31 Weeks to a Better Grocery Budget Video Series: The Importance of a Grocery Budget
Note: Excuse the muffled nasal-y voice. I came down with a nasty head cold last night. 🙁
Related: Yes, You Need a Budget
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89 Comments
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Great video, Crystal!
I definetely agree that everyone needs a budget and that you shouldn’t low-ball the amount you need. It takes time to lower that budget, but the important thing is to just START budgeting.
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Hello! Question about the grocery budget – is that strictly groceries or do I include other household items/personal care items in the budget? Is there a separate budget for laundry soap and shampoo? Thanks for your help and advice!
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I was going to ask this same question, and I was wondering what additional amount I should budget for the additional non food items? I haven’t used a formal “budget” before.
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Cute scarf 🙂
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Feel better soon! Thanks for posting this!
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I like watching the videos! Thanks for having these. One thing I have trouble getting my head around is that I have 5 kids and 4 are older. So I am basically feeding 6 adults (3 are over 6’2″) 3 times a day somedays. The only little is my 5 year old. Many of the shopping sites and meal planners have 2-3 small children. In our case, it is hard to even consider $20 per person a week. My boys would starve or eat just beans!
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I am just starting off, and am one of the people who has never had a budget, but now needs to make it happen. Your website has been a huge resource to me, and the blogs are terrific. THANK YOU!
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Crystal, were you including paper products and cleaning items in the $20/week/person suggestion? Just curious 🙂 Thanks so much for your encouragement through these videos!
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Good advice as usual, Crystal. 🙂 It’s fun seeing you on video! 🙂
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Thanks for the latest video. I’m not sure I could do $20 a week per person but, I think $30 is doable for my family. It should be an interesting challenge for me! Well wishes to you Crystal!
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What do you suggest for someone who needs to drastically lower their food budget immediately? For example, loss of income or some other unexpected but necessary expense?
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I would say to make sure all other non-necessity expenses are cut out of the household budget first. Then use the $20 per person per month to set your food budget. Menu plan by what is on sale and what the best deals are with sale/coupon match ups for each week.
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Jill, I had this same problem last summer. I am a child care provider and lost the child I cared for last June. There went my grocery money. My husband gave me what he could out of his pay check (which is not much since he is in ministry) but I had to immediately learn how to get by on little money. My advice is to look at what is on sale each week at your grocery stores. Pair up sales with coupons when ever possible. I also began to really look at prices and I immediately know if something is a good deal; if it is, I stock up. I have learned that most stores run the same items on sale about every 4-6 weeks, so I would buy enough of an item to get me through until the next time it is on sale. See how you can stretch items, like meat into 2 meals. Such as a pack of chicken breasts on sale could go into home-made chicken noodle soup one day and maybe chicken & dumplings the next day. I get 2 meals out of 5 chicken breasts (and I feed 2 teen boys.) I also try to plan meatless meals at least once a week to cut down on meat expenses. I make lots of things from scratch whenever possible esp. baked goods. Dollar Tree is also good for certain items. All of these things are basically what Crystal tells us, but I learned that they really do work. It doesn’t happen overnight, but you begin to learn as you go along. Most importantly, pray that God will give you wisdom to use the money He’s given you, wisely. He knows your needs and loves & cares for you very much. God provided for us. Now I’ve found another child, but I learned so much during that time in our lives. I’ll still be applying the things I leaned even though we will have more money now.
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I love this video series. It is great to see a person explaining things instead of just reading about it.
Hope you feel better soon. -
I second Diana’s question about paper goods (towels, toilet paper, etc) and cleaning/detergent supplies. We stock up at Sam’s about once every 3 months and I’m not sure how to fit that into our budget.
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I used to stock up at Costco every few months. Then, I realized that I could get most if those things free through couponing and shopping at different locations. Our last trip to Costco the only thing I got were the free samples. However, when I did go, I created a different budget for it and then saved accordingly. So if I spent 30 a trip, I would save an extra ten dollars a month, in cash, and then when it was time to go, I had the money. Even right now, I have a grocery budget and a separate couponing budget. It look a few months but now I can fit everything into the grocery budget.
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I find some items at Costco are great–I buy 50 pound bags of flour at around $10, 25 pound bags of rice, and large bags of sugar as well as dog food. What we completely avoid is the prepared frozen food since it would break my budget.
I’m running about $175 a week for a family of five, all three are teenagers and two German Shepherds. That’s including paper goods (which I try to avoid mostly and use cloth) toiletries and dog food. This is down about $300 a month from before I started learning from this and other blogs! We also have a great stockpile now while before the cupboards were bare between shops.
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I’m in the same boat as Heather, who already commented — we have a large family and several of them are teenagers. We buy bulk fruit/veggies, coupon diligently (a HUGE savings!), and have meatless lunches and dinners several times a week. $20 per person per week would be a dream goal for me, not a starting place. Ours is almost $30 per person a week and I’m content, not that there’s not room to grow and change. 🙂 Just for info, I’m including paper products, toiletries, etc. (basically everything) in that total.
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Jennifer, I think you’re doing terrific at $30 per week with teenagers and including everything in that total. I know Crystal gave the amount of $20 per week as a goal, and clarified that that might not work for everyone, but sometimes that is hard for me and others to remember. Some of us live in areas that are NOT coupon friendly (no one here ever doubles coupons). Some of us live where the price of living is just higher. I know that many commenters on other posts have mentioned that. I’ve lived all around the US. It is much, much cheaper to live in the midwest. Southern CA is also much cheaper than central CA. Yes, there are deals to be had everywhere, but not all as good as what some folks can get. So, again, kudos to you for the good job you’re doing!
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I, too live in an area where there are no double coupons (Northwest). It makes it very difficult if not impossible to get the kind of deals that are in the Midwest (where I previously lived). So I agree with Stacey that $30/person/week is great!
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Were you including toiletries in your $20/week? Do you even ever buy shampoo? I remember when you bought lots of toothpaste, but in your weekly grocery rundown, I never see TP or shampoo or anything like that. How do you work all of that in?
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She probably just uses what you can get free from CVS or Walgreens for shampoo and for stuff like toilet paper uses overage 🙂 I know that I never pay for the majority of toiletries except male razors (because my husband is military and goes through more than the “almost free” amounts I can get) and his shampoo because he needs the anti dandruff shampoo (that I will pay up to $.50/bottle).
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i am really enjoying these videos! it’s fun to see the face and the voice and the personality behind MSM. Thanks!! 🙂
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I really like this series but it is very hard to hear her when she speaks even with my volume up all the way…Could you speak a little louder in the series please?
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Great video!
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This was a great video! We came up with a budget a couple of months ago thanks to this site and it has saved us so much in wasteful spending. I was able to see where we were spending money and where we could cut back. This is one of my favorite sites and I this series is great. A series on homeschooling would be great too 🙂
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I also have a hard time hearing the video and I’ve tried everything on my computer to be able to hear it but just can’t. But am able to hear things on other sites so i’m not sure what the problem is.
I say having a budget is key. We are a family of 4 with a baby due in 3 days. We have always had a $200 a month budget for food and $40 for household/household personal. For the most part there has only been a few times we’ve gone over and it’s usually when I’ve stocked up on meat or something else. We are looking for ways to put extra in the budget so we can stock up on meat deals. But now with saving I find that I always have extra from the $40 envelope each month. I also should mention that we don’t buy alot of processed in a box type foods. I have found couponing and watching deals and shopping at places like Aldi’s have made all the difference in our grocery budget.
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I have found plugging in my head phones helps me hear the videos much better! Just an idea…
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Yep, agreeing with Stephanie! As long as I have my head phones in I can hear you just fine Crystal 🙂
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Just made the transition from a working mom to a stay at home mom of three (ages 6, 4, & 1 month) and am new to “sticking” to my budget. I always had a budget before but with 2 incomes it was easier to allow myself to go over. I love your video series and your website is one of my favorites. Thank you!
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Congratulations on becoming a SAHM..it’s the greatest job you will ever love!
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Another good book is Eat Healthy For $50 A Week by Rhonda Barfield (or Eat Well for $50 A Week) My mother used these all our growing up years and they were a big help!
Another way to cut costs in the grocery budget is to plant a garden! (raised bed, pot or regular) We’ve done this for years and froze/canned a bunch for winter. It saves tons of money and is much healthier! -
Hi Crystal,
Not sure if you were able to read my comment on your first video, but I was wondering if you would be able to print a transcript for each of the videos? I am deaf, and obviously can’t understand videos without closed captioning. This would be a big help! Thanks so much… -
Love the video and you! I am a single mom with 4 kiddos. I budget probably about $25-$30 per person in my family but that included food, personal items, household items, and everything to run the home. I use cash or GCs. I just try to stick to my budget but I would like to lower my household spending but I think I will work on the grocery budget and planning as your series indicates.
My question is: Is it easier to be more specific in budget by dividing grocery budget money from personal care budget money from household budget money? I use one envelop for all my grocery and house hold budget because I want to keep it a little simpler for money management. Right now I am not sure but maybe being more specific and only have a budget for groceries would be useful.
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I mean keep the grocery money/cash seperate from the other household needs/budget. Hope this makes sense??? 🙂
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I have all “grocery” in the same budget so basically anything you could find in a regular grocery store… food, beverages, paper/plastic, toiletries, otc medicine, diapers/wipes, etc.. A lot of times I will buy some toiletry items at Kroger when buying food because I can get free toothpaste or deodorant. But at the same time, I sometimes buy food/beverages at CVS because they’ll have a great deal. So to me it is easier to keep it all on the same budget.
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Thank you too for the advice!!!!!! 🙂
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I like keeping diapers, Desitin, and nursing pads in a separate category. Then my grocery budget doesn’t seem so high! But I do include toiletries and cleaning stuff in with the food. Just easier for record keeping. Also, I feel like it relates. For example, I save money by packing my kids lunches, but then we do use more ziplocs, so it makes sense to me that the ziploc cost should be included with the food.
I also keep OTC meds separate. Overall, I like having a lot of separate categories. Helps me see more precisely how I’m spending my money.-
Have you ever tried washable nursing pads. I absolutely love the nursing pads made by fuzzi buns. They are amazing and wash up great and stay so soft!! Just a thought, a one time purchase!! I found them for 3 pair for just under 10.00.
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I just wanted to share a funny story. I was in the process of printing some of the doctor/nurse activities from homeschool creations. While these things were printing I decided to sit down and watch this weeks grocery budget video. My 3 yo is very excitedly “catching” the pages from the printer when a page with a medicine bottle pops out. He says “mommy she needs some medicine”….referring to Crystal.
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Good video! We’re getting back to using a budget and one of our first steps is to use cash as much as possible. My grocery budget for a family of 5 (3 small kids) is $500/month. That includes everything! It used to be a lot lower, but has been slowing creeping up. I’m feeling inspired to get back to couponing more and lower that number. 🙂
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Great advice. I have a family of eight, including one in-law living with us and $20/week/person is a manageable number for us, even though we live in the land of no-double-coupons and I have a special needs son that is on a GFCF & 100% organic diet!
Our goal this year is to cut at least $20 per week from our grocery budget and save it to buy a side of grass fed beef, which will allow us to have better quality meat! I decided to do this after reading the responses in your post here: https://moneysavingmom.com/2010/09/ask-the-readers-do-you-think-its-a-good-deal-to-purchase-half-a-cow.html
Lots of great advice from experienced beef buyers and farmers! -
I have the head cold, too 🙁 I love seeing the videos!
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That $20 a week doesn’t include paper goods, cleaning and packaging like foil does it? It also can’t include organic foods, right? We eat cereal for breakfast and I have to make two healthy meals a day which can not include, even remotely; dairy (animals proteins like goat or cow), nuts, egg or oats due to food allergies. The most nutritious milk alternative there is for us is hemp milk (vitamins, fortified to be almost as nutritious as skim milk) which on discount is 4.50 a qt. and lasts about a day verses $1.50 for a half gallon of cows milk, which last longer. Our sunflower butter (peanut butter alternative) is twice as much as is peanut butter. Package goods are almost always out of the question, because of allergies. I already spend well over an hour in the store reading labels and have met several times with the store dietitian for advice. What budget advice would you give people such as myself?
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Hi again:) I appreciate the book suggestion–I will look into that! Actually, we also eat only organic, so that has affected my ability to save with coupons–although I’m so happy to see many more organic coupons this year than last. Also, I’m a “suburban” organic–which to me, means I am not on a farm or leading a more rural life where I produce more of my own food. We are looking into CSA’s for the upcoming spring. At first my husband was very sad to see our food budget go up when we began organic–now, he is thinner and healthier and so are the kids–but it is a process–some of the groceries I used to get for free, I would not even have in my home this year. It is truly all balance and I know I can do better! PS: Costco offers some organic options that help us alot. I just have to cook more:)
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For those that need to drastically reduce their grocery budget QUICKLY due to lay off, or any other reason; I have 2 suggestions:
1- order groceries from your LOCAL http://www.angelfoodministries.com/
put in your zip code to find a pick up spot near you, typically at a local church. You can get about 1 weeks worth of groceries for $30. You can also use this service if you just don’t have the “time” to shop frugally. No income requirements, anyone can use this service.2- read the book Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy (be sure you get the updated version, 2009. You can order it here http://www.miserlymoms.com/jonnisbooks_updated.html or on amazon or you can check it out for FREE at your local library. She has tons of tips for getting the best deals at the grocery store and also how to save money in other areas as well. This book saved my family a ton of $ when we switched from two incomes to only one income.
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I have a question regarding groceries and budgeting in general. We are very new to all of this, but our situation is a little odd at the moment so any suggestions are welcome. My husband took a job in Chicago in Dec. My kids and I are still in SC. We are staying until the end of the school year. How do I budget for us and him, especially since I’m not there to control the money he is spending? He’s staying with family so we don’t have that cost, but he does have gas now, that we didn’t have before and other things he needs as they come up. Ideas would be helpful! Thanks so much!
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I am in a similar situation. My husband was transferred to California and we are staying here until the end of the school year. While he was here, I was spending around $35/week for our family of 4 (including food, toiletries, household, pet, diapers, etc… basically everything except gifts, clothes, electronics, and services). The reason my amount is so low is because I am a stay at home mom and kind of look at couponing and frugality as my job. With him being on his own, our amount has gone up because a) he does not coupon out there and b) doesn’t have the means to cook real meals for himself (which shouldn’t be a problem with your husband since he’s staying with family). What might help you if you have the time to do it is to look at all of the sale flyers on line for him (my husband won’t do it) for ALL of the stores in the area even the ones that may seem more expensive because who knows they might have a great sale that week. I then figure out which 2 stores have the best deals that week on things that he would eat (my husband eats a lot of fresh fruits and veggies, sandwiches, cereal, etc since he can’t cook besides in the microwave) and I make him a list. I also encourage him to do what we do in general… work with what you have and stuff that is on sale. And if there is a store like Aldis, that doesn’t require coupons. As far as toiletries go, I sent packed his trunk full of them when he left so that he won’t have to buy those until well after I get there. Also, if you have some simple recipes that use generally cheap ingredients, you could pass them along to him.
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I can barely hear you in these 🙁 I’ve got my volume turned all the way up and the volume on the video all the way up too?
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Oh my gosh. You are adorable! Great job on the video. I’m forwarding it on to my friends. Get better!
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Thank you for this series. It has been an encouragement especially in the new year. One of my goals for this year has been to get our budget under control. Your $20/person/week blew me away, not because it was too little though. I thought I was not doing well because we have 4 kiddos (one is a toddler) and I’m spending that on groceries, but then I saw that you didn’t mean to include toiletries and household products and I thought wow! I include diapers, paper products, and toiletries in our grocery budget! I’m so encouraged!!
It was great reading the other posts. Especially from those with teenagers. Gives me hope that we won’t go broke feeding these kiddos as they grow.
Thank you so much for all you do!!
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I hope you get over your cold soon. I don’t know why,but I had to turn my volume all the way up and could still barely hear your video.
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Thanks for another great video! Sorry about your head cold. 🙁 Grocery budgeting is something, I’ve been wanting to buckle down with for awhile now. My family is 4 people. 2 adults 2 munchkins. My ultimate goal is to have a budget of $400 per month (including the rare times we eat out, frequent trips to get milk, bread etc.) As always you are an inspiration!
😉 Feel better soon! -
I’d love to hear more about Basic H cleaner- you mentioned it in an above comment. I looked at the website and it sounds great. How long has the bottle lasted you and does it really clean that well?!
Love your videos!
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Thanks for still making the video for us ,while you’re sick. ☺
Blessings,
Kristine -
Hi Crystal. I’m very thankful for this video series. I’m an auditory learner for one. Secondly, I was in the process of trying to set a budget. Since both my spouse and I are pick up people (pick up stuff from the store daily) I had no idea what a realistic starting point was for groceries. Turns out, none of my friends know what they spend either! I got $20/person for groceries. I haven’t seen a starting point for house/personal care items. Would you also recommend $20/person for beginners?
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Is your make-up included in your grocery budget? I love that you gave a ballpark figure, and really, it seems about perfect for our family right now. Just watched the first three videos, and as much as I hate to admit it, I really needed the first one 🙂
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