I have been on a monthly budget since September and it has definitely become a very ingrained habit at this point. I look forward to building my budget for each month, and I get a strong sense of peace when I do it because I build in the things I know are coming up, and I know I’ll see progress towards my goals each month.
But there’s one category that I think I could get a little tighter on – groceries. I was scrolling through my Instagram feed the other day and saw another awesome person in the #debtfreecommunity that posted her total groceries for the month for a family of 4. It was only $725!
My jaw dropped.
In my budgeting I lump groceries, toiletries, and cleaning supplies all in the same bucket and it’s usually around $550 a month. Now there’s one thing that I’ll never do to myself while on this debt free journey, which is go without in terms of food. That’s going way too far in my book. But I do think that I can be less wasteful.
I think back to how many times over my life I’ve done a big refrigerator clean out and thought ‘how much $ am I literally throwing away right now?’ Not a good feeling!
So for the month of February I am giving myself a no food waste challenge. I’m curious how this will impact not just my grocery spending habit, but also my eating habits.
Here’s how I’m going to do this.
1- Clean out anything in the fridge that’s not good anymore, including the stuff that is in the door that’s been there for God knows how long. Then I know I’m only seeing good food when I open the refrigerator door.
2 – Go to the grocery store more often for fewer things. I am an efficiency freak so I hate going to the grocery store more than once a week because I think it takes too much time, and then that results in buying too much and inevitably things go bad before I get to them.
More grocery store trips with specific shopping lists will be my approach.
3 – Keep my food visible in the fridge. I like to put things away in drawers and then it’s easier to overlook them. By having fewer things and having them all out on the shelves where I can see them will help me see what’s there and eat it!
If any of you have done this, or have mastered the art of not wasting any food I’d love to hear any tips you have!
Leaving It Better Than I Found It. 
I have a habit, which I inherited from my mom, of making “what’s in my fridge” dinners several times a week. This means coming up with a recipe based on what you have and not something from a cookbook or the internet. It’s a great way to use up things in your fridge and you become a more creative cook!
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I’ve actually never tried that! Thanks for the suggestion!
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This post really inspire me to first use up whatever I have in my fridge (and freezer!!) instead of heading to supermarket to buy more groceries! Thank you x
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That’s great to hear! I’m so glad this inspired you!! 🙂
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