Do you struggle with figuring out a food budget? Are you interested in learning how to quickly set up a food budget?
I’ve learned some tips on how to set up a food budget and created a simple guide to help you.
How To Quickly Set Up A Food Budget
Following a budget takes time and a little bit of planning ahead. Don’t expect to have a perfect food budget right away.
By doing a little bit of tracking each month you can figure out what you’re actually spending and come up with a realistic budget that you can follow!
Budget Amount
Figure out how much you spent last month on groceries.
We need a rough estimate to get us started. Do you have any idea what you spend a month on groceries? If you do, well you’re already done with this step. Yay!
If you don’t, that’s okay too! Go look at your bank statement and figure out what you spent last month.
When I did this, I was shocked. We spend way more than I thought on groceries. I knew that we could do better with a little bit of planning.
What Is Covered In Your Food Budget?
Next, decide what it all covered in your Food budget. I put all of our household supplies in our food budget when I first started. It was just easier to grab some toilet paper while I was already shopping.
But now I try to use Rakuten for my household supplies. Have you heard of Rakuten (formally known as Ebates)? You get cashback for the purchases you already make. Cool huh?
You can sign up here. You shop for all of your normal household supplies, look for deals and then earn cash back for stuff you are already buying…
Since signing up for I’ve separated my household supplies from my grocery budget.
Inventory
Take inventory of what you already have. If I look and notice that I need to stock up on basics, I know that I need to either increase my food budget a bit or make sure that I have a few inexpensive meals on my menu.
Track Expenses
Tracking expenses helps me to know what I’m spending my monthly budget on. When first starting out with figuring out a grocery budget, it’s important to keep receipts and track how much you’re spending.
That way you know exactly what you spend your money on and where you can trim it. Are you spending a lot on prepackaged snacks? Maybe there is something that you can make at home for a fraction of the price!
It also helps you figure out what you buy on a regular basis.
Price Tracker
When you know what you buy on a regular basis, it’s important to keep track of the price. That way you know when you come across a good deal.
This will help you determine how much you need to allocate in your budget for items you buy on a regular basis.
Stock Up
If you come across a good deal, stock up! Having a stockpile of items you use on a regular basis saves money.
We invested in a deep freeze in order to take advantage of good deals. It’s really nice to have so we can stock up on meats when it’s on sale.
If you have a small kitchen and no pantry you might need to get creative and figure out extra storage solutions. We got plywood and built shelves in our basement for storage. They are nothing fancy, but they get the job done!
After a few months of tracking, stocking up and checking for deals, you’ll have a more realistic idea of what a good food budget is for your family.
Once you have a good idea of what your monthly food budget should look like you can start to work on trimming it. For example; What could you make from scratch? Are you meal prepping? Using up leftovers? Checking the fridge for food that’s about to expire?
{Check out this post on How To Eat Healthy And Save Money}
Are you looking for a way to keep track of your food budget? Our meal planner has a great budget sheet and is currently on sale! Check it out here.
Do you have any tips on how to set up a realistic food budget?
