Reduce Household Expenses: Chop the Grocery Bill

June 4, 2008 By Debbie Dragon

Everywhere you go and in everything you read, people are focused on the high price of gas- and that fact that it’s only going to get higher.  But have you noticed the price of groceries?  The cost of food is increasing right along side our gasoline prices (and the heating fuel and electric, and….)

People who are struggling now, and living paycheck to paycheck notice the increases in prices considerably.  If the cost of living continues to rise faster than our incomes, we must start finding ways to reduce our living expenses now - to make it possible to afford to live later!

 Reduce Household Expenses

Probably the easiest (and fastest) way to reduce your living expenses is to take a look at the money you spend on groceries and food.  The U.S Department of Labor estimates that the average family of four spends $709 per month (that’s $177 per person) on groceries.

Here are several ways you can reduce the amount of money you spend on groceries, and make that money available for the higher cost in gas or utilities for your home:

• Go shopping for groceries, paper goods, cleaning items and personal care items once or twice a month.  Less trips to the store means you spend less.  Studies have shown that when you stop at the store to pick up a few things for dinner, you end up picking up more than you planned and therefore spending more than you  needed.
• Plan your menus and shopping lists using the store sale ads when you’re preparing to go shopping.  Select coupons and use them with sale items to get even steeper discounts.  Don’t forget about double coupon day!
• Eat fruits and vegetables that are more perishable soon after your shopping trip and save the longer lasting fruits and vegetables for when they are gone. Bananas and grapes are good for about a week; pears, cucumbers, peppers and lettuce last around two weeks, and oranges, apples, cabbage and celery really go the distance and are still good a month after you buy them usually.
• Freeze bread and cheese to have it last longer.  Even milk can be frozen without a problem.
• Get an extra freezer to store items you can stock up on when they go on sale.  Turkeys go on sale right before Thanksgiving, hams go on sale around Christmas, etc. 
• Make a little extra and use the leftovers for lunches or dinner on another day. You can freeze completely prepared meals as well- so make a double batch of lasagna and freeze one for another day.  Saves time and money since you have all the ingredients out already.
• Ask around to friends and coworkers- if they just throw out their coupons, they could give them to you instead.
• Consider making a price book to keep track of the regular price of items you purchase regularly.  You’ll be able to tell at a glance if an advertised special is a good deal or not.
• If you live in an area where there are a number of retail and grocery chains competing, you should consider buying the sale items at each store, rather than doing a full shop at one location.  If you’ve limited your shopping trips to two a month instead of one or more per week- the time you spend stopping at a few stores in one trip will still be less than the hours spent on your more frequent shopping trips made previous to this change.

Not all of these tips will work for every family, but you might be surprised at how the extra effort spend planning and organizing actually reduces your overall time (and money!) on the household grocery bill.

Posted in budgeting, children, family, food, money, saving money, savings, shopping

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