I got that impression after mentioning something on social media that my family does this. I knew there were lots of people who just shop for what they are out of, at whatever cost; and even people who just throw whatever they happen to fancy in their carts, and who go shopping on any random day. But I still thought there were a decent number of people like us, going on certain days of the month and having a strict limit on how much we spend. Or is that maybe an old fashioned thing that most people don’t do anymore?
There is no strict limit on what we spend. But we do go the same day every week, and usually to the same couple of stores. We replace what we’ve used up, and buy what strikes us certainly. But we also always jump on any deals we might see. So if pork tenderloin is on special, we’ll stock up as we have a couple of freezers. That wouldn’t be doable if we were on a strict budget, I expect.
(Last week Arm & Hammer laundry liquid was on for $2 a bottle, so we bought three! If I ever have to pay full price for laundry liquid I’d be a little pissy I think!)
We buy a lot of tropical fruit plus veggies. And most of that spending is about 80% based on what’s in season/cheap vs what we crave.
We don’t employ a budget strategy, but moreso a “what do we need” list-type strategy.
We grab the weekly ad as it comes out every Thursday, see if there are any good deals (mostly BOGOs) and add them to a list. Then we figure out what we want for dinner that week, add the ingredient to a list, and then get pretty much only what is on the list.
Some weeks are bigger, some weeks are smaller…but I think they all even out at the end of the day.
I’ve never done it. We keep a shared grocery list app on our phones that let’s us track what we need to buy, but there’s no tracking of cost or what we spend. And as I usually do the cooking I buy all sorts of things on a whim that I want to cook or try out. If we were living paycheck to paycheck or if groceries were a bigger part of our expenses it might be different, but for us it would just be wasted effort.
I don’t think it’s uncommon at all. I don’t do it now, though I’m very price-conscious and keep an eye out for bargains like elbows does. But when I was poorer, I definitely had a price limit and would shop with a calculator to make sure I didn’t get embarrassed at the checkout. I would like to teach my children to do the same.
There’s not an exact dollar amount in my head, but I have a very clear idea of what’s needed and what’s “extra”.
I do have a strict budget every week that I know has to cover gas and groceries and any social outings or “want-not-need” purchases. Bills are paid with the same paycheck every month as soon as the paycheck gets deposited, regardless of due date, so bills, rent, and debt & car payments are not figured into the weekly budget.
So, there is an exact dollar amount for weekly expenses but the portion of that applied to groceries may vary. Sometimes I’ll treat myself at the grocery store if I have no costly social engagements planned or extra driving (gas consumption) planned. If I know I’ll have social expenses, I’ll get only the absolute needed items at the grocery store.
I’m fairly poor now, but when I was at my poorest I was excellent at calculating weight x price in my head for produce as well as calculating tax in my head for any taxable items I may pick up.
Yes, we have a grocery budget, just like we have a budget for everything else. People who don’t budget are either very rich, or poor. Or they are rich but don’t want to stay that way.
Regards,
Shodan
We are very fortunate in not having to do it. We go shopping whatever day is convenient and get what we need. If something we use regularly is on sale we buy a lot of it.
Or they naturally spend within their means.
Yup, this is us. I need the calculator not because I can’t add in my head, but because I will otherwise get distracted and lose track of my running total completely.
We have a fairly strict budget on junk food purchases. As of yet, that seems to the best means of limiting them in our diet.
My wife does all the grocery shopping, and she has a strict budget for it. She’s been doing it since we got married, I believe. The fact that she had been budgeting so well (on everything, not just groceries) helped us survive an extended period of unemployment a couple years ago-- it meant we had money in the bank and it also prepared us for some belt-tightening. I couldn’t imagine not budgeting for groceries (or entertainment or holidays or clothing, etc.) It helps keep the savings account growing instead of dwindling.
The % of people, say in the US, who do this might be pretty low. But it’s a diverse society and it’s obvious from various internet sites with loyal followings (Mr. Money Mustache etc) that lots of younger people are highly focused on living cheaply. It’s not just ‘old fashioned’.
And it’s obviously a matter of degree. I record how much we spend at supermarkets (for food and other stuff you get at supermarkets, and the same stuff if we buy it at Costco also). I track it over time. In that sense there’s a ‘budget’ as in an expectation it won’t vary wildly from the past trend, and thinking about why it might be in case it starts to. But any hard limit, no. My wife would not accept that, and it’s really not necessary for us. By same token our long term average supermarket spending might be high by some people’s standards (it certainly would be for MMM’ers, though low by other people’s maybe) but is never going to be a problem for us.
I’m trying to get myself to this - I know I way overspend on groceries for a single person, so I’m working on 1) doing more meal planning and 2) putting myself on a budget.
I’m working to pay down debt, so everything I can cut back on groceries (and other places) helps tremendously.
After raising three kids using food stamps, there were many, many years of tight food budgets, meal planning, and stretching basics to last more than one meal. Now that the kids are gone and my finances have significantly changed (graduated college, been in the workforce for many years), I no longer budget as strictly and instead buy whatever I want.
That being said, I don’t go hog wild–no lobster type of stuff. However, if I’m hankering for chicken wings and they’re not on sale, I might hesitate in buying them, but likely would still buy them. (I’m also more likely to fix something at home, like chicken wings, than to go out to a restaurant.)
I also tend to spend a consistent amount at the grocery store from week to week. If something is on sale and it’s a good deal that I know I’ll use, then I’ll stock up on it. Although I shop at the local grocery store most often, I also head over to Aldi (which is out of the way) for basics like flour, sugar, nuts, veggies (which tend to be super cheap compared to my local grocery store) at least once every other week. Some things, like meats, I don’t buy there, but can get them at my local grocery store.
I’m struggling now that the kids are gone and I spent so many years being food insecure (even when growing up) that I tend to stock pile food. It’s not to the degree of hoarders, and I use the stuff I buy (no cans of beans from 1987 in the pantry), but logically, I know I have too much food compared to the majority of other people.
That’s what my family does, and many other families in our circle. The inlaws of one of my Bros didn’t do it; now his MiL does it and finds it much more convenient than trying to remember whether she needs milk or not.
Stuff that must always be in the house, “if you open it, write it”.
When planning a menu, “check that you have it; if you don’t have it, write it”.
Stuff that catches our eye is only acceptable up to a certain cost and if we’re really going to use it: when I’m shopping close to a weekend I’ll usually leave space for one unplanned meal, one meal based on a “caught my eye”. I can’t do that in the week, as those need to be meals I can carry in a tupper. For children, it’s ok to ask for one “caught my eye” junkfood item and also ok to not eat the whole package or even to decide that you don’t like it after you started it.
We’ve been fortunate to pretty much buy whatever groceries we need. We keep our pantry stocked with what we use.
Steak is a rare purchase. That’s pretty much the only expensive thing we wouldn’t just pile into a cart
We never bought potato chips or other salty snacks. Soda was an occasional purchase. Very little candy. Never more than a couple six packs a month. Primarily because of nutrition concerns and also the cost.
I don’t exactly budget, just do a running approximate total of my shopping, because I know it’s not something I tend to really overspend on.
When I was really scraping by I did carefully plan out everything before buying, but honestly, if I don’t, it may mean I buy a tub of my favourite ice cream which is discount right now, or maybe the slightly fancier cheese. Nothing crazy. I don’t set strict boundaries on my spending because I don’t need to.
My husband was working poor for many years, and had been cleaned out by divorce when I met him. He made strict grocery lists for several weeks into the future, strategizing when to restock basics to stay within an overall budget. To this day, he’ll still buy the smaller, relatively more expensive packages of things.
I have lived on a limited income, but not so limited that I budgeted my grocery list. I was raised to eat thriftily, though. During that year I ate a lot of potatoes, a lot of homemade vegetable soup (made with frozen veg), a lot of oatmeal, and cooked a lot of whole chickens.
Now that we’re comfortable, I tend to stockpile things on sale. Absolutely no thought of what groceries cost, but we’re getting richer nevertheless.