While this seems fairly obvious, it is surprising how few people actually have a plan for spending their monthly income. Most Americans find themselves living paycheck to paycheck, and coming up short at the end of the month is not unusual. If you don’t know how much money you have to spend, it is easy for expenses to exceed income.
Each month, sit down and write up a spending plan. This is actually easier than it sounds. Add up your total net income, and then deduct all of your fixed expenses. These would include rent or mortgage payments, car loans, insurances, gas, utility bills, credit card bills, and other monthly bills that remain constant. Don’t forget to allow a figure for clothing expenses if necessary. Subtract the total of these bills from your total monthly income, and then divide that number by four. The result will be your weekly disposable income.
From that amount, subtract expenses that you expect to incur each week – the little day-to-day expenses such as lunches, haircuts, entertainment, and other sundries. The remaining amount is what you have available for groceries. Of course, this figure will change from week to week, depending on other expenses, but this should give you a good idea as to where you are in relationship to your income. This amount will probably surprise you since all too often; we fritter away our money and wonder what we did with it!
3. Use the Weekly Grocery Ads to Write up a Menu Plan and List
To save money at the grocery store, you need to spend a bit and buy a weekly Sunday newspaper. In most communities, the Sunday paper is full of store ads and manufacturer’s coupons that will help save money at the checkout counter. Use the ads to setup a menu for the coming week.
Study the ads for all the stores in your area, looking at what’s on sale. Try to find one or two stores that have the best deals and stick to shopping at them. You won’t save money driving all over town for one or two items.
Plan several meals around the best sale items. For example, if whole roasting chickens are on sale, plan to serve a chicken dinner one night, and then use the leftovers to prepare chicken fajitas the next night. The chicken can also be used for sandwiches and the bones for soup stock. Look online for interesting recipes using whatever meats you are buying.
Working women often find that preparing meals each evening is impossible. It is tempting to stock up on frozen dinners to use during the week. But these prepared meals are expensive, and the costs add up significantly. If you plan ahead, you can actually prepare a variety of dishes ahead of time and put them in the freezer to be heated up each night. This takes a bit more time, but the cost savings are significant.