Nourish!

Nourish SARA MUMBY, B.A., Program Administrator

A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook a financial blog that she was reading. She was looking for tips on how to feed a family on a budget. Being that food is one of my main expenses (beyond the usual housing, student loans, and utilities), I was curious to find ways that I could save money on one of my greatest indulgences.

Do you know what I found out? I discovered that only 5-10% of my income should be spent on food! I was shocked. I would say that in a really good month, I spend at least 15% of my income on food. In a month where I’m eating out with a lot with friends, throwing dinner parties, or maybe there’s an anniversary or birthday, I’m spending upwards of 25% of my income on food. Wow.

Digging a little deeper, I found out that one of the things I’ve been doing wrong is not setting a budget. Of course, I’m still going to keep spending money on eating out or buying a $10 block of specialty cheese from time to time. But if I want to save money, I need to know exactly how much I am willing to spend per week on food and then stick to it.

Some other money saving tips I plan to use:Plan meals and go with a list. If I plan ahead and I know about how much each item will cost, I can control how much I’m going to spend. This will also stop me from “splurging” on an expensive item.

Buy store brands.  I’m somewhat of a brand snob, but through trying different products, I know what items I can save some money on and still buy quality food and those I cannot. Most of the time, I don’t notice a difference. 

Use coupons. While I’m planning my meals for the week, I look for coupons I can use. What’s really awesome is that some grocery store websites provide online coupons that I can load onto my store discount card. So no actual coupons to clip!

Don't shop while hungry. Hunger is a sure-fire way to spend money on those instant gratification buys. I plan to shop when I can focus on buying the foods on my list.

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