Do you forget what’s in your fridge and your pantry when you’re at the grocery store? Do you know if you’ll even be cooking this week? If you don’t have the right ingredients in your kitchen, cooking up healthy meals can be a challenge.
Planning is very important before you go grocery shopping. Take the time to organize yourself even before you leave the house. Food budgeting tips will help your money go a longer way.
The more you plan, the better you’ll get at it, and the more money you will save. You may find that you even feel healthier if you are eating more home-cooked meals!
Here are 7 tips to help you plan before you go grocery shopping:
- Create a budget. Figure out how much you want to spend at the grocery store. If you like, there are many budgeting programs these days where you can even have an app on your phone. Check them out.
- Plan out your family’s meals for the week. Plan to cook your meals and pack lunches.
- Find recipes for those meals you want to make for the week. There are a lot of great recipes at your finger-tips if you have access to a computer. Choose recipes to use items that you already have.
- Check your fridge and pantry to see what items are in your house.
- Make a grocery list of all the items you need to buy for your recipes, plus the food staples your family needs every week.
- Plan to use up all the food you buy. Regularly look in your fridge to see what’s there and how you can use it. Throwing food out is a big waste of money. If you are not going to eat it, don’t buy it.
- Use coupons for items your family needs. Using coupons for anything that is on sale wastes money if you don’t use the items.
Spend the time to plan wisely ahead of time to keep more money in your pocket.
If you cook more at home and eat packed lunches, you may even be taking in less sodium and sugar in your diet, and you may feel healthier!
