Setting Your Grocery Budget

Families all over the US are concerned about making ends meet this month. Setting and sticking to your budget is one way to keep your expenditures in line. Most Americans have some idea what their monthly or weekly household budget looks like overall. Usually they start with their income and spend until the money runs out. When times are tight, people start looking to cut items back. To do this you must have a firm grasp on how much money you are spending in each area of the budget.

In order to set your grocery budget, you first have to look at the overall household. Most families break down their monthly income with four simple categories. First, the mortgage or rent payment is in a category by itself. It is usually the largest one expense that is paid each month. Second, is the household consumables sector, and is second largest. This is where all expenses associated with the people living in the home incur. Groceries are included in this sector. Some other things in this sector include prescriptions, pharmacy items, personal hygiene products, and pet supplies. Third is the household non consumables, including insurance, repairs to the home, furniture, appliances and items that are necessary but not consumed. The fourth includes the discretionary spending, those items that are completely discretionary like satellite TV, entertainment, travel, and dining out. Finally, what most families handle last is savings.

The two categories that are easiest to cut in tough times are the household consumables, and the discretionary spending sectors. The only way to cut is to know what you should be spending in the first place. Most homes spend $50 per week per person in the home. This budget includes $35 on food and groceries, $15 on pharmacy or personal items. A family of four would spend $200 per week, or $800 on the average month on both groceries, and consumables inside the home.

To save 25% of your monthly Grocery budget, you can do several different things. First you can simply not buy, and go without. Or you can shop smarter. One way to shop smarter is to substitute generics for name brands when the generics are cheaper. You can also start using manufacturer coupons or store issued food coupons. This usually saves 20-35% on each item you redeem a coupon. You can also only buy sale priced items when you are at the store. Typically stores mark 50-75 products down each week to entice shoppers into the store. These items will yield a savings of 25%. You will have to refrain from impulse buying and stick to strict list in order to see your savings at the end of the month.

When most people think of coupons, they immediately think of good. Foods are the easist coupons to acquire, but several entertainment coupons can be found as well. You can get coupons for movie tickets from companies like Hershey, or rentals from Blockbuster. You can often get great ticket deals for concerts and shows online. Cutting your budget doens't mean sitting at home bored.

Once you have your budget set, and your savings goals in mind, all you need to do is select the method of savings you wish to implement to keep your grocery budget under control.

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