Guest post by Anne Simpson of Authentic Simplicity
Saving money on groceries has been such a way of life for me, it’s almost like it’s in my blood. It started when I was a child, watching my mother clip coupons as she attempted to feed her family of 11 children on a pastor’s tiny salary. Even as a single girl, I clipped coupons and shopped the sales when it was my turn to buy the groceries for myself and my roomies (who also happened to be my sisters!).
Now a married adult, I have learned even more about shaving the grocery budget as I went from a dirt-poor newlywed (with a brief stint as a “DINK” – Dual-Income-No-Kids) to an almost-dirt-poor-mom of children with food allergies. For several years, I managed to feed my family of four on a budget of only $200 a month.
Even now, our monthly food budget is only $250, but I am still able to buy things like grass-fed ground beef, farm-fresh eggs, and certain organic fruits and vegetables. Considering that the US Department of Agriculture estimates that a family of four on a “thrifty plan” will spend more than $500 a month on food… I’m thinking we’re doing a bang-up job with our grocery budget!
Since you’re reading Humorous Homemaking, I imagine you already know the basics of getting the most out of your grocery money. (And if you don’t, be sure to browse around, because Stacy’s got lots of great advice for you! )
I imagine that you are also interested in learning a few new tricks, which is where I think I might be able to help you out! Having been on a tight grocery budget for most of my life, I’ve learned a thing or two, and I’m happy to share my knowledge with you.
Please note that I’m not talking about extreme couponing. In fact, the further I go on my healthy foods journey, the fewer coupons I use. I’m talking about common sense strategies that help you get the most out of your money that you possibly can. These strategies are both time-tested (like getting back to your roots and growing your own food) and contemporary (taking advantage of internet deals).
I have blogged extensively about my money-saving ideas , and I found that my readers were hungry (no pun intended!) for more information about the subject, so I poured all my knowledge into my eBook, Your Grocery Budget Toolbox.
Your Grocery Budget Toolbox is just that – a virtual toolbox with all different kinds of tools that you can use (and adapt to your own needs and preferences) to help trim your grocery budget as much as is possible. Tools like Once-a-Month-Shopping, price lists (with tutorials for both digital and hard copy versions), price caps, local sourcing and more. I also took the time to create exercises for you that will help you analyze your own needs and preferences so that you can use each of these tools in a way that most benefits you and your family.
No matter where you are on the spectrum of grocery spending, I am confident that Your Grocery Budget Toolbox has something to offer you. And although some of the material is available for free on my blog, about 60% of it is brand-new content not available anywhere else, and the PDF version also comes with printables to help you use your new-found grocery budgeting tools!
Anne is the wife to a wonderful, caring husband and mommy to two wildly-tender little boys. She loves all things Jesus, music, natural, nutritional and chocolate. And coffee. She loves coffee. She was born smack dab in the middle of 11 children and loves being able to stand out amongst the big crowd with her corner of the blogosphere, Authentic Simplicity, where she blogs about how to make healthy food without losing money, time, energy… or your sanity. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, where she posts the latest fun thing that catches her eye.
Stacy, I have a question about extra food. I am working on a $50 a month per person grocery budget. We have 5 kids so in my case $350. How should I figure the amount I spend on refreshments for school parties, refreshments for the team, feeding the homeless, meals prepared for our shelter, etc. this seems to blow my budget every time.
Do you know these things are coming up in advance? If so, you might have to adjust your budget a bit when you know those things are coming. If we have a big thing that requires feeding, I adjust my budget accordingly – something comes from another category to make the food work. If something pops up and I wasn’t counting on it, I just use whatever it is that I have at home – I don’t run out and buy something for it unless I have the extra budget.
hi,
i know this is not about your book which i am interested in but while i am thinking about this i need to let it go. the recipe for the spanish rice and sausage that you shared with us. you said that the rice that you used was jasmin!!! that is our favorite kind also. but did you know that you have to use a little more water with it??? 1 1/3 to 1 c. rice.
i am making the recipe now so i will let you know if it turns out okay and not mushy.
have a great day
Really? Well, who knew. When I cook it on the stovetop, I just use double the amount of water than rice. It works great that way. 🙂 Keep me posted!
Oh ignore my previous comment! I was trying to purchase the PDF directly from the author’s website, but I use the link on your blog it works just fine! ( :
Nikki, glad you were able to figure it out!
I’m having the same issue, but its not giving me an error code, its just not updating the price when I go to checkout. 🙁
I was able to get the code to work, but it didn’t give me the discount. 🙁 So I am glad I got your book, but I feel gypped cuz I didn’t get it for the better price.
Cari, apparently E-junkie (the selling service I used) automatically applies the discount code when using the link I placed in this post here. Inputting the actual code ends up canceling the discount for some weird reason. I didn’t realize that when I wrote the post; sorry for the confusion! And I gave you a refund in the amount of the discount.
Update – I just received credit for the difference. Thank you, Anne!!
I just tried to order the book with the discount code STACY and it “invalid discount code”. What do I do?
I’m sorry Willie! I’ll ask her and see what she says. 🙂 We’ll get it fixed.
I clicked on the add to cart button and the discount is already added. On the left where the amount is it shows the discount on there and the total of $3.75. Hope that helps.
Hey Willie – other people are using the code just fine so we can’t figure out why it won’t work for you. Anne says you can email her and she’ll work with you to figure it out. 🙂
auth.simplicity AT gmail DOT com
Hi Willie, Like Mindy said, the discount is already applied. If you enter the code it actually cancels the discount, oddly enough! Sorry about the confusion!