Starting over--what's a good grocery spending amount to aim for?

[jessicalacey]

Hi everyone,
I am embarassed to admit this but for me, couponing has been more of a hobby over the the past few years.....something I did for fun, a challenge to see how much money I could save and how much stuff I could get for cheap/free. However I haven't really stuck to a grocery budget at all during that time.

Well, after losing my job in May, and being unemployed up until just a few weeks ago, now I really DO have to have a budget, and stick to it. While I did get a new job, it's less than half of what my old salary was, and I am single with no second income.

So I'm starting over, with a whole different approach to couponing this time. My question for you is, what do you think is a good/reasonable grocery budget for me to aim for? What are some general rules of thumb for me to stick to? I have no idea what a "good" amount would be for me to try to keep my monthly spending to on groceries.

I welcome your insight. In the meantime I'm going to be scouring the newbie section of HCW to try to pick up more tips to make this work for me.

Thanks, Jess

[kittensqueak]

Well congrats on the job.

This is a very tough question because it is variable for each person. What kinds of food do you normally eat? Any diet restrictions? Are you a light eater? Do you like certain brands - or are you willing to eat whats on sale?!

I generally set my grocery budget at $50 a month. I shop for 2-3 adults and we eat a primarily fresh diet where I cook most things myself. Very few frozen dinners, no hamburger helper type things...

It also depends on time. Do you have a decent amount of time to dedicate to coupons, deals and stockpiling?

Just be sure to buy what you need, and use what you buy. (Buying 20 glade candles for .25 each isn't a good deal if you don't need them...) Also, buy what you can use...there is nothing worse than having so much of something it goes bad...

Good luck - on whatever amount you decide...

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I can't really find any info on it, but 'grocery checkout week' is about 6 weeks into the year and whatever amount you earned up to that point is what you will spend on groceries for the whole year. I calculated my earnings up to that point, and divided by 52 weeks for the year to come up with a weekly total, you could also divide by 12 to get a monthly total instead. Of course I make no money at all, and was able to trim that number using coupons, and still feed my family of 4 plus 4 furbabies.

[werblam]

Originally Posted by jessicalacey Hi everyone, I am embarassed to admit this but for me, couponing has been more of a hobby over the the past few years.....something I did for fun, a challenge to see how much money I could save and how much stuff I could get for cheap/free. However I haven't really stuck to a grocery budget at all during that time. Well, after losing my job in May, and being unemployed up until just a few weeks ago, now I really DO have to have a budget, and stick to it. While I did get a new job, it's less than half of what my old salary was, and I am single with no second income. So I'm starting over, with a whole different approach to couponing this time. My question for you is, what do you think is a good/reasonable grocery budget for me to aim for? What are some general rules of thumb for me to stick to? I have no idea what a "good" amount would be for me to try to keep my monthly spending to on groceries. I welcome your insight. In the meantime I'm going to be scouring the newbie section of HCW to try to pick up more tips to make this work for me. Thanks, Jess

Congrats on your new job. Budgets are a funny thing, what number works for one, may not work for another. It really depends upon what you like to eat/cook. For example, I have a family of four plus 1 fur legged friend. My budget is about $100.00 for the week. While some people think that is alot, it works for me. My DH is very picky about what soap (only uses dial), tp (has to be soft), chicken (has to be perdue) - you get the point. Also, we are big fresh fruit and vegetable eaters and we have almost no coupons for those products in my area!

Since I have two teenagers (actually one just turned 20) they eat a lot. So I have to have a pretty good stockpile of cereal, granola bars etc as well.

Set a dollar amount in your mind about what you think it should cost you. Adjust it as necessary and then try to stick to that each week. I found trading/buying coupons works best for me and planning each week for stockpile sales is helpful.

Good Luck!