I know this may be a weird topic but trust me, it’s a story in itself. As an entrepreneur, there are high seasons of business and there are low seasons. Some times you have more business than you can handle and other times you’re searching for the next customer to come around. It’s the nature of being an entrepreneur. Because of that, I’ve learned that knowing when to budget and when to splurge is really important.
This process doesn’t just apply to grocery shopping, but shopping in general is a long process for me. I actually rarely shop for myself. My mom was a very thrifty woman, and she taught me that there are moments when you save and there are moments when you splurge. When it comes to grocery shopping this is especially important. There are moments when you can buy rib eye steaks, and there are moments you buy chuck.
The rule growing up was my mom would buy me anything as long as it’s food and I will eat it. Meaning, whatever is in our cart (including the items she picks) I have to be willing to eat. I’d buy Kid Cuisines, Fruit Roll Ups, and Squeeze-Its. She would buy salads, vegetables, and fruits. I thought it was fair trade. When I’d go shopping with my mom she would show me how to spend our grocery money wisely.
My mom LOVES a good deal, I mean LOVES. Plus, she worked with numbers all the time. She was in accounting before she was in real estate. She would drive all the way to a different grocery store for rib eye steaks if it was only on sale there. Even if it was $0.50 per lb. cheaper she would still go.
I may not be as extreme as her but she did teach me how to make sure I was getting the best price for my money. If we were buying toilet tissue I wouldn’t just look at the cheapest price tag with the same amount of rolls. You would think that 24 roll is 24 rolls. But my mom taught me that not every brand has the same amount of square feet per roll, and that’s where the true savings lie. So when I go to the store I’ll look at the square footage on the packaging. I’ll divide the square footage by the price and find the most affordable from there.
I use this same method when I buy everything – meats, rice, vegetables, etc. I would look at the cheapest price per ounce or per pound. This ensures that I get the best price that I can. So, how do I decide where to shop?
The weekly ads, duh! 😝
Once I get the ads in the mail I’ll sit down and look at all of them, circle things I’m interested in buying, and whichever has the most circles is where I’m going to shop that week. Simple as that! I don’t do extreme couponing or anything, but if I happen to have a coupon on top of the savings that’s icing on the cake! I’m not as extreme as my mom, she’d go to 2-3 grocery stores to grab every single item she needed on sale. I’d rather just go where the most items I want or need are on sale, one stop and I’m done!
I’ve found that this helps me save the most amount of money per week. Between Charlie and I we average about $50 per week on groceries. That averages out to a little over $3.50 per person per day. Not bad!
Happy shopping!
Xoxo,
