Saving at the grocery store! #FinancialWellness Week

Nowadays when you hear people talking about saving money at the grocery store, all you hear is "coupons, coupons, coupons". But not everyone can coupon and not everyone knows how to coupon. So instead, here are some ways you can save money at the grocery store will still saving money for your family!

Keep a weekly list. When you plan monthly lists, that gives prices time to change. With a weekly grocery list, you are able to keep an eye on any price changes as well as any deals for the items you need. Plus, you are less likely to shop for things not on your list.

Keep only the money you need for groceries. Let's say that you only want to spend $60 at the grocery store that week. If you take $200 with you, you are more than likely to spend it. Instead, take about $75 with you (just in case prices have changed or you forget to write something down). While you're shopping, keep a price amount of the groceries in your cart so if you find yourself over than what you expected, figure out why. 

"I do not need anything here". I'm bad about buying a chocolate bar or soda at the cashier area because shopping is exhausting. But those $2 sodas and $1 candy bars add up every week. If you buy one for every member of the family, you could save up to $20 by saying "I do not need anything here" to yourself when you go up to check out. Sure, you want it. You want it badly. But remembering that you can save up to $20 a month for that special occasion or emergency fund will keep you from reaching for the Snickers.

Keep an eye on prices. For at least a month, keep each receipt from each grocery trip. If you buy name brand and you find that prices keep rising for a month, try and switch to generic. If both prices are rising, considering switching to something similar. You are able to plan out how much each shopping trip is going to cost you.

Consider coupons. Yes,I mentioned coupons. But you don't have to be an extreme couponer to save money. H-E-B, where we mostly shop, has in-store coupons like BOGO or save "X" amount. Stacked with manufacturer coupons, you can save quite a bit. But don't go printing out coupons for items you never buy. If your family doesn't end up using it, you will have lost money. 

At the end of the week (or month, depending on how you shop), put any left-over money into an emergency fund and keep it there until there is an emergency!

How do you save money when you grocery shopping?

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Saving Money on a Budget #FinancialWellness Week

When you think of saving money, you probably think of saving money for a trip or that big ticket item you've had your eye on. But when you're on a super tight budget, you start thinking of saving money for emergencies and Christmas. Here are some ways you can save a little money each paycheck:

Keep a jar of pennies! If you take a look around, you will see pennies everywhere. It just seems so disposable, but they are very valuable! Take a big jar and label it "Penny for your thoughts". Every time you start thinking about spending money on something you don't need, put a few pennies in there. At the end of every month, count it. Once that jar becomes full, you can either take it to Coinstar (or your local bank if they offer coin cashing services) or get another jar. If you decide to cash in your coins, try and save it for emergencies. You will be amazed at how much you have saved!

Use envelopes! A great way we keep a tab on they money is using separate envelope for each expense. We have "food", "bills", and "left over" envelopes. When we get the bills, we put them in the "Bills" envelope with a complete total. We keep a weekly grocery list in the "Food" envelope, and a note of how much is alotted for groceries that week. When we get paychecks, we put the amount of money we need for a certain bill or groceries into that envelope so we know exactly how much we have left. Then we put what money is left over in the "Left Over" envelope so we are not tempted to spend money that we need for groceries or bills.

Use coupons whenever necessary. Groceries have gotten so expensive that it makes it harder to save money at the market. So if you have a printer, print out coupons just for the products you use at home. In fact, we only used a couple of coupons that last time we were at Walmart and we saved over $10! If you don't have a printer, you can always print the coupons at your local library.

Write out your grocery list. We have tried buying groceries that would last a month, but when something unexpected came up (hospital visits or someone gets sick), we didn't have money to get medicine or anything else we needed. So we decided to keep buying groceries on a weekly basis. You are able to find the deals you need and the coupons you need.



What are ways that you save through out the year?

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Create a budget with LearnVest! #FinancialWellness Week

View all of your accounts in one place (for free!) with LearnVest’s My Money Center. Monitor your spending activity, create a personalized budget, and track progress against your budgeting goals with ease. LearnVest’s My Money Center will give you a snapshot of your overall finances, including your assets, debts, and net worth. LearnVest is protected by bank level security and encryption so your accounts are always 100% safe and secure. Sign up now!

What I Think

Signing up was super easy and you have the choice of connecting your bank account, but I'm not comfortable with doing that so I skipped it. But once you get past that, you are able to make a budget by essentials and non-essentials. You then get an overview of where most of your money is going. Sure, you can write it down on paper, but with a pie chart, you get a more detailed idea of where everything is going and what you can cut back on. 

Pros: Great for making that monthly budget instead of writing it down on paper. It is also a great learning tool for teens and 20-somethings to learn how to budget. You can also talk to an expert if you have questions about finances.

Cons: It can get kind of confusing, but it's only a monthly budget tool. There is not way for you to make a weekly budget.

Verdict? Great if you want to keep track of a monthly budget. For weekly budgets, stick with pen and paper or a spreadsheet.


Please note: I am NOT a financial adviser. I only speak from experience.

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