We cut our grocery bill by $50 PER WEEK

We are a family of four: Two kids, two adults, and we cut our grocery bill by an average of $50 PER WEEK!

Groceries are getting more and more expensive.

We all have experienced it, what was once $2 is now $4. Thanks inflation.

Feeding our family good, nutritious, real foods is a value of ours.

You get out what you put into your body, and we are particular when it comes to foods. Fuel good, feel good.

I am gluten free after being diagnosed with MS in 2017. Going gluten free helped me read food labels and start asking the question “Why on earth is this ingredient list so long? I can’t even pronounce half of this stuff.”

If you can’t pronounce it, your body can’t properly digest it.

We stick to real foods with limited ingredients.

This lifestyle can be more expensive.

Gluten free items are more readily available now, and, on average, they cost more.

So how did we cut our grocery bill by $50 per week?!?

It took some internal and external mindful work.

•We cut our single use plastic down drastically which eliminated processed foods from the grocery store. If the food item comes in plastic, we ask ourselves “Is there a plastic free alternative?”

Most of the time the answer is yes!

Example: We primarily grocery shop at Aldi and Meijer. Aldi has produce wrapped in single use plastic. We choose to purchase loose fruits and vegetables from Meijer or our local farmers market.

•My husband and I got REAL honest with ourselves and realized we were overeating.

We were eating three meals a day because that’s what our culture does.

We were consuming larger portion sizes because that’s what our culture does.

Just because it’s what others do doesn’t mean it’s what you have to do.

When breakfast rolls around and we cook for our kids we ask ourselves “Am I hungry?”

If the answer is honestly yes, we eat small portions slowly and reevaluate how we feel.

*Just because it’s on your plate doesn’t mean you have to finish it. You can save it for another time.*

We also quickly noticed some eating habits were out of boredom or stress.

When we got curious about what and when we were eating we realized it wasn’t always hunger.

Our bodies need different amounts of food based on the activity level for that day.

High intensity workout? You might need more food.

Slower day? You might need less food.

Tune in and listen to what your body needs.

It’s easy to eat and exist on autopilot or do what others do.

Your body communicates to you if you get quiet and listen.

•We increased our water consumption.

Often times we confuse thirst for hunger.

Not sure if you are hungry or just dehydrated?

Try drinking a glass of water and see how you feel after thirty minutes.

Eliminating plastic, listening to our bodies natural hunger cues, and increasing our water consumption has lead to an average of $50 in grocery savings PER WEEK!

Other helpful tips:

•Budget! Look at your spending habits, grocery and other spending related, and create a budget. Then see where you can cut costs.

•Shop on the perimeter of the store. The middle typically has heavily processed and packaged food items.

•Create a grocery list based off of the meals you plan for the week.

We have a weekly menu dry erase board. We plan the weeks meals and I create my grocery list based on ONLY those items.

•Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean you need it. This goes for groceries AND any other spending.

“It’s 100% off if you don’t buy it.”

-The Minimalists

•Try curbside pick up. This takes away the temptation to impulse buy when walking through the store. (Target is a great place to start using curbside pick up. We all know about the Target effect and over buying.)

•Don’t grocery shop when you are hungry. Everything looks good when you are hungry and the next thing you know you have a cart full of random foods and a deficit in your bank account.

•You need to eat, but you do not need to eat out.

This was difficult for my take-out loving husband. We cook almost all of our meals from home. We do enjoy local restaurants, but that’s included in our budget.

TANCKS for reading!

April 2022