Four Tips on How to Stretch Your Food Budget

Food is a necessity in life. We need it to stay alive and to provide energy so we can complete daily tasks. When we eat food we like, it can bring us pleasure and provide us comfort. However, when you are living on a tight budget, it can be difficult to stretch your food budget enough to purchase an adequate supply of food to last the month. These tips on how to make your food budget stretch will save you money and increase your food purchasing power.

Planning meals ahead of time can keep you focused on the things you need to purchase in the grocery store. Just as with clothes shopping, grocery shopping can lend itself to impulse purchases that make it hard to budget your food shopping. Plan a monthly menu out with the ingredients needed to make each meal. Make a list of all of the ingredients needed on a separate sheet of paper. You now have a shopping list to help make your food budget stretch.

Take inventory of your shopping list. Separate the items that are taxable from the ones that are not subject to sales tax. Some grocery stores charge sales tax for bottled water, soft drinks, juices and snack food. The sales tax on these items can be budget killers, not allowing it to stretch very far. Estimate how much these items may cost you, and then figure out the sales tax. If your sales tax hits $5.00 or greater you should consider eliminating some items such as a few soft drinks and some of the snack food items. Eliminating unnecessary sales tax can help make your food budget stretch.

You may like Perdue chicken, however if another brand of chicken is on sale then put the Perdue down and get the cheaper brand. Some people are loyal to one brand; however if a different brand is cheaper, buy it. This also goes for grocery stores. Just because you like a particular grocery store does not mean you have to shop there exclusively. Other stores may have better sales during the time you do your grocery shopping. Brand and store loyalty can be budget killers when trying to stretch your food budget.