Smart Ways to Cut Down on Your Food Expenses

In July 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published an article highlighting that in 2019, U.S. consumers, businesses, and government entities spent $1.77 trillion on food and beverages in grocery stores and other retailers and on away-from-home meals and snacks.

We cannot say whether $1.77 trillion is a considerable sum for a large country with about 330 million people, but sometimes we all need to cut back on our spending, and since we eat at least 1000 meals each year, we want to start with food costs. Furthermore, a lot of financial planners view food expenses as discretionary costs and advise cutting back on your food budget.

Prioritizing My Food Budget

To prioritize your food budget and determine how much you spend on groceries each month, you should first discover which products often drain your budget. Among those products, you may find:

  • Chips
  • Granola
  • Soda
  • Energy beverages
  • Cereal
  • Nutella
  • Half-cooked food
  • Cookies

As we can see, these are products that are not essential for us. Therefore, we strongly advise against purchasing them very frequently.

You will also find the most basic items like bread, oil, cheese, fruits, vegetables, meat, etc., among products that consume the bulk of your budget. Of course, we don't advise saving on such necessities, but if you've decided to cut back on your food budget, you should be extremely cautious concerning the amount you buy.

You should now start using affordable and healthy foods such as dried or frozen fruits and vegetables, water (instead of soda), fish, and so on.

However, it takes more than just knowing which products are budget-friendly and healthy to reduce your food expenses. It also entails being aware of how to effectively manage your shopping at the grocery store to prevent overspending.

How to Prevent Overspending at the Grocery Store

It might be challenging to shop wisely at the grocery store. Do you know why? The typical design of grocery stores usually includes traps meant to induce consumers to buy more than they intended. Thus, we can suggest some strategies to help avoid the traps and save money by reducing monthly food spending.

  • Never go shopping when you are hungry. When you are hungry, you think you can eat everything, so this can trigger you to buy more than you need.
  • The easiest and the most successful way to prevent overspending is to make a shopping list and strictly stick to it.
  • To ensure that you buy what you need and leave the store with it, set yourself a time limit.
  • To keep yourself from buying things you don't have on your shopping list, have only a set amount of money that will allow you to buy the necessities.
  • Offers like "10 water bottles for $10" persuade you to purchase more than you need. You may not be receiving the greatest deal just because something is on sale. Thus, check the unit price to see if it makes sense to purchase more of an item than you had meant.
  • Use a small basket rather than a large cart when you're out shopping to control your temptation to fill the cart up rapidly. By doing so, you can limit the number of products you take and avoid unnecessary purchases.

Loose Food is Cheaper Than Packed

Keep in mind that buying unpackaged food is substantially less expensive than buying it already packaged. If you pay close attention to what's on the shelf, you'll frequently discover identical products priced differently depending on whether it's purchased loose by weight or pre-packaged at a set price. You pay more for extra packaging. While purchasing products that are sold loose, you can also choose exactly the size, amount, and quality of the product you buy.

Compare Prices

Many people prefer to shop only at one store and do all their shopping there. This is not a very good idea when trying to save money on food. You might wish to switch up your shopping locations based on the sales. Moreover, some grocery stores offer the same foods at lower prices. So, compare prices across different shops and purchase from the less expensive ones.

Cooking at Home is Fun

For many of us, cooking at home can seem overwhelming or time-consuming. However, we need to understand that eating out or ordering food can quickly drain our financial resources. As a result, start cooking at home, but let's start modestly.

Start by preparing a simple lunch at home the night before. Once you can make dinner, gradually advance to cooking for an entire week. According to Forbes.com, "On average, ordering delivery from a restaurant is about five times more expensive than cooking at home." Additionally, spending time with family and friends while cooking at home can be enjoyable.

Plastic Bags Pollute the Environment

Americans use one hundred billion plastic bags each year. Avoid purchasing plastic bags every time you go shopping. Plastic bags hurt our planet first and then waste 10 cents. Bring them to the store and try recycling the ones you already have at home.

Develop Good Habits

When trying to reduce spending, saving money on food might not come to your mind right away. You can consider your mortgage, rent, utilities, or any monthly subscriptions. However, it's rather normal for food to rank second in a typical family's budget, just after rent or a mortgage. The good news is that you have the most control only over food. By saving on food, you not only save money but also acquire good habits of eating healthier at home, prioritizing your budget, and thinking twice before making impulse purchases.

Now, you can think that none of the above-mentioned steps can help you to fundamentally protect your budget.  Yes, that's true. But remember that small changes can get the ball rolling!