How to stick to a low grocery budget

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After 8 years of living on one income, I have learnt a thing or two about keeping our grocery budget low. And today I wanted to share 7 tips to help you do the same!

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So here’s 7 things I would recommend doing if you are living on one income. Whether that is what you do all the time or something you have to do for a season, it is doable!

Eat out less. I know you might enjoy eating out, but it is just very expensive and does not work on a low budget. So make it your goal to make delicious meals from home and to not rely as much on take out. Does that mean you can never order anything? Well, that depends on your budget obviously. But if you really enjoy takeout, try creating a budget for it as well and save up for it.
Create a meal plan. Plan 5-7 meals that you can eat that week. You can plan every single thing you want to eat, or just plan dinners. But having a meal plan will save you so much money! Not only do you buy less; because you only buy what’s needed for that week instead of all the things that sound good.. It also helps you to cook from home and keep things as cheap as possible. I love to create a list of 5-7 dinners (depending on what we have in our schedule that week) and have all the ingredients at hand for those meals. Every single day we pick something from the list that either needs to be eaten due to ingredients, or just because we feel like it.
Look at your fridge and pantry. What are some things you need to use up? Do you have some ingredients that will go bad soon? Do you have a ton of canned beans that you just never grab, but might expire soon? Make sure you know what you have and use it in your mealplan. If you already have an item, you might as well use it and save some money!
Look at the deals at your favorite stores. What are some good deals that you could use in your meal plan? Maybe you have some items in your fridge that need to be finished that pair well with a sale item. If there are some things you can stock up for a good deal, do that as well! I love stocking up on favourite items when they are on sale!
Focus on low budget meals that are delicious to eat. Things don’t have to be expensive to taste great! Which is why I created this e-book!
Have a leftover day. Make leftovers fun! I usually cook a recipe for 6 people. Depending on what it is, we will have some leftovers. I just put it in a container and store it in the fridge or freezer. Then, every Thursday, we collect all the leftovers and turn it into a new meal or have it as it is. Every week someone else gets the first choice. If it is not enough, we will have a salad or some dinner rolls on the side.
Buy where the item is the cheapest. In order to make sure I purchase items in the store where it is actually the cheapest, I use this system: I create a grocery list in the name brand store app and add in everything I need for all the meals. I then look at what the total will be. Is it below budget? Great, I can add in some staples and stock up on them. Think about pasta, pasta sauce, rice, beans, canned veggies, etc. Are you over budget? Take out some of the items that you already have in storage. Again; the pasta, sauce, etc. Still over budget? Look at ways you can make the meals cheaper. Skip the Parmesan on top, add in one veggie instead of two different ones? Reduce the amount of meat and substitute with something cheaper. Or you can make your own! Our favourite things to make is bread items. When you do all that and you are still over budget, you might have a budget that is just unachievable. Setting a budget of $50 per week for 10 people will never work no matter how hard you try.. So make sure it is realistic!

These tips have helped our family for over 8 years now, because that is when we decided that I would be a stay at home mom, and we would live on one income. If we were able to make it work, so will you!