The amount you spend on food can influence other financial goals, so I’m going to talk about how to make a monthly food budget. Good thing there are some ways to make sure you don’t overspend.
Although each family has its own characteristics, there is a way to stay nourished and still have a nice budget.
Making a correct food budget takes practice. That’s why the tips covered in this post will help you make smart consumption, and thus have money to reach other financial goals.
But first, let’s talk a little bit about the advantages and why to make a monthly food budget.
Advantages of making a food budget
Conquer other projects
When you make a good food budget, you earn a margin to invest in other projects.
Whether buying a car or a house, who knows how to take a course or a trip, I don’t know what your dream is, but with good planning, you can certainly achieve your achievements.
Many times we don’t conquer our dreams because we don’t plan and end up with no money to fulfill. By following the monthly food budget tips, there may be money left over for you to invest in other dreams.
Avoid waste
If there’s one thing that makes me angry, it’s seeing food wasted, because with so many people going hungry, do you think it’s fair to throw food in the trash? Me either.
When you do food planning, you reduce the chance of wasting food.
Opportunity to help others
There are so many beautiful welfare jobs out there and you can be a part of it.
Cutting expenses and buying only what you need is not necessarily linked to you being experiencing financial difficulties. You can save to help other people, not waste it and help other families.
Maybe there are people close to you who don’t have enough to eat, and by following a food budget you have the opportunity to make a difference in these people’s lives.
There are certainly many advantages to making a food budget, I mentioned these because for me they are the main ones, but if you have other advantages, you can leave them here in the comments.
Good but you must be wondering, how to make a monthly food budget. So here are some tips.
How to make a food budget that works?
Do you know how much you spend per month on groceries? The average monthly budget for food may vary according to age and per person.
Also, consider dietary options such as vegan or gluten-free. These foods can significantly affect your budget, so a good tip is to make a list and compare prices.
Making a planned and reasonable monthly budget allows you and your family to have quality of life without spending too much.
Analyze how much you spent on groceries in the previous months and decide if you want to keep the current budget or if you need to cut expenses.
Make a shopping list
The shopping list should be one of the first things to be done before going to the market, as it is important to prevent you from buying what you don’t need, so it’s good to invest some time and make your shopping list.
Also, when going to the market knowing what you need to buy, you don’t waste time and avoid excessive expenses.
By getting into the habit of making your shopping list and following the tips I’m going to talk about, you’ll be able to save a lot.
Consider eating away from home
You cannot leave out of your food budget how much you spend on food away from home.
According to data from the 2017-2018 Family Budget Survey (POF), Brazilian families are increasingly eating out.
In numbers, this means that around 32.8% of what Brazilian families spend on food is used for meals away from home.
If you are in the habit of eating out, it is essential that this amount be included in your food budget.
By leaving these expenses out of your budget, other projects will probably be affected.
So if you got here wondering how to make a monthly food budget, this is a valuable tip. Don’t forget about eating away from home.
How to make a monthly food budget?
Participate in discounts and offer programs
Today, especially those large markets that are chains, usually offer discount programs.
Although normally not much, these discounts are still interesting. Do a search on the discounts that supermarkets in your city offer, you can do this using the internet.
Another top tip is to buy on offer day. I save a lot by doing this myself.
There are some supermarkets that have a meat promotion day, a vegetable day, etc. You can save a lot by following this tip.
save by freezing food
There are many people who don’t like hot food, but if you don’t have a problem with that, this is a good tip.
By freezing food, in addition to avoiding waste, you save time.
If you follow the tip of buying on offer days, you may have to freeze some foods. This avoids waste.
Create a weekly menu
Plan your meals, so you can determine which foods and how much you need to buy, even before going to the market.
By planning your meals you increase your chance of buying only what you really need.
It’s really cool to make a menu that uses the same ingredients, so there will be less items to buy.
How to make a food budget? Take lunchbox to work
Having lunch outside the house every day can be expensive and end up hurting your food budget, so a good habit is to take lunch to work.
By preparing your food, you can eat healthier and still save money.
Don’t get hung up on brands
This is a point that is not just valid for buying food. Some products are more expensive simply because of the brand name.
You manage to have good products in your monthly basket, which, despite not being branded, are of high quality.
If you decided to just follow this tip, you would already achieve very large savings in your budget.
I’m not really into this brand thing, but I compare a lot the prices of products until I buy and I usually buy the cheapest, so I know how much this tip makes a difference.
Look for the most affordable market
I don’t think anyone, no matter how rich they are, likes to waste money, right? And so you don’t spend too much, do some research.
Search the different supermarkets and wholesalers in your city. Some wholesalers, regardless of the offer day, usually have a good price.
In some cases you find, for example, markets where cleaning products are cheaper, but it is not worth buying food.
You will discover this by researching, at first it will be a little tiring, but once you get used to it you will know what to buy and where.
These were the tips on how to make a monthly food budget that works, they are tips that I follow and like, I think it will be very useful for you too.