Ballin' On a (Grocery) Budget

When it comes to spending money as a person in their 20s, we prioritize saving it (or at least try to lol).

When creating a budget there are always those fixed expenses that we will have when spending our money. One of them is food. This is an expense that we know we have to spend our money on, but the way we approach that can either break the bank or save our dollars.

Keep reading to find action steps you can take to practice smart spending when it comes to grocery hauls.

Plan Ahead

This is the major key to saving money on groceries. Create a list of your meals, snacks, and needs for the week. Once you have the list, make sure it is itemized. If you are making stir fry for dinner write out your ingredients (peppers, onions, corn, mushrooms, chicken/shrimp/steak, rice/quinoa) so that you have no hesitation or debate when you are in the store and do not forget what you came for.

If you are old school, write it all down on a piece of paper and bring that with you. Otherwise create a note on your phone you can use once to go off of.

Stick to the Outside (Aisles)

The way that grocery stores are laid out is all produce, meat, and dairy is on the outer aisles while most processed, packaged food are on the inside.

Sticking to the outside of the aisles will not only help you buy and focus on whole foods, but it will remove the distraction (and price tags) of all those crackers, cookies, and junk on the inside and help you focus on what you need, not what you want.

Trust me, there are items on my grocery list that are found on those inner aisles. So, pick what you want from there, just be mindful and build most of your grocery list around whole foods.

Don't Shop Hungry

If you're anything like me, being hangry never ends well... especially when you're surrounded by food.

Plan your grocery shopping for a time of the day that you will not make any impulse purchases because you are hungry in the moment. This will help you buy what you came to buy and not what you want to tear open as soon as you get home from the store.

Buy Only What You Need

We've all been there when Sunday rolls around and we throw out the unopened bag of spinach that we promised ourselves we would eat but now its gone bad.

If you're a person who likes to go out to eat a lot, don't by yourself groceries for 7 days out of the week. Or, if you buy a bunch of groceries be sure to pick and choose which meals you are going to spend your money on when going out to eat.

Save Those Hard Earned Dollars

We all work hard to make a living for ourselves as young adults, so don't make poor decisions or repeat patterns of overspending on groceries when those dollars can go to your next Vodka Soda on a Saturday night.

If you enjoyed my tips and something resonated with you, that's amazing you're doing great sweetie! If you want more or are interested in what other areas of health I can help you with, sign up for a free Health Consultation on my website!