two food drives--one at my husband's business and one by the post office. We were able to give 4-5 bags of donations to each from the surplus.  It didn't hurt the budget a bit and we were able to give more than  we would have if I had gone out the day before and bought a bunch of groceries.

A little discipline, a little time of planning and you can make a huge difference in what you spend for food for your family.  The extra money is either saved, given or put towards a future expense.

Oh, and what do I personally spend each week for groceries?  My goal is $150 or less for a family of four (with 2 older sons).  Lately I've spent  a total of about  $100-$125 per week at the stores above COMBINED.  I used to easily spend close to $200 per week.