Frugal Friday - The Great Grocery Challenge!
Hosted by Biblical Womanhood
Yes, the challenge is on! I’ve been thinking and planning about our financial goals this year. I do not work outside the home, and never have, so my main goals in our finances have been in the area of stretching the income my husband provides. The one area I have most control over is the grocery budget. I used to be really good at this! I can say this because it really is a case of “used to be”!!! Over the past five years or so, I haven’t been as diligent as I used to be, and this year that is going to change.
Now we all know to make very specific goals…. my goal was to spend as little as possible on groceries this year! 
Not specific enough. I’ve been umming and ahhing about what my goal was going to be. I have $200 a week in our budget, but that was just pulling a number out of the air. I know I can do way better than that. So I thought of $150 a week. But that is not low enough to prove a challenge to me - LOL! So I have come up with $100 a week.
Just in case you think this is another totally random number, let me tell you how I came up with it:
Firstly, I know this is possible to do in Australia because Lightening can do it! Check out her blog for a series of excellent posts on how to reduce your grocery budget.
Secondly, I grow as much as I can myself, which, although it is not much at the moment, still does help. At the moment this is just salad veggies. I hope to soon have chickens so that we can have lovely fresh eggs, and we will also be growing our own lamb soon. At the moment we get our lamb from the in-laws farm, which either costs nothing or very little.
Thirdly, I buy a lot in bulk. A lot of our expenses in the grocery budget over the past years has been from buying ready made things, like cookies, pasta, mixes, etc. With the great prices I get for our bulk staples, and with just a little effort (or a lot!) I KNOW I can reduce my grocery budget drastically.
Last, but not least, it is motivating to set a lower challenge, as long as it is still somewhat realistic. $50 a week would definitely be unrealistic!
With all this in mind, I also plan to make grocery savings part of our whole family life. I want the children involved in this as well. They too easily look at the specials catalogues and say, “Look Mum! Chips are on special! We need some!” (Note the emphasis on NEED!!!) We should all be a part of watching what we spend. I want to teach the children that it is cheaper (and nicer) to bake our own cakes and cookies - from scratch - which will cut down expenses and also the waste that comes with all that packaging.
The grocery budget is the main area where we keepers at home can make a big difference. Do you know how much you have been spending on average on groceries? Will you join with me in setting a goal for 2008 to spend less than last year? The first key in spending less is to set yourself a target amount that you will aim for. Remember the saying, “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it.”
January 11th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I began doing this last year and it makes a major difference in your grocery bill. Menu planning, sales planning and coupon shopping cut my grocery bill in half!
January 11th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I have brought my grocery bill down from about $150 a week to less than $30 (on average). I know in the US you can do better than in other places, but lowering your bill is possible, if you are diligent and creative. Good luck!
January 11th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I love that you grow as much of your food as you can! We always have a large garden and do the same! I would love to have animals too, but we live in town. We do buy our eggs, milk and meat from local farmers and - YUM!
Keep up the good work on lowering your food budget!
January 12th, 2008 at 3:57 am
We definitely need to set a weekly amount. Right now we just try to spend as little as possible. Good post!
January 12th, 2008 at 6:23 am
Last year my budget (for two, in the USA) was $50 a week, and I began couponing and hitting sales to make it possible. Now I have a good stockpile of basics built up, so at the beginning of the year I brought the budget down to $40 a week. We’re still teetering just over that new budget, but I hope that I’ll be able to stick to it soon!
I try to include one “splurge” item every week — like a special cheese or exotic fruit — so we don’t feel like we’re scrimping too hard. It really helps morale!
January 13th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Thank you for the post. We are trying to save more on groceries too. Soon we have to figure out how we can afford our regular groceries, PLUS organic food because we are going to introduce solids to our baby soon. Yikes! I hope we can work it out!
January 13th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
have you thought about doing a meat free evening once a week, there are some awesome vegetarian meals out there that are so much cheaper and better for you that the usual, it might save you $10 on meat depending how you eat and how many are in your family, making your own desserts too like rice pudding, buy fruit that is in season - go to the markets at the end of the morning close to closing time and everything is heaps cheaper - just remember to buy what you need - not just cause it is half price
January 14th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I look forward to hearing how it goes. Any reduction is a move in the right direction. Thanks for the link and mention of my blog. It’s much appreciated. I’m planning to resume my writing on that series when the kids go back to school.
January 27th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Thank you all for the encouraging comments to our grocery challenge and for the tips! It really helps to have others who are working at the same thing. I’ll give an update soon, I’m afraid I’m a bit behind with posting!
Love,
Joy