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This is a great writing prompt for all of us right now with the way the economy is…especially with regards to groceries. So below is my approach to budgeting for groceries at the moment.
Working with a grocery budget can be tricky however, I have found that budgeting per meal makes it less of a challenge for me right now. So, I decided on a budget of $10 per meal. Now, I don’t always meet that budget because well $10 is kinda tight for 2 people. That is where meal prepping comes in handy as well as buying in quantity or even in bulk. We have a BJ’s membership and between BJ’s, Publix, and Food Lion I am doing quite well at keeping our grocery budget on track.
First of all I start out by making a list of breakfast foods. Breakfast is probably the easiest of meals to meal prep for as there are a few things that we rotate and I try to keep breakfast simple as until maybe 11 am I am non stop between getting breakfast going, the dogs & bird, and just getting started for the day in general. Some favorites for breakfast foods are bagels, sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, or the occassional waffle. Next I like to plan out 5 or 6 meals that my Mom and I would like to eat for lunch during the week. I say 5 or 6 beause there is usually 1 meal that we would either have leftovers or would have twice during the week. Now, we do splurge and order out maybe 1 or 2 days a month….I also carefully plan the order as well to get the most bang for the buck so to speak but I will save that for another time. Then onto dinner…being diabetic I try and having my dinner around 8 or 9 pm and keep it light. A lot of times I will air fry up some chicken wings or have 1/2 a bagel with cheese or peanut butter…sometimes I will make something else all together like a chicken rollup or avocado toast. Then for snacks, I have a lot of issues with snacks and finding snacks that fit my needs both health wise and budget wise. On occassion I will have potato chips paired with a high protien chip dips or even some buttered popcorn. I struggle with snacks because I tend to over snack but I also need snacks because of my blood sugar. So, my snacking does vary based on what my blood sugar is. I do keep miniature candy on hand for when I need it and I do really good at not over indulging on the chocolate ones.
So after you plan out your meals you can then look for patterns. For example…eggs, bread, butter, bagels, cheese, and protein are something that can be used in multiple recipes or meals so it makes sense to buy in quantity or bulk…same with a specific protein that you use in 1 or more dishes for the week.
So our main staple list of the items I mentioned above is usually 2 dozen eggs, 2 loaves of bread, 1 lb butter, 3 packs of bagels, 2 or 3 lbs cheeses, 3 tubs cottage cheese/greek yogurt, and bulk protien (pork chops, chicken breast, chicken wings, shrimp)…those are things always on my shopping list besides water, coffee, and coke. Bulk protein usually carries over to another week but that is fine because you know you will use it. Just make sure when you repackage that you put a date on it so you know when you tossed it in the freezer. Also be sure to use spices, sauces, and other ingredients to change up flavor profiles of your protiens so you are not eating the same thing over and over.
Another thing that I like to do is write out my list and then put a star in front of the staple items, then another symbol in front of the next important, and I always put a question mark in front of the least important. I add the items to my cart in order of importance and it I have money left over in my budget then I will add 1 or more of the question marked items. I utilize online shopping and pick it up the next day so this method works out prefectly for me. It would also be perfect if you were having your groceries delivered. If you are shopping in store, you could still do this method but either put your question marked items on the botton rack of the grocery cart and just put them back or ever shop for them last if your budget doesn’t allow for them.
Do you have a grocery budget? How do are you handling it? What works for you? Please, let me know.
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