Budgeting – Cutting Costs Part Two

Aside from rent and Auto insurance, groceries are usually the largest bill on any budget. Remember that groceries are just food items. Take a look at how much your family spent on grocery items alone the previous month. Divide the total by 30, and you will see how much money you feed your family on per day. The result might shock you. If you ate out a lot, divide the amount you spent eating out by how many days you ate out. Again, you may be surprised by how much, on average, you spent on one meal versus how much it takes to feed your family for an entire day. When it comes to Grocery shopping, coupons are your friend. Fifteen cents may not seem like much off that $2.50 item, but it is amazing how much coupons add up and how much you can save with them. Look for deals a lot of grocery stores put out ads each week that show what they have on sale. If they have something for sale that’s on your grocery list, get it there! You can also save money on groceries by planning your meals.

Next week: Budgeting non-essentials