I've always been a coupon nut--I blame it on my mother. I was raised with the belief to never pay full price for ANYTHING and I follow it. Money is tight these days for everyone so I thought I would write down some of my "rules".
My title is true--I budget and spend $35 a week on groceries. I should say that every 6 weeks or so I spend about $75 to stock up on stuff (examples: flour, sugar, etc.) but I think that still probably puts us below the average. (If I may brag, my big claim to fame is that in October of last year I ended up spending $20 on groceries for the entire month. I remind Tyler of this whenever I go over budget.) So, here it is for your reading pleasure.
#1: Get over being ashamed to shop with a calculator. I mean it--get over it! I literally shop with my list, a pen, and a calculator. Nothing goes into my cart without being entered in the calculator, and the price written on my list next to the item. I was never able to keep an accurate total in my head, and I've noticed that writing stuff down on my list forces me to stick to it. I was so embarassed at first, but I promise you as soon as you start carrying a calculator with you, you will see tons of other people doing it. Promise.
#2: Read ALL in-store ads before you go shopping and plan you meals around what's on sale. If you're on a tight budget, just tell youself you don't have the luxury to buy whatever you want--you are at the mercy of whatever the Fred Meyer/Safeway/Alberton's gods deem is on on sale. If pork is cheap--make a couple of meals out of it! Ground beef on sale? Chili it is! Don't plan too many meals in too far advance--change as the sales change.
#3: Know your seasonal produce. You will seriously save a ton of money. Knowing whether produce is on sale because it is in season or because it is about to go bad is huge, too.
#4: Decide which items are worth spending money or worth saving. For example, I don't buy produce that is on sale (unless it is seasonal) because it tends to go bad like a day later. Ground beef, on the other hand, can be really cheap. I believe the all canned goods are created equal, but eggs are not.
#5: Clip coupons, but don't use them right away. One of the big no-no's when it comes to coupon clipping is buying things you don't need at full price, just because you have a $0.35 off coupon. I've noticed that most of the time the stores don't put items on sale the week manufacturers send out coupons on items for this very reason. Save the coupons, and only use them when you need the item and it is already on sale. This is how you get free groceries.
#6: Don't forget online coupons!! You can load coupons on your store card, but then also use a coupon from the paper. You just doubled your coupon! And if you have a double coupon, you just tripled the deal! Score!
#7: Always have a few cheap, backup meals in your mind. If you are reaching the end of your grocery budget and need a few more meals, always have something cheap in mind (salad, chili, etc.) to fall back on. Another: I;ve noticed that we really only use milk for cereal. So, if I am running out of room in my budget, I can skip buying both milk and cereal and instead but a thing of oatmeal which is usually cheaper than a gallon of milk and lasts forever.
#8: Ah, the power of beans. I have learned that
most meals can be stretched enough to have a ton of leftovers if you just throw in a can of beans. Try it, you'll see.
#9: See food for what it is: fuel. Yes, I love to cook and I am married to the best baker I've ever known. However, it is not a priority to us to always have elaborate and fancy meals worth bragging about on facebook. Food is yummy, but it is what it is. We made the decision that we would rather spend money on other things than food. Once we made this decision, buying rice and beans instead of steak became a lot easier. Buying fancy food just didn't seem like a need anymore, which leads me to my final rule:
#10: Decide what are wants and what are needs. For us, fresh produce is a need and wine (after much prayer, consideration, meditation, and therapy I can say) is a want. We don't have money for everything we want, so we buy the needs and if there is leftover the wants get in there.
Anywho, I hope this helps! If not, feel free to make fun of my coupon-clipping ways.
