“Costs have doubled for food. How do I budget when there’s nothing else to cut?” -a follower
I got this question awhile back on Instagram and I know this follower is not the only person feeling this. In this post, I want to share some encouragement for how to approach the rising costs of groceries…
1. Don’t Let the Media Dictate Your Beliefs
The goal of media is to get viewers. Viewers equal income. The more people who view, the more money advertisers will pay.
Guess what this often means? The media often relies upon sensationalism, hype, and fear as, sadly, this drives up viewership.
Just because a media website or TV personality is saying with authority and shock value, “Groceries have gone up by 50%!!!” does not mean that is necessarily true. Yes, many items have gone up in price, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find any grocery store that has literally marked up every single one of their items by 50%.
So don’t let what you hear from the media dictate what you believe or incite fear. Do your own research and verify; don’t just blindly give into the hype and sensationalism and fear that often can be out there.
2. Choose Your Attitude
There will always be hard and frustrating things in life. There will always be good and beautiful things. We get to choose what we focus on.
We can either throw up our hands in despair over rising costs or we can choose to let it fuel our creativity. It’s your choice.
Stressing out or feeling frustrated does nothing to solve problems or help you. It only wastes a lot of mental energy.
I challenge you to choose to say, “I’m going to do the best I can with the resources, time, and ability I have. I’m going to approach my grocery budget with a can do, creative attitude and see how well we can eat with the grocery budget we have to work with.”
3. Do a Grocery Inventory
Take a good hard look at your grocery spending. Where are you spending the most money?
For instance, if you are spending a lot of money on produce, what about buying more of the items that are on sale or are regularly lower in cost instead of buying a big variety of items. We oftentimes will only buy 2-4 kinds of produce (whatever is on a good sale/marked down) and just eat a lot of that that week.
Or, if you are spending a lot on meat, try going meatless once a week or having meat as something you serve as a “condiment” not as the main thing (think meals like pizza, soup, sprinkled on salad).
If you are spending a lot on dairy, water down your milk for baking. Drink more water. Use less cheese. Cut back on sour cream use. Make your own yogurt.
4. Plan Your Menu Based Upon What’s on Sale
Instead of planning your menu based upon what sounds good, plan based upon what’s on sale. Look at the front page of your store’s sale flier — that’s usually where they advertise the “loss leaders”.
These are the sale items that the store is taking a loss or breaking even for you to purchase. The store is expecting that those loss leaders will lure you into the store to shop and then you’ll fill up your cart with all sorts of full-priced items, too.
Be a savvy shopper and mostly plan your menu upon those items that are on the lowest prices versus full-priced items and you’ll save a lot of money on your grocery bill!
Want to step up your savings even more? Plan your menu based upon what you already have on hand (check your cupboards/freezer/pantry) when planning a menu and grocery list.
5. Go Back to the Basics
Use this time of higher prices to motivate you to try some new things. Are you buying anything pre-packaged that you could easily make from scratch? Are you using mixes instead of making your own mixes?
Add more beans, rice, potatoes, and pasta to your meals. Make homemade soup and bread. Stick with more simple meals that have inexpensive ingredients.
Pay attention to how much your favorite meals cost approximately and eat more of the meals that are lower in cost. Look into the cost of buying in bulk from places other than the grocery store.
6. Practice the Buy Ahead Principle
Instead of pay full-price for items, try to buy the bulk of your groceries when they are at their lowest price. Designate a portion of your grocery budget to buying ahead for future weeks.
Start out with just $5-$10 to buying ahead. Look for items that are at least 50% off or more that you regularly use and buy enough for an extra week or two.
The more you do this, the more you’ll be able to plan your menu based upon what you already have on hand — and those things you have on hand will be things you’ve gotten for pennies on the dollar! And this will free up even more money in your grocery budget to dedicate to buying ahead even more!
What is your best advice and tips for someone feeling like the rising costs of groceries are making it hard for them to stick with their grocery budget?
Great advice! One thing that would hep is to plant your own garden and can your food. You can plant a small garden in raised beds, This does not take up too much from and is easier to take care of. Can use 5 gallon buckets. This can save a lot of money and you know exactly what you are eating
Really great suggestions in this article. I strongly agree with shopping your pantry, fridge and freezer first. What do you have that will make a meal or make part of a meal? Start your meal plan there. Get creative with what you have. Meals do not have to look Pinterest ready. They simply need to feed the hungry people at your house. Look at unexpected places to find good prices. Our Dollar Tree is now the Dollar-Twenty-five Tree but I can get 2 pounds of rice for 1.25. That’s much, much cheaper than the price at the grocery store. Buy Nothing Groups and local gleaning groups can be places to find food, as well.
Lastly, if your money is not stretching to feed your family because of lack of income, high medical bills, etc, PLEASE consider using your local food bank or food pantry. There is absolutely no shame in needing help with food. Food banks are there to support families and get food into hungry bellies.
Great tips! I am plant based and gluten free. So I buy a lot of produce and it is very expensive. For the gluten free, I just buy things that are naturally gluten free and avoid all the processed foods/specialty items marked gluten free. For pasta , I buy Barilla Red Lentil Rotini and it’s usually only $2.99 per box. Other gluten free pastas can be more expensive. I buy lots of bananas and cut them up and freeze them and use them in smoothies for breakfast. All I need is a bag or 2 of frozen fruit and the bananas and water and done. I buy potatoes and rice as well. For the produce, I recently tried Misfits Market. There is no fee to join and you can skip orders or cancel all together. Each week they will recommend items that are on sale and you can go in and remove items or add other items. For me I have to place my order my Friday at 8pm and it arrives on Monday. The only thing is you have to remember to go online and check your order or skip it entirely or you will get a shipment of their suggestions for that week. Prices are up to 40% less than the grocery store. And most things are organic which for me is important. When you do place an order, you have to spend $30 to take advantage of Flat rate shipping if 6.99. So far, other than a couple of bruised apples I’ve been very happy with it and it is saving me money. And I told them about the apples and they refunded me right away!
Hi, for GF pasta, I try to catch the 15% off food sales at Vitacost. If you spend $49, it’s free shipping. They carry the Tinkyada brand of GF pasta which is my favorite and some of them would be less than $2.99 when it’s on sale. The best is when they have sales on specific brands + the 15% off sale and it stacks. I’ve saved a fortune on expensive GF flours and mixes that way. They just ended one of their 15% off sales so it may be a couple of months before there’s another one but there’s always some kind of sale. Vitacost is owned by Kroger now.
With so many things becoming more expensive, it can seem impossible to get everything to pencil out. This is such a helpful article on other ways to make the most of grocery shopping dollars. One almost counterintuitive thing that helped me was to order groceries online (saving me time from actually shopping), pickup the groceries (decided this was better than the cost of delivery), and then do meal prep. This allowed me many hours of time savings! Time can be just as valuable as actual money because then your time is freed up to MAKE money. Anyway, just thought I’d mention this idea in case it helps anyone out there 🙂
I try to save by making a meal last two days I’m single I cook for myself don’t cook all the time but when I do love small meals buying the walmart brand grocery’s you save a lot in your pocket
I have been following your blog for awhile. I went to Aldi on Saturday. My bag of gala apples was $3 instead of $1.25. I hate that our prices are not the same. But I guess the point is that I need to shop for what is on sell and eat that. Thank you for how hard you work to help encourage moms to save money.
Yes, Aldi prices sometimes vary around the country and they change weekly. I’ve not seen $1.25/bag apples, but I think my sister found some in one of her shopping trips recently. They are usually around $3/bag here!
Great tips. I’ve looked at items we were duplicating and looked for alternatives. In coffee he used 1/2 & 1/2 and me HWC. We went back to canned evaporated milk for both of us. Also found a salvage grocery store and have gotten some great deals on meat for the freezer.
I’ve been using Walmart grocery pick up a lot because we don’t have many options where I live. I like that I can see my total before I check out- then I can go back and see what we can do without to stay within budget. Also, having a leftover night once a week is a good idea. Even if the meal you piece together with leftovers doesn’t really make sense! It always feels good to eat up the leftovers and it’s like a “free” night.
Great article . I really enjoyed everyones tips.Very helpful
Don’t forget about eggs. They are a great source of protein. A dozen eggs are much cheaper than a pound of hamburger. 10 eggs have about the same amount of protein as one pound of hamburger.
Great tip! Thanks for that reminder!! -Olivia, MSM Team
See a large piece of meat, a turkey, a ham, a brisket, a roast on sale and think it’s too expensive to fit into that weeks budget? Consider cutting it up and making multiple meals and freezing for later use. If it has a bone, consider making bone broth with it. Not only is it a great way of utilizing what you have, but nutritious as well.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing that tip! -Olivia, MSM Team
Leftover buffets! For some reason I used to think having leftovers meant we all had the same thing. But leftover buffets help clear a fridge of things that normally get thrown away, which saves money.
Dress up leftover chicken:
Heat 1/4 cup butter, 1 tsp paprika, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt. Once everything is dissolved in butter, add leftover cut up chicken. If you don’t want it saucy, increase heat. I normally heat on medium to medium-high for 10 minutes or on low until my vegetables are done. Perfect over rice, in a tortilla as a wrap, or by itself.
Snacky dinners. I got this idea from you!
BOGO sales have helped me, and they usually are cyclical at the stores I shop at. Keeping an eye out for those helps!
Wow, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing! That leftover chicken dish sounds so yummy! -Olivia, MSM Team
Leftover Buffet sounds more appealing than what we call leftover. Tuesday nights are “MUST-GO’S”! 🤣
Even hearing from other people how they handle upgoing prices is such a support! Knowing I am not alone. I can think of this when I (impatiently) learn how to make bread! Planning on buying my first batch of flower from a mill nearby tomorrow. I want to bake bread in the weekends.
Oh I’m so glad it encouraged you!! I hope your bread is a success! Homemade bread is the BEST, and if you need a good recipe, Crystal has some of my favorite recipes on her website! -Olivia, MSM Team
Buy produce that’s in-season.
Try swapping pricier meats to cheaper cuts; or even switch to cheaper proteins, such as chicken or beans.
Those are great tips! Thanks for sharing! -Olivia, MSM Team
Produce prices have been going up for a while where I live. However, in the summer and early fall, I was able to nab some great deals on locally grown produce at certain family-owned farm-stands.
Yay for great deals on locally grown produce! I LOVE buying from family-owned farm stands! -Olivia, MSM Team
I love the part about having a correct attitude! I also have a unique strategy – the main motive is NOT to save money but it sure helps. I do intermittent fasting a lot of days for weight loss and it is good for health and building your immune system. Certain people are not supposed to fast so for anyone wanting to try this, do your research. A lot of days I eat only two meals and one snack. Compared to three meals and two or three snacks a day, I save quite a bit of money.
Thanks so much for sharing, Chris!! -Olivia, MSM Team
You seem to frequently find and buy marked down items. I also do this but never find so many items in one trip. I would think these deals would be grabbed up quickly by others. I know that some stores like wegmans donates a lot of food so rarely any mark downs. Aldi has good prices but no markdowns. Tops has the best sales but regular prices are higher.
I think often it depends on what time of day you shop! At my local stores, the best deals are in the morning! And I have found great meat markdowns at Aldi, although I don’t shop there as often as other stores. -Olivia, MSM Team
Get a list of 10-20 long-lasting pantry items that you use a lot of. Learn what a regular price is, a sale price, and a never-going-to-beat that price would be. When it hits the rock bottom of the price list buy a year’s worth of it. I’ll do this with stuffing mixes, au gratin potato boxes, canned veggies, butter, oats, tuna, rice, beans, molasses, spaghetti sauce…
I like your idea of having 10-20 items, as doing it for all groceries feels overwhelming to me.
Yes Katy- this an excellent idea. I have felt overwhelmed by price lists in the past and this just seems so much more achievable!
Great ideas!! -Olivia, MSM Team
Great tips! I’ve been planning my weekly menus on whatever protein I find on sale for years now. It’s really a great way to save money. Sometimes the stores will mark down their meats at the beginning of the week if they have them going out of code soon. I usually cook a few different meals at once from the jumbo packs of chicken and ground beef. I then portion and freeze the rest. Also freezing any leftovers no matter how small a portion, really adds up after awhile. I use them in soups and stir fry’s.
Thanks so much for sharing those great tips! -Olivia, MSM Team
Invest in food preservation items and learn how to use them properly (a small pressure canner, a dehydrator, etc). Then, when you find fantastic deal on perishable items, but don’t have a lot of fridge/freezer space, or know you won’t be able to eat it before it turns, you can quickly preserve it in a small batch or two for a later date.
Those are great tips! Thanks for sharing! -Olivia, MSM Team
Love these tips!
In my area of MN there is a food share distribution called Ruby’s Pantry. Once a month you go and get a share of food for $22, the share is worth over $100 typically. You get a meat, produce and bread every time with everything else changing. You have to wait in line and the food is normally close dated but well worth it! There is no income requirement either if you eat you qualify is their saying. I recommend looking for things like that in your area. Added bonus other then saving money is getting stuff I never buy in store, granola bars, pop, ect and trying new stuff. I received 2 spaghetti squash this fall and learned we really like them.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I went to one of Ruby’s Pantry pop up sites today because of your comment and am so thankful for all that we got- an amazing deal!!
Our prices have gone up a good bit here in Texas and I have noticed some things haven’t gone on sale like they have in the past (no sale pie crusts or cranberries at Costco this fall season.) However, generally our grocery loss leaders are still good prices and similar to what they have been in the past, so I am sticking to those and stocking up when prices are great.
My biggest thing I am doing right now is using up all the random old stuff in my pantry and freezer and making as many “free” meals as possible…. a bag of dried lentils that is a couple years old and a venison roast leftover from last season, canned fruit, frozen veggies, etc. It also is helping to reorganize and clean out the pantry and freezer, so double win there.
We are also adjusting our school lunches (which we pack and take) to do PB&J once-twice a week instead of meat and cheese every day. No one is a fan of PB&J at our house, but it helps to have a pep talk and remind everyone of goals (family vacation this summer.)
#6 works best if you have storage space and actually use the items. One of our best purchases recently was a set of free-standing pantry shelves we put in our basement. Not only is there more room, but we are able to keep like items together and rotated so the oldest is in front.
Another big budget help for us is to not waste food—a no brainer, right? However, it can be hard for me to remember to use up the odds and ends of ingredients for cooking others meal, or eat leftovers before they go bad. We plan regular leftover nights or I often make soup with the meat and veggie leftovers from other meals.
Plus, when buying ahead, I make sure to check the expiration date and only buy what we can eat before then.
This is a great article!!!
Yay!! Thank you! -Olivia, MSM Team
I agree!! -Olivia, MSM Team
If you have the time it can help to keep a list of the best price you found on an item (especially something you eat regularly like meat.) I’ve noticed my grocery stores marking stuff “on sale” that’s not actually a good price. Hamburger used to run $3-3.50/lb and $2 on sale. Now it’s marked $4-4.5/lb and advertised “on sale” at $3. So shopping that sale won’t keep you at your original budget. But once every two months or so it’s on sale closer to the $2.
I’ve seen that with a lot of products. Most of the sales bring the item down to the pre-inflation normal price. But if I’m patient the sale will drop further every so often. Then I try to buy in bulk.
Keeping a list of the best price can help you know whether a sale is actually good.
That’s a great idea to keep track of the best price! Thank you! -Olivia, MSM Team
This is all great advice! Other ideas:
Frozen vegetables and fruits are just as (if not more!) nutritious as fresh, and keep much much longer. You are also usually only paying for the part you actually eat, as things like frozen strawberries have the tops already removed. It can also cut down on preparation if you need to save time and allow you to have more of what you and your family enjoy.
Consider letting others you know you are looking to stretch your food budget. Others may have food to offer, a garden to share, or local to you tips/tricks they know that are specific to your area.
If you have a child in school, try to take advantage of the current free lunch for all students. Some schools or programs even offer grab and go meals for students that are too young to be enrolled or are remote. Schools will be reimbursed for these meals and helps reduce the stigma for all students!
If you are a senior citizen, try reaching out to your local Senior Center or Elder Services. Many are offering free grab and go meals, or may also have ideas on how to obtain lower cost food. Subscribing to their newsletter or looking on their website may also offer some insight into what is available.
Great ideas!!
Thanks so much for sharing all those great tips! -Olivia, MSM Team
Frozen vegetables get frezzer burn after 4 or 5 months, even on the lowest setting. I think canned vegetables store longer. Great ideas though.
I’ve been doing #6 for a while now. It’s great advice and really does make a difference.