Is your nest egg growing as fast as the price of eggs? Earlier this month inflation numbers for December released by the Department of Labor showed that inflation rose at its fastest pace in over 40 years. This was evident in many areas of the economy and certainly in the food segment. Groceries rose overall 6.5% year over year with meats and eggs leading the increase at 14.8% and 11.1% respectively.

With the cost of almost everything we need going up, there has never been a more important time to follow a written spending plan to ensure you meet your short and long-term financial goals. If you need help with that, please contact us and we will help you.

How do you keep your grocery bill from ruining your spending plan when everything keeps getting more expensive? There are some simple actions you can take to save money that add up throughout each trip and can help off-set the rising cost of groceries.

1. Go in with a list and stick to it.

The benefits of meal planning for your health are well-documented, but meal planning can help decrease spending at the supermarket as well. Hitting the store with a plan and a list will cut down on food waste and will also help you make meals that can serve a dual purpose. Leanne Brown, author of the self-care cookbook Good Enough recommends planning meals with more than one use, like a pot of chili that can be used a day or two later to fill burritos or as topping for nachos or potatoes.

Using a list can also help decrease impulse buying while at the store, a common budget buster. Even with a list, it can be difficult to resist the impulse buys (they put tempting items right in your view) especially if you go to the store hungry or with the kids along. Try eating before you do your shopping, and leaving the kids at home or at least discussing ahead of time if they will or will not be allowed to pick out a (healthy) item of their choosing to add to the cart. Even if a list doesn’t prevent all your impulse buying, it will help. We aren’t looking for perfection here, just improvement!

2. Stock-up on sale items (when it makes sense!)

Even with prices increasing, retailers are still competing for your spending. Use this to your advantage by reviewing their ads (on-line) before you shop and stocking up on things that you will use for the coming week or two. While it may not make sense to buy six heads of lettuce because it was a good price, buying chicken that was buy-one-get-one and freezing it may help decrease your overall monthly spending.

Using produce that is in season can help reduce the costs as well. “Timing is everything with food” says Billy Vasquez, blog author of The 99 Cent Chef. During the winter buying more canned and frozen produce when the fresh items are most expensive may make more sense. Vasquez also recommends shopping around for your commodity items, buying things like condiments, dried pasta and beans from your local dollar store.

If you live near multiple stores, you may want to shop and compare between two different stores (we have Publix, Kroger and Aldi in less than a mile radius!) Over time you will learn who has the best deals on which products and what sales they run, as they tend to repeat many of their ad items on a regular basis.

3. Decrease trips to the store.

Erin Clarke, author of the Well Plated Cookbook says, “Every time you walk into the store there’s a chance for impulse purchases to drive up the bill”. Strategies to decrease your trips are in both increased planning and what items you buy. “Items like cabbage, carrots, brussel sprouts and beets can last for two weeks or longer when stored in the crisper drawer”, says Clarke, and buying foods with longer shelf life can help cut down your trips overall. Keeping a running list is a planning item that will help you group your trips and avoid the 1-2 item trips that can turn into a $40 purchase due to impulse buys.

While analysts like Michael Magdowitz from Rabobank says he doesn’t see the past 18 months food inflation ebbing any time soon, there are some simple things that you can do to improve your ability to stick with your spending plan despite the increases in cost of the food you need.

Again, with the cost of almost everything we need going up, there has never been a more important time to follow a written spending plan to ensure you meet your short and long-term financial goals. If you need help with that, please contact us and we will help you!