You’ve started out on your own as a young adult ready to conquer the world! The only difference is now your parents probably aren’t cooking or grocery shopping for you. I’m willing to bet that most of you take one glance at an empty fridge and immediately order some Chinese or maybe some pizza. If you’re all take out then chances are you’re not lead as healthy a life style as you could. This portion of the module is focused on providing you with tips and tricks to save money while shopping for groceries. Here’s the sitch though, in order for any of this information to be useful to you, you need to know how to cook!!! Knowing how to cook is a basic life skill you really need to teach yourself. If you’re in high school still and have family that cooks, be sure to make yourself a part of the process and start learning. I will have a cooking module available on this site which is currently in the process of being built. Until then, you’ll need to do some research and at the very least now how to boil pasta.
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Earlier in this unit you made lists of your needs and wants, as well as your fixed and variable expenses. I hope you left aside some money in that budget for your food. If you’re living alone, or with roommates the cost of groceries may be slightly lower or can be split between those of you living in the house. Once you start raising a family however, your food budget may go up. The United States Department of Agriculture continuously releases an estimate cost of food both yearly and monthly based on various categories such as age and family size. Check out their listings to see where you fall on their estimates.
Shopping Smart
Check out this video below on how a mother with a family of 4 (including herself) manages to get by on a budget of only $55 a week for groceries.
The woman in this video has taken a great deal of time and planning in order to pull off her coupon magic. It takes time, and patience in order to make a good food budget. Now, do you have to go to the same lengths as the woman in the video? No, her strategy takes a lot of work to complete and pull off. Even if you don’t save to the same extent she does, using coupons to your advantage is a smart way to shop.
Check out this life hack link of tips by a couple with kids on how they save for groceries. You may see some similarities between them and the video such as planning out your meals in advance, but they also have some other nifty tricks which you can use to save money while also buying exactly what you need.
Check out this life hack link of tips by a couple with kids on how they save for groceries. You may see some similarities between them and the video such as planning out your meals in advance, but they also have some other nifty tricks which you can use to save money while also buying exactly what you need.
Unit Pricing
Another big topic when it comes to saving money at the grocery store is Unit Pricing. This pricing is the cost of each pound, ounce/gram, square foot or meter of the product you are purchasing. Not every state requires that the unit pricing be visible. Check out the link to Consumer Reports to get a sense of where to look for the unit price and how grocery stores attempt to confuse you based on how they are listed.
If where you live does not provide the Unit Price, there is a relatively simple calculation you can make in order to figure it out. The equation is simply: Cost of item ÷ Quantity of Item = Unit Price. One of the suggestions from the coupon video you watched was visiting different stores to compare prices to ensure you’re getting the best deal. You’ll want to compare the different brands and sizes to make sure you are getting the best deal and the most out of your money.
For a useful took when calculating your budget and incorporating food, check out this website, scroll to the bottom for a little calculation tool.
For a useful took when calculating your budget and incorporating food, check out this website, scroll to the bottom for a little calculation tool.
The best possible way to learn about food budgeting is to make a budget, actively look at coupons, and go out there and shop! You’ll only get better with experience, and the more of it you get, the more money you’ll save in the long run. It is important to retain a healthy lifestyle, and hopefully with the tips on this page you’ll be able to maintain that lifestyle and still save while shopping for groceries.