In a consumer environment where there are so many appealing options, sticking to a budget is never easy. I have found that, for myself, organization and planning is key for maintaining a small grocery budget.
Over the years, I've had larger budgets and smaller ones. When I had a larger budget, the leeway in spending was great enough that I didn't need to plan to the penny. I also didn't need to stick so tightly to a specific number. If I went over by a bit one month, then I tried to keep spending under by a comparable amount the next. My guess is that this is the way that most of us carry out our spending. For now, I need to plan, calculate, and negotiate.
First, I make out my list of wants for the month. That's a pretty quick job. Next, I research the prices, comparing across several stores. To do this, I log into my usual stores online and look up the prices for each item. I note each store's price and record the lowest for each item. If a low price is also a sale price, I record the expiration date on that sale, as well. If the expiration date falls before my budget month begins, then I need to decide if I will pick up that item before the month actually begins and hold it for the days of the remaining month, or let the sale go. (I'm fortunate enough that I am not shopping with cash, but instead I do have flexibility.)
The deciding factors for
pre-spending the budget involve necessity and urgency. If the item is needed urgently for good health, then I'm willing to buy and use it before a month begins, for example, if I had no fats in the house (oil, butter, shortening, nuts/nut butters, meat fat). Or, if the item falls on the need-want spectrum closer to need but isn't urgent, then I will pre-spend, but hold the item until the next month begins. An example of this might be something like cheese in contrast to chocolate chips. Even if chocolate chips are at a rock-bottom low, if I have spent my month's allotment, I won't buy them until the new month's budget begins. But cheese does fulfill a nutritional area in my budget, so I am willing to pre-spend but hold off on our use.
Once I've recorded all of the prices for my list, I total the purchase amount. So far, I've not come beneath my budget in this early stage of planning. And so, the mental negotiations begin. What can we live without versus what would improve the quality of our eating for the month? An example, for several months, I decided that we could live without mayonnaise. This month, we finally have enough in the budget to afford this sandwich and salad condiment. However, this month we'll be forgoing soy sauce. In addition, I took chicken leg quarters off of my list again this month. The lowest available price for my area has risen to 60 cents per pound for bone-in meat.
From the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, the percentage of thigh/leg that is meat alone averages 62%, which means that the meat-only price per pound of chicken leg quarters is about 97 cents per pound, and that is only if every morsel of meat is cleaned off of the bones. That is still a good deal for meat, but not so good that the price won't be around again, and we do have enough other meat to sustain us through the month. And, I'm now negotiating with myself over my decaf instant coffee. I am thinking that, for one month, I could put the $3.52 expense toward more produce for my family. This is a tough one for me. My husband would still have his regular coffee for the month, so I don't need to consult him on this decision. I would have some decaf instant left from April. If I limited myself to a half-cup of decaf per day, I could drink decaf tea in its place for the rest of the day. (
And just so you know, I'm not so self-sacrificing that I would always give up "my thing" for the benefit of the rest of the family. The next time this scenario arises, I will ask another family to give up one of their "things," so long as it's a non-nutritive, unnecessary item.) And so the negotiations carry on over the course of about a week, as I whittle away until my list fits the dollar amount of the budget.
With a whittled-down list, I organize the items by store and begin planning the shopping dates. Although I have the month's purchases planned out before the first of the month, I hold off on some of the shopping until later in the month. This allows me to pick up a few more perishable foods, such as bananas, at a later date. In some months, special occasions and holidays dictate when I will shop and where. For example, Cinco de Mayo is before Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer (which would be my go-to place for a small package of corn tortillas, but only if with the Senior discount), so I will need to shop at WinCo early in the month (has the best price per unit on corn tortillas, but in a larger package, using more of my budget). With a small budget, ease sometimes takes a backseat.
About unexpected sales and bargains . . .
In my ideal scenario, I would have a small amount of money leftover in the budget for the unexpected deal. I hate to have to pass up savings, but that is what needs to be done at times. I do remind myself that many (but not all) of these deals will cycle through again.
My long-range plan to accommodate unplanned bargains relies on building a stockpile of staples (bought at a low price per unit). With the staples in store, there will be some extra money available for the non-basics each month, as well as for building a little fund for those unexpected deals. I will need to deliberately divert some of the extra money toward this fund, as it is so easy to find ways to spend all of the budget each month. But I do believe that a special fund set aside for picking up bargains could be a benefit for my small budget.
I sometimes come across deals on the items that I had planned on buying, such as with the marked-down milk that I bought last month. When that occurs, I often have a contingency plan for how to spend any savings. In addition, when I buy from the bulk bins at WinCo, I try very hard to stay beneath my price limit for each item. I miss the target by a bit, going over or under, each time. Plus, WinCo gives a refund for bringing my own bags. It's only 6 cents per bag, but that little amount can offset any overages in the bulk area or allow an extra piece of fruit for the month.
The entire planning procedure requires about 5 to 6 hours of my time. I take the same care with precision that I would if this were a business enterprise. I think the common conception is that grocery planning is quickly carried out, minutes before heading out the door. Whether you plan and shop once per month or once per week, planning is a time-consuming activity. However, if it is done well, it can reap some serious financial benefits. My forecast for the 2019 grocery savings for my household is roughly $1500 above the savings that we had previously experienced.
In case anyone is curious about what is on May's list for my family, here it is. This is the "raw" version of my list and contains notes to myself within the list. I make the list in MSWord and revise and input data as the month progresses. For May, I will squeak in about 25 cents under budget, at $125.25 to $125.30.
Grocery list May, budget- 125.52 (52 cents leftover from April)
^indicates shopping comparison onsite
strawberries for Mother’s Day <$2
C&C-soybean oil–big box, 35-lbs, First Street, stock-up item $18.98
C&C-whole wheat flour, 50-lb bag, ADM, 13.17-stock-up
item
C&C-canned whole tomatoes, #10, 2.89 Simply Value
C&C-raisins, 4-lb bag, First Street, 9.37
C&C-cheese, 5 lbs First Street, medium cheddar or cheddar/jack $10.24
until 4/28, Sunday
C&C-mayonnaise, $6.77 First Street 1 gallon
C&C- carrots 25-lb bag, Kern Ridge, 8.95 thru 4/28
C&C-5-lb Fuji apples, 3.35
73.72 at C&C
FM-butter- $2.51,Simply Moovelous, Senior day, 2 lbs
FM-milk- 5 or 6 gals, 4 or 5 2%, 1 whole for yogurt, $10.75/$10.80 (5
gallons total if $2.15, 6 if $1.80 or less), Senior day
FM-orange juice- 1 large, 1.61 each, Kroger, Senior day
FM-hot dogs 3 packs, 75 cents each ($2.25), Heritage Farms, Senior day
$1 any marked-down produce bag
(Check for markdowns: eggs - less than 95 cents/doz, bananas
– 39 c/lb)
$20.63, if 5 milk, 20.68 max if milk <$1.80 and get 6
WinCo- bananas 8 lbs, (or Walmart) 42 cents/lb
WinCo- apple juice WinCo 2 99 cents each
WinCo- garlic granules – $1 worth
WinCo- chocolate chips- $1 worth
WinCo- soybeans or white beans -$1 worth
WinCo- corn tortillas- $2.69 big pack , 70 or 80 ct
^WinCo-lentils- Winco if less than 98 cents/lb, get $1 worth, or Walmart
98 cents for 16-oz. bag
^WinCo-marshmallows-1 bag WinCo, or 96 cents for 10-oz bag at
Walmart
$12.99 inc lentils, marshmallows
Walmart-bananas, 42 cents/lb
Walmart-eggs- 5 dozen, $4.75
Instant decaf, Walmart, $3.52? maybe not
^Walmart -lentils- Winco if less than 98 cents/lb, get $1 worth or Walmart
98 cents for 16-oz. bag
^Walmart - marshmallows-1 bag WinCo or 96 cents for 10-oz bag at
Walmart
$4.75, eggs alone, bananas above
bought--peanut butter, 4- 40-oz, $2.79 ea, Target, 11.16, stock-up
item
total 125.25 to 125.35 (depending on milk)
