A 3-Step Plan to Reduce Your Food Budget

This is a guestpost from Mindy Laughton.    Mindy is a journalism student attending Saint Louis University. Upon graduation she hopes to travel the world while producing great content for a variety of publications.

 When it comes to clothing, travel, or entertainment, my tastes range from being moderately cheap to extremely frugal. I simply don’t like spending money on things that aren’t hugely important to me, and I’ve never ascribed much significance to material items.

Food, however, is a completely different matter altogether. While I many hesitate to whip out my credit card for even the most necessary of other purchases, I probably wouldn’t blink before taking out cash advances or online loans in anticipation of an extremely lavish, overpriced, and thoroughly unnecessary dinner. Simply put, I like good, high-quality food. It is probably not surprising that my tastes run far on the expensive side.
While this taste translates into countless delicious meals, it has also taken a substantial and not-unexpected bite out of my monthly budget. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that a moderate food budget for someone in my age group should run around $290 per month. Needless to say, I far exceed that number. And I want to change that.

Here is my 3-step plan for reducing my food costs:

1. Limit my restaurant visits. If you spend on food the same way I do, the goal of completely eliminating restaurant meals is one that would almost surely never be realized. Consequently, I am setting a more realistic goal: I can only eat out on one predetermined day per week. Furthermore, I can only spend a certain amount on such meals per month.

2. Start buying cheaper products. At this step, I will change my grocery shopping experience by replacing name brand items with generic store labels. I’ll purchase my non-perishable items less often and in bulk quantities, thereby reducing my per-units costs. I’ll also stop buying more extravagant products (smoked salmon, bottled water, expensive cheese, etc) in favor of products that have a high nutritional value relative to price (beans, rice, lentils, etc).

3. Plan my meals. Once I’ve kicked the bucket on frequent restaurant trips and started to spend less at the store, my final step involves planning out all my meals for several weeks at a time, before I even go shopping. This will insure the continuation of steps 1 and 2. Also, by insuring that I buy only what I know I will need for an upcoming meal, this plan will maximize my grocery efficiencies and eliminate all unneeded purchases.
Hopefully, I can succeed in following this plan faithfully and reducing my food costs. The ultimate goal is to decrease my monthly expenses by at least $50, thereby making my food budget more akin to a low-cost plan in the Department of Agriculture guidelines. Hopefully, with a little commitment and hard work, I will make it to that point.


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