It’s the beginning of 2023 and I thought we’d kick off the year with an 8-week Cut Your Grocery Bill Challenge. I’ll be sharing a weekly post here every Thursday with a task or challenge for you to complete/focus on to help you weak, improve, or overall your grocery budget.
My hope is that we can all work together to crowd-source new ideas and fresh inspiration to be more thoughtful and intentional in our grocery budgets + hopefully save some money and instill some practices and principles and habits that will continue to save us money throughout the rest of the year.
Week #1: Set Up a Budget
Yep, you knew it was coming. You can’t really cut your grocery bill if you don’t know what your budget is in the first place!
What’s a realistic budget for your family? Well, first you need to decide what your budget will include. Will it include only groceries or will it include all food your family eats (if you eat out some). Will it include diapers, pet food, hygiene products, household supplies, formula, etc.? Pre-decide these things to help you better set up a number that feels realistic for you but also challenges you to be creative.
Other things to consider: Do you have food allergies? Do you eat all organic? Do you live where there aren’t many sales? These things will also likely mean you’ll have a higher budget than some people — and that is totally okay!
You want the number to motivate you not defeat you! So aim a little higher than might feel impressive. And remember that you can tweak it as we go along, but you need to start somewhere!
If you have no idea where to start and have never had a budget before, I’d say to go with $50-$60 per person per week to start out with. And then set a goal to shave that down a bit as we go along!
What We Bought at Kroger This Week
Speaking of your grocery budget, here’s what we bought at Kroger today…
Classico Pasta Sauce is on sale for $1.49/jar when you clip the digital coupon. You can get up to 5. I’ve got lots of cheese in the freezer, so I’m thinking we’ll have spaghetti and ziti sometime in the next week or two.
The Pop-Tart Bites + Nutri-Grain bites are just $0.99/box this week when you clip the digital coupon! You can get up to 5.
I got lots of great markdowns this week — including 3 bags of avocados for $0.99/bag!
All totaled, we spent $99.51 for all these groceries — right until our $100 weekly budget!
Week #1 Project: Decide Your Budget & Share it Here
Are you in for the Cut Your Grocery Bill Challenge? If so, I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know that you’re in and tell us what budget you decided upon and what it will include (diapers, pet food, hygiene products, household supplies, formula, etc.)
Remember, there is no perfect budget number. The best number is one that serves your family well and also challenges and inspires you to get creative and intentional.