Grocery Shopping on a Shoestring
We are in difficult times, and a lot of folks are suffering as the unemployment rate soars to record highs and jobs become tougher to find. The people that struggle the most are the ones with families, and this is especially depressing because the children are the ones that most often suffer. Having kids in school, you need school supplies, clothing, shoes, and most importantly groceries to make sure they are getting the energy and support they need to do well. When living on a tight budget, continuing to live and eat healthy is crucial even when you’re trying to be frugal.
This most important thing that you should know about, when it comes to saving money on groceries, is that eating cheaply doesn’t mean that you have to eat cheap food. Almost everyone makes this mistake when they are short on money. All the same, just because you don’t have beaucoups of cash doesn’t mean that you have to spend it on poor quality food that will only provide your family with a lot of empty calories. The main point to saving money on groceries is learning to find the deals on the good food that will keep you healthy.
If you’re health conscious, the types of food you want to buy are fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The real rub though is these types of food are high ticket items. I have found that the best tip to saving money on groceries is to plan your meals in advance and to use multiple ingredients to make more than one meal. This way, you reduce the number of meals you have to make and shorten your time in the kitchen. At the same time, you also limit the number of items you have to buy at the grocery store, while making sure that you can cook a several different meals for the week.
One last piece of advice for those of you who are struggling to save money on groceries is to make a list and a budget. List making will keep you from getting distracted when you go to the store. Without a list, you forget everything you’re there for, and you’ll end up with a cart full of unrelated items. Set a maximum amount of money that you can spend on each trip to the grocery store. There’s nothing wrong with taking a calculator and keeping track of your spending.