Ugh! Who else goes to the grocery store with a list, expecting to spend a certain amount, but then comes out with twice as much stuff and spent triple what you were expecting to?! I always always always make a list of what I need at the grocery store, but then when I get there I just walk around saying, “ooh these look good!” *throws it in the cart* “Ahh this looks good too!!” *throws it in the cart* and then I come back with way more stuff and I spend so much money. And then most of the time I can’t finish all of the food before it expires or gets moldy and that’s wasteful!! I hate being wasteful
So I had to come up with some ways to be more organized, more disciplined, and to stay within my budget! I found the most amazing grocery store hack that has saved my bank account soooo much money!! And it’s super easy
1. Shop for the week ahead of you only. I hate going to the grocery store but I think I hate moldy produce, sour milk, and living off of canned beans more. And when the week is up you can take inventory of everything you have left and then just get some more produce or meat to finish off what you have instead of just stockpiling!
2. Plan your week of meals ahead of time. Don’t go to the grocery store and wander around saying, “oh I can eat that one night, and this one day” and so on. Plan exactly what you want to eat for breakfast each day, for lunch, for dinner, and what you want as your snacks. And I would suggest keeping it the same each day or alternating between two meals (i.e. cereal one morning and eggs/bacon the next morning, then back to cereal, and so on). You don’t need to have pancakes Monday morning, and then eggs, bacon, and toast Tuesday, and waffles on Wednesday, and cereal on Thursday… That is going to add up and cost you a fortune! Here’s an example of what my weekly meals look like:
3. Compose your list. Look at all of your meals and write down exactly what you need for each meal. Don’t forget to check your fridge/pantry for what you already have and what you’re running low on. Here is an example of my list for my planned meals from step 2:
4. USE THE CALCULATOR ON YOUR PHONE WHILE YOU SHOP!!! That simple trick has saved me SO much money at the grocery store!! Especially if you don’t have a detailed list of every single thing you need, this will really help you keep track of how much you’re going to be spending. I like to put my phone right in front of me and add the price of every item before I put it in the cart. This will help you pick the more inexpensive items AND will also help you avoid adding stuff that was not on your original list!!
5. You can also use the Curbside Pickup or Home Delivery service from the grocery store as well!!! I thought only rich people could do that, but turns out (at HEB at least) IT’S ONLY $5!!! $4.95 to be exact…. I would gladly pay $5 for someone to be my personal shopper at the grocery store and not have to go myself! #WhereHasThisBeenAllMyLife. All you have to do is reserve a time slot of when you want to pick up your groceries or when you want them delivered (you have to plan ahead of time because the spots fill up really quickly) and go through the website and pick out everything you need, add it to your cart, and submit!! You can do this at work in the morning (don’t tell your boss) and then stop by the grocery store on your way home and BOOM! Groceries without all the drama!! Or have them delivered to your apartment/house when you get home and skip the grocery store all together! It’s literally so easy and so convenient and you won’t be walking around the grocery store filling up your cart with random stuff you see because you’re hungry! #hallelujah
And there folks, are my grocery store hacks/budgeting tips. The calculator hack and the discovering of Curbside Pickup has saved me seriously so much money! And when I shop for the week and plan my meals out ahead of time, it saves me from eating out and therefore saves me a lot of money and a lot of extra calories! 🙂