9 Ways To Audit Your Grocery Spending And Save Money
Do you spend too much on groceries?
Across the internet, so many people tell you how much to spend on groceries. A family of three should spend this amount. They give you a dollar amount or percent of your take-home pay, and that’s how much you should spend on groceries.
Sometimes the target is hard to hit. Maybe you are buying the wrong things, shopping in the wrong store, or your meal plan isn’t working for you.
Or maybe you’re trying to live frugally and think you need to take a closer look at what you buy when you go grocery shopping.
If you’re one of the above, you may need to audit your grocery spending to learn what’s working for you and what’s not.
A grocery audit will tell you exactly what you are buying, not only what products, but whether they are generic, store brands, or sale items. Maybe you’re shopping in the wrong store. The objective is to save money on groceries.
A grocery audit is a close examination of where your grocery money is being spent and how it’s being spent. You will be surprised at how much money you can save because of what you learn while you examine your spending.
Audit Your Grocery Spending And Save Money.
The things we’ll look at are:
- Where do you shop and why?
- What do you have in your cupboards, and what doesn’t get used?
- Waste?
- Was that on your shopping list?
- Is that a store brand or generic?
- Was that on sale?
- Save money buying groceries in bulk?
- Are you using online shopping to your advantage?
Side note: If you conduct a groceriy audit. The results will help you to make a strategy to save money grocery shopping.
Where Do You Shop And Why?
Do you have a special store where you do the majority of your shopping? Or maybe you’re one of those who shop wherever your car stops.
Where you shop matters, there’re stores that specialize in discounts, for example, Walmart, Costco, Sams, Ruler Foods, and many others. Then there are stores that offer more variety but at a higher cost, Meyers, Schnucks, Publix, and Harris Teeter.
If you’re trying to save money on groceries and get your food budget down, it would be well worth your while to locate one of the discount grocery stores and do most of your shopping there. Avoid shopping at higher-end stores for greater savings.
Avoid shopping in convenience stores because the prices are higher. They don’t deal in the high volume and don’t get the discounts that stores that do deal in high volume. Therefore they can’t sell as inexpensively as the store that deals in high volume can.
The solution is
- Shop at discount stores
- Avoid shopping at convenience stores altogether.
What Do You Have In Your Cupboards and Pantry, And What Doesn’t Get Used?
Most people have food products in their cupboards and pantries that’s been there next to forever. The question is, why?
If your family doesn’t like that product. Be aware of what your family eats and what they don’t eat. Don’t buy food that your household won’t eat.
If you bought it and forgot about it, use it.
To have food lying around, that’s not going to be eaten is wasteful.
Waste
The average U.S. household wastes 31.9 percent of the food the other members contribute.
Wasting food is very expensive. But you already knew that. If your household is one of these households that wastes food, you need to stop. You need to find the reason for the waste and fix it. Here are some examples.
- They don’t like it.
- There’s too much made.
- People didn’t show up for the meals.
- Spoiled before it was used.
- Bought it and never used it.
In every case, a meal planner would help you to stop wasting food.
- At the end of a meal, you should package the food safely so you can use it later. Using leftover food should be a priority.
- Use a meal planner to stop waste.
Was That On Your Shopping List?
There’s a psychology that goes behind how a store is set up. Have you ever noticed candy and gum at the checkout lane? The management knows children and adults will see the display and lust after their favorite sweets and probably buy them.
It doesn’t stop there; the end caps (the beginning and end of the lanes) are where many stores have an attractive display to help customers locate commonly purchased items and promote special deals.
In the aisles, eye level high is where most name-brand items are. Usually, the cheaper and generic brands will be either above or below the name brands. Look up and look down.
Stores are also known to deliberately infuse the stores with “scent.” Whether it’s a rotisserie chicken, baked goods, or even flowers. It’s a subliminal advertisement that invokes nostalgic purchasing, which is often unnecessary.
Use your shopping list, but also be aware as hard as you are trying to save money. they are trying to get you to spend money.
The last shall be first, and the first shall be last. Start at the back of the store. When you begin from the front working your way to the back, you’ll pass by items you’d typically ignore. It’s on the double back when you’re making your way up to the front, and you see all these items again.
Something in your brain (I haven’t researched this yet), but there’s a reflex that makes you pop it in the cart without thinking twice. You’ll be more likely to purchase it if you see it too often. Save yourself the temptation; make a clean sweep once.
It’s important to know what you want and buy only that.
- Look above and below name-brand items to find comparable less expensive items.
- Begin from the back of the store and work your way to the front of the store.
- Pay attention to the smell of the store and desensitize your cravings.
Is That A Leading Brand Or Generic?
Leading brands are more expensive than generic or store brands. If you buy leading brands, you may be able to save money by switching to generics.
Unfortunately, some people believe generics aren’t as good as popular brands. I have found the opposite to be true. In most cases, the generic brand is as good or better than the store brand. At approximately 30% cheaper, it’s worth investigating.
Start small and buy a generic or store brand of your most commonly used food. For me, it was mac and cheese. Test it out: don’t tell your family members it’s generic, and see how they respond to the new version of one of their favorites.
Was That On Sale?
Almost everyone loves a deal. This is why many people buy a product that’s on sale even though they weren’t going to buy it anyway. (They had no plan to use it. It’s just on sale.)
When you buy something on sale, it’s important you buy the items you need or would normally purchase, not just because it’s on sale. It’s not necessarily going to be less than you would’ve spent for a cheaper version (generic) of the same item.
The only time I buy an item on sale is when I would have bought it anyway, and it’s less than what I would normally spend.
Buying like this keeps me from falling for the old, “but it was on sale, and I enjoy real savings” bit.
Driving across town to save money
I think I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up driving across town to save a few dollars.
The idea of frugal living is to give you freedom and not to make you a slave to chasing the dollar bill. This becomes a personal decision.
Is it worth your while to drive eight miles to save a dollar?
What if it’s on the way?
There was a time I would have driven out of the way to save anything. Things have changed since then, and I’m not willing to spend the money on gas.
Financially I am in a different place than I was then.
Depending on where you are financially, it may make sense to drive out of your way to save a little more.
Do You Buy In Bulk?
You can save money buying grocries in bulk. You have probably heard the term but don’t know what it means.
Simply put, you buy about twelve weeks of less expensive or generic items and save them for future use. You now have a supply of food you bought at on sale price or inexpensively and can enjoy the savings until you deplete your stock.
There’re many people that shop this way regularly, looking for what’s inexpensive and stocking up on it. They enjoy on-sale prices every time they eat at home.
- Take inventory of what you use the most and use bulk buying to save money.
Are You Eating Your Right Serving Size?
Overeating is a huge problem in America. Not only do you waste a lot of money on the consumption of more food than you need, but it also brings huge medical problems.
36.5 percent of adults are obese, and another 32.5 percent of adults are overweight.
17 percent of American children ages 2 to 19 are obese.
1 in 8 preschoolers are obese
If you are overweight, you’re at risk for dozens of diseases and conditions: type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and many others.
Provided by https://www.healthline.com/health/obesity-facts
The amount of fat you carry can be dangerous to your health. A good gauge is the Body Mass Index. This is a dependable way to determine the amount of fat you carry.
It’s easy to do at home and can save you lots of money in the future.
Eating correctly is important to your health and your pocketbook.
The other day a guy at work brought a large pizza to work for lunch. This pizza was large enough to serve several people, and he ate it all by himself.
I think we are all guilty of overeating from time to time (Thanksgiving and Christmas), but when we start to put on weight, we need to slow the eating down and get our weight back in check.
Are You Using Online Shopping To Your Advantage?
The pandemic was a real bummer; not only did it take lives, but it also left a stream of inflation and new norms like online shopping.
Apart from the less desired wake of COVID-19, there are advantages to online shopping that’ll keep money in your pocket and put you in control.
Generally, when you shop in a grocery store, you walk up and down the aisles, prey to sales, novelty items, impulse buying, and “see-food diets”.., everything you see that looks good, you wanna buy.
When you shop online, you make a list, check it twice and whatever’s on that list is what you’ll buy. You stick to your plan and avoid overspending.
Shopping in the store is such a hassle at times; you’re rushing from place to place and often don’t take the time to notice price differences at check-out. Lately, stores have been advertising one price, and when you scan the item, charging you another higher price. Online shopping devoids you from such experiences.
Smart online shopping takes the pressure off. There used to be a scenario where you’re shopping online, placing items in your cart, and when it’s time for check-out the items are gone. Well, thanks to customer surveys, most stores hold your items in the cart for you while as you shop; this way, you’re not turned off by the possibility of not getting what you needed.
You can use this to your advantage to avoid impulse buys. Sometimes that wait or hold is exactly what you need to determine a need, want, or maybe overspending. When you’re in a store, the pressure is on: you’re here in the moment, and that’s all that matters; then you make an emotional choice based on FOMO (fear of missing out)