How to budget your groceries properly

When it comes to buying and budgeting groceries, you either fall into the group of people who pack their shopping carts to the brim for fear of not having purchased every item that they could possibly need. Or you fall into the category of people who find it hard to think too far ahead and so they buy the few things they need and check out in the 10 items or less aisle, but then find themselves back at the same store a day later looking for the next purchase.

Budgeting groceries is an art that can save you a seriously significant amount of cash, while making sure you are not throwing your food away or faced with a consistently empty fridge. So where do you start when you're looking to stick to a budget for your groceries?

Kick off with a deep look into the food that you're consuming and the meals that you're creating. It's not every day that we need to eat a 3 course meal, accompanied with a bottle of wine. When we simplify our eating and our cooking, budgeting groceries automatically becomes a lot easier, as you become aware of the essentials and staple foods, and leave the luxuries for special celebrations or evenings.

Now that you know what you need in the kitchen, it's important to write it down in a list that you take with you to the store. The list is a clever little guy, who helps keep you focused on what you need, and stops you from reaching out to everything else you see that you think you really need. Lists help to cut our spending drastically, and it's pretty empowering to walk out of a store, know that what you're leaving with, is exactly what you came for and nothing more.

Price checking works wonders for budgeting groceries. Far too often we shop at the same store week by week because it's convenient and has the brands and products that we're used to . When you start to price check and compare the cost of items between stores, it can save you a lot of mula, even if it is a little bit out of your comfort zone.

So you know what you need, you have a list and your know where to find it, what's next when budgeting groceries? You may have heard this one before, but when you are out doing your shopping, cash is key to budgeting success. Using cash plays into the psychology of our spending. When we swipe a card, we only see the real damage later on when the bill arrives. When you hand over your fresh crisp bills to pay for your expenses, you slowly see that stack of cash getting smaller and smaller, making it harder to part with your money and making you think twice before you make your purchase.

Budgeting groceries can help you to start saving, pay off your debt, or just have a little bit of extra liquid cash.