Question

Im BRAND brand new to budgeting correctly. My main issue right now is figuring out a grocery budget. I section off money for bills and such but I just buy what we need for groceries without looking at the total really. I find it really hard to set an exact amount because I always forget something! We are a family of 3, almost 4 in a few months. We have a 13 month old on solids, and I'm 17 weeks pregnant so I'm also a black hole with food at the moment, as well as our growing son. We are on WIC so we get things like milk and cereal and eggs with that. Anyone in a similar situation out there care to share their grocery planning and budgeting? Our biggest expense is spending too much money on food/groceries. We are HUGE meat eaters too (every meal probably) so that can get pricey sometimes.  

Answer 1

For me I found it next to impossible to meal plan and budget groceries while pregnant, day to day I didn’t know what or if I was going to be able to eat. So I gave myself grace during that time and gave more leeway for convenience foods that were easier to make or heat up when I was sick or exhausted, especially for the rest of the family. It’s a season and baby is now 7 weeks old - I’m starting to get better about my budget, lowering it, and meal planning as he allows me to make an actual meal.  

Answer 2

Start with a number this month. Maybe worse case scenario. See how you do. Challenge yourself to slowly bring it down. If you go in with a crazy low amount to start you will find it impossible and give up on the whole budget.  

Answer 3

Very similar situation for us. We just had a our second baby 8 months ago. I found we were constantly going to the store for something and getting things not on my list because it was on sale. We have started to “shop our freezer and pantry” way more, meal plan, and really try and use things up we already had even if it made a weird meal. Because we would end up throwing out a lot of things that went bad. So really key things for us was meal planning, shopping my own food supply and trying to grocery shop only 1X/week. And honestly shopping my freezer was probably the biggest thing. Meat I bought on sale that has been buried in there forever. Use that stuff!  

Answer 4

Have you tracked your spending? Knowing what you've been spending over the last couple months will help you set a realistic food budget. From there you can look at ways to bring it down.