|
Feeding a Family on $300 a Month
If you only had $300
a month to spend on groceries for a family of four,
could you do it? What sort of food would make the list
and what would stay tauntingly on the store's shelves?
Whatever your reason for having a tight
budget, the truth is that going to the grocery store
without a plan is a BIG budget breaker. And sadly all
that cash ends up vanishing into our stomachs and then...let's
stop there.
Could you save $25 a month on groceries?
How about $50 or $100? Possibly you could cut your bill
by almost 50% if you consider some of the following
suggestions:
First you must divide the budget you
have into three categories; weekly, bi-weekly and monthly.
Once you have the totals fixed, try to find a way to
make it work. If you budgeted too tight, only then consider
how much more you really need to spend.
Second, identify your WEEKLY needs;
milk, bread, fruits. These will be your saving graces
when the troops are hungry. You can load up every week
and always have a healthy snack available. Think about
$15/week.
Third, identify your BI-WEEKLY needs;
eggs, cheese, vegetables, meat and cheese for sandwiches
etc. These items have a slightly longer shelf life but
you will watch how much you use when you know there's
still four days until your next purchase. Try $20 every
two weeks.
Fourth, get the remainder of your groceries
in one place. Use cash to pay (to avoid temptation of
over spending) and work out your shopping list ahead
of time. You only need to do this once as many of the
items (Cereal, meat etc.) will need to be repurchased
each time. Other items (sugar, flour etc.) may be substituted
every other month. In this example you have $200 left.
Fifth, have a schedule of meals that
you can rotate. Cheap, healthy meals like stir fry can
be inexpensive as they use less meat than full pieces
of chicken or beef for dinner. Plan to have a meat meal
offset by a simpler dish like pasta every other night.
This way your family will not go through 'feast-and-famine'
when they eat like kings the first week and are eating
canned chili every night for the last week.
Always determine your meals based on
what you really plan to cook. If you have easy weeknight
staples, try to find the cheapest method of preparing
them, or make do with less pre- packaged affair on other
nights when you have more time. Using items like frozen
vegetables can make eating cheap also healthy and convenient.
Clearly the $300 suggestion will depend
on your family, the age of your children and how much
your budget really allows. Whatever your budget, taking
the time to draw up a plan and think about your choices
will guarantee that you keep more cash in your wallet
for other important things.
1howto.com
--------------------------------------------------
Please
Share Your Tips with Us
|
