Living on a budget part 1:

I get asked constantly how we live on one income with three kids and my usual off the cuff remark is “I’m cheap!”,  and I am. But I also follow a very tight budget. I have found throughout the years that groceries are always the biggest “budget sucker” for us because lets face it, food is expensive!! Especially when you have two out of three kids who have allergies and can’t eat most of the foods that have coupons. So my first part of budgeting will be dedicated to grocery shopping!

These are the tricks I have found to keep our grocery bill as low as possible while still eating healthy, allergy friendly foods 🙂

1) Set an amount:

I went so long without actually setting an exact amount for groceries each month. I would just accept whatever amount came up at the register during check out and wouldn’t give it much thought, until I would look at the bank account and think “Where did all the money go?!”  So one day I sat down with my bank statement and went through each purchase, and totaled up our groceries. I was so blown away to see we were spending twice the amount that I had originally thought. I knew we over spent on food on occasion, but this was clearly more than that. I was determined to make some big changes. Starting with an exact amount that would be dedicated to groceries each month out of our monthly income. I then divided that by 4 (we shop weekly).

2) Use Cash:

I never used to have cash on me. I relied on my bank card every where I went. But after setting a specific amount for each week I knew that the best way to stick to that budget was to bring only that amount to the store.  I have found that if I go to the store without my card, and with only cash, I am much more mindful with the purchases I am about to make, and less likely to grab items I simply do not need. Plus let’s be honest being “that girl” who doesn’t have enough money to pay for the groceries sitting in bags at the register is not super fun. So in order to avoid that, I make a list… And stick to it!

3) Make a list:

If you do the majority of your shopping at Wegmans I strongly recommend making your list on the Wegmans app. Not only will they give you a price for each item which helps you stay within your budget, (except for the bulk items and meat because those vary depending on pound) but they also give you the aisle where you can find it!! For me this is huge for two reasons, a) if I go, I have kids with me, who never want to be there and often make that known, and I can only stand so many of those disapproving looks from the old ladies who clearly forgot how it is to bring 3 kids to the store… and b) if I have Mike go he knows exactly what he needs to buy and where to find it, which decreases the amount of frustrated phone calls I get from him asking what he was supposed to get again or where something is. 😉

Other stores like Aldi’s and Tops also have a phone app that you can make your list on. All of these stores offer their weekly flyers on the app as well, which is helpful for price comparing and coupon combinations. I am sure just about all stores have this option, although I have not found one for Trader Joes. They do have what they call the “fearless flyer” which gives you the current store specials, along with some informative stories to go along with it (those of you who have subscribed to their flyer knows what I am talking about 🙂

Which leads me to my next suggestion:

4) Meal planning:

This is huge!! This will not only save you money but also time, both at the store and every night as you’re staring into your fridge asking “what should I make tonight???” With meal planning, you already know! And if you followed your list the ingredients should already be in your fridge and cupboards.* I can post an example of a month worth of meals and grocery lists if anyone’s interested :)* I have found that mentally planning meals does NOT work. It has to be written down, cross referenced with your shopping list to be really effective.

5) Plant your own garden!!

This saved us so much money this summer/fall. Now I know here in NY this is only a temporary fix because we only have a few months of good gardening weather but those few months are worth it! Not only because you’re saving a bunch of money then but because you can also freeze just about anything!! Here it is January and I am still using the peppers and onions that I chopped up and froze back in July. Not only that but the kids LOVED helping with the garden. And what’s better than fresh fruits and veggies?!! *I will do a tutorial this spring for those of you who are interested but have never planted a fruit/vegetable garden before*

When the winter seasons hit, buy frozen!! This will not just save you money (because frozen fruits and veggies are cheaper than fresh) but they also are more nutritious!! Dont believe me? Read here for more info: http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/fresh_vs_frozen_vegetables_are_we_giving_up_nutrition_fo

When vegetables are in-season, buy them fresh and ripe, and preferably locally! There are so many great fruit and veggie stands around here plus its perfect for adding in any fruits or veggies you may not have grown that year in your own garden. As for “Off-season,” studies shown frozen vegetables will give you a high concentration of nutrients.

6) Coupons:

Now again I’ll be honest, I don’t have as much luck with coupons as some, I would love to get better at this and have followed a few different blogs on how to do so. I do use some, my awesome grandma gives me hers from the Sunday paper 🙂 which are helpful. I also do some online couponing from sites like coupons.com, and Tops offers coupons on their www3.topsmarkets.com/retailers/767/coupons  but again a lot of what we eat are all natural and organic and unfortunately they don’t usually offer very many coupons for these items 🙁

But I do use a few different apps that I have been able to find foods we do eat, that actually pay you for just taking a picture of your receipt! The first is Ibotta https://ibotta.com/r/b2xevq– How it works- Download the app, then after shopping, tap the redeem button, take a picture of your receipt, and verify your purchases and you get cash back! As simple as that! And even better, If the store is an Ibotta preferred partner your just simply link your loyalty card to Ibotta before you go shopping, and then at checkout, swipe your loyalty card just like you normally would, and it links to your Ibotta account! They even payout to a paypal account so its instant $$ once you have reached $10.00 (which is actually really easy to do). With this app if you refer people you get money just for referring them!! So full disclosure I will make money if you use my link above and sign up under me 🙂 Plus there are teamwork bonuses! So try it out today!! Why not make money off of groceries you are already going to buy?!

The other one that is super easy to use is,  check out 51. Which you follow the same idea, of uploading your receipts and getting cash back. How easy is that?!

7) And as the saying goes: Don’t shop hungry or else this happens:

Thanks for reading!! Hope you found these tips helpful!

Stay tuned for more Budgeting tips!

XO Nicole

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