Hi all, I want to know how you all budget your monthly grocery bill. For a family of 4 - 2 adults and 2 - teenagers. We eat mostly Indian food now and then pasta, spaghetti or Undon noodles. I serious don't have a budget for grocery... I'm really feeling guilty that I'm not able to accomplish it. Please share your tips and also how do you guys shop on monthly basis? I'm also planning to go for organic food due to health conditions. Thanks Sweety
Hi, You missed an important thing, here which country and which place. We can't generalise for all over the world, can we? If you mean Austria, sorry no idea!
Make a meal plan. Make a list based on meal plan and shop accordingly. Less meat and more fruit, vegetables, beans and legumes will lower your bills. Also avoid processed foods. The best way to save is to shop as infrequently as possible, shop when you're not hungry and avoid impulse buys. However with if your teens are boys you will have probably have higher bills for a while.
Yes. Like @MalStrom has suggested. I make meal plans for every week. I shop what's required just for that week. There are certain things that are must haves- like onion/ tomato/milk/egg. These stay on the shopping list on every week. Things like different veggies/ meat. fruits may change. Every week we spend around $60- $150. We also buy organic and baby milk i.e a bit more on the expensive budget.
It depends on each family's food habits, living style and place where they stay and also on financial capacity. We cannot compare with each other. So always better to make a plan according to your family's food choices and habits, but make sure not to waste food and buy only whatever is needed. Try to use all leftover vegetables instead of throwing them out.
Hi Sweety, I will tell about what I usually do. I used to do weekly grocery shopping. So before heading out, I will have a rough meal plan. I will check my refrigerator and pantry to see what is left and what is not. And make a list of items that I need. I do have a monthly budget and it mostly comes within, even though in one week its high, in the other it will low and thus tallies.
We are also a family of 4.My weekly budget is also pretty much around 80$.I get all veggies,fruits,milk,egg,bread for the whole week and make sure we don't eat outside so that none of the veggies/fruits gets wasted.
Sweety, We buy a lot of organic produce and try to eat as much meals as possible at home. We spend around $400 a month for a family of 3. My toddler carries his lunch and we make food from scratch. I make south indian lunch, continental breakfast and mixed dinner. I wrote a series on budgeting here. Check it out if you'd like to start setting up a budget. I strongly believe in having a budget and sticking to a budget. This helps a lot in reducing the spending and stretching the money as long as possible.