Grocery Shopping on $50 a Month: How I Turn a Tight Budget into a Fun Game

At present, my husband and I live on a $50 per month grocery budget. Yes, this works out to $12.50 per week, although I shop every two weeks.

It sounds crazy, but we make it work. Knowing that this is temporary is a major help. So are coupons, store flyers and a local farm. So how do we manage to live well and healthfully on such a seemingly small budget?

First of all, we know that all things come from God. We know that he desires to bless his children and will always provide for our every need. So before I look at store flyers or enter the grocery store, I pray and ask for his blessing and provision. I ask him to show me the things he has for us and to show me how to wisely use the money I have to gather the most for my family.

Second, I turn it into a game. How much can I get for $25 or less? Because we like to stop at a local farm stand on our way home from church on Sundays, I try to spend under $25 so I have some left over to buy local produce. I usually spend $5-$10 at the stand and get quite a lot. This means while I'm at the grocery store I have to aim for even lower than what I know I have. By turning it into a game it makes it an interesting challenge. Plus, it puts me in a better mood than if I go in all depressed thinking I have "only" this much and everything costs so much more. I find much better deals and pay attention better with a positive attitude.

Another thing I do is clip coupons. Yes, I'm one of those coupon ladies. It really helps! I know some people think that buying store brand is cheaper than name brand, even with coupons. Yes, sometimes that is true. But when I combine the coupon with a sale, I can match store brand price, and often go much lower. For example, recently Kraft 8oz. shredded cheese was on sale two for $4, or $2 a bag. This is already a good deal because the cheapest I can find shredded cheese without a sale is $1.98 for the Wal-Mart brand. I also had two 50-cents off one bag of Kraft cheese coupons, making the cheese $1.50 a bag, or 48-cents lower than the store brand!

This does mean, however, that I have to pay attention to the store flyers. The flyers and the coupons go hand-in-hand. I can't just do one without the other or I'll either miss out on a good deal or waste money. I compare the flyers against each other to see who has the best deals and then add my coupons in. Because Wal-Mart price matches, I do the majority of my shopping there. If Winn-Dixie is having a sale on yogurt but Publix has the best deal for frozen vegetables and Sweetbay has the lowest price for orange juice, instead of driving all over town to go to these stores, I pile up my flyers and take them all to Wal-Mart. I usually separate the items I'm price matching and put them at the end of my line of items at check-out. I notify the cashier right away so I don't have to remember to stop him or her in the middle of scanning. Usually it works out pretty well and I don't get too much hassle for it. This saves me time, gas, and money!

These ideas alone will help reduce the grocery bill dramatically. However, there are a few other tricks I use to stretch our few dollars even farther and keep us well fed and healthy.

I don't buy a lot of fresh produce. I mentioned going to a local farm, but that's really it. If there is a good deal on apples or bananas I will buy them, as well as bagged spinach or a salad mix. The bagged salads are not as frugal as buying a head of lettuce, but spinach is much healthier for us and I've found it's cheaper in the long run to buy the bagged salad because we will eat it faster, before it goes bad. At the produce stand I will usually get sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, and occasionally squash or green beans. It depends on what he has and what is in season. For the rest of our produce, unless there is a really good deal on fresh, I buy frozen fruit and vegetables. I can get a good sized bag of broccoli or spinach for less than a dollar and since the health benefits are roughly the same I don't feel our family is suffering any from it. I do take care not to microwave the vegetables but instead use the stove to heat everything up, but that's the only precaution. This enables us to have lots of good vegetables with our meals.

I do buy a lot of whole grains, beans, lentils, and other filling made-from-scratch ingredients. I don't buy, with the exception of cereal, any pre-packaged, boxed, or processed foods. This means no crackers, cake mixes, Little Debbie snack cakes, frozen dinners, or anything else like that. I make everything from scratch and with lots of hearty and filling grains and legumes. I will buy chicken or beef when I find a good sale and will cook it and freeze it in smaller portions to make it last longer. I seldom buy more than a pound or two of either and usually pay less than $1.50/lb. if I can.

One other trick to saving money and keeping the grocery bill down: I don't buy any paper products. Of course I buy toilet paper and tissue when necessary, but I do not and will not buy paper towels, napkins, paper plates and cups, or anything else disposable. In fact, I don't buy most household products. I make my own laundry soap and use baking soda and vinegar to clean and disinfect so I can eliminate cleaning supplies from the budget. This cuts out a lot of extra expense, since household things are quite expensive. For personal care items, like shampoo and razors, I utilize CVS and their Extra Care Bucks system. With their coupons and money back program I get most things for free or extremely cheap. (To read more on this visit www.moneysavingmom.com)

Finally, I thank and praise God after each shopping trip. Without fail he has provided for us and I am grateful for every item and penny.

We have managed to live very well on this budget for quite some time. Fortunately, I know it is only for a season, but I do hope that we will continue this frugal mind-set when our budget gets a little more breathing room. I realize a grocery allowance this small is not for everyone. However, I hope the things I've shared has helped give ideas for reducing the grocery budget. Even if you have $150 a week to spend, a little extra money saved is always a good thing, right?