5 Easy Ways To Cut Your Grocery Bill.

Have you ever wondered why your grocery bill gets bigger and bigger each time you shop ? Yes, it could be your kids are eating more.  Yes,  prices do increase on a regular basis and it feels like you are in a never ending battle to keep your food costs under control.

Back in 2010 after Darren and I had paid off our mortgage,  I let my grocery spending slip a little.  Oh,  no  !!!  Wendy out of control in the supermarket,  that's unheard of.  Yes,  it happened.  I was just so glad to be debt free that I wanted to live a little.  Our family's food bill was climbing to well over $450 a month.  In fact,  I wasn't really tracking my spending.

In July 2010 I joined The Cheapskates Club and posted a thread on their forum titled "  Food Shopping Made Me Smile ".  This post described how I'd set myself a new goal of reducing my food budget to $300 for the month to feed my family of four.  So many members asked lots of questions and the $300 a month food challenge was born.  We now have participants from all over Australia joining in the challenge.

In 2014,  my husband gave up his full time paying job to be available to God's work.  Our budget had to be slashed in all areas as we waited on God for provision.  The food budget was reduced to $270 a month and we comfortably stuck to the new budget for  11 months.

I have a little secret to reveal.  For the last 2 months,  my new food budget has been $250 a month.  My family doesn't know ( they will now ) and they haven't noticed a difference.  We are still eating very well and there is plenty of food in the house.


Here are 5 of the tricks I use to keep my food budget so low -

*  Shop with a shopping list.  It sounds obvious but I'm astounded at the amount of people I see in the supermarket with no list in hand,  throwing whatever into the trolley.  A shopping list should have the exact product needed and the quantity.

*  Shop at home first.  As you are writing your shopping list,  check your pantry,  fridge and freezer to see what you already have on hand.  Make it a game to see how many items you can cross off your list.

*  Use unit pricing to your advantage.  Unit pricing  became mandatory in Australian supermarkets back in Dec 2009.  I was jumping for joy.  No need to bring a calculator with me. No more guessing the best deal.  Unit pricing is a great way to find the cheapest price per unit of each product.

*  Do not be brand loyal if you want to cut your spending.  Flour is flour,  sugar is sugar and they all do the same job.  If you can't make ends meet and can't pay all your bills on time,  branded products in your pantry will not give you peace of mind or make you happy.

*  Cut out the junk food.  This includes ready made,  microwave,  pre cut,  individual serves,  pre cooked,  ready to go,  snack size,  bite size, instant and freezer foods.  Generally they are processed and contain colorings,  preservatives and artificial flavourings.  These foods are also over priced for what you are getting.  Maybe save them as an occasional treat.