Day 5 - Reducing Your Grocery & Food Bills

After turning my personal finances around just by spending 60 minutes every day on small projects I decided to share everything I learned to get my self in a better position when it comes to money. I will be serializing all the 60 minute projects so other people can try them to get their finances in better shape. Most of these tasks will take no more than an hour and it's those tasks that we love to put off. So join me from Day 1 to Day 13 to see if you can get yourself in a more prosperous place financially.

Day 5 - Reducing Your Grocery Bills

Grocery and food shopping accounts for a significant portion of your income. If we didn't have to eat or drink we would achieve our financial goals much quicker.

Consequently this means that there are a lot of savings to be made here as long as you make a plan and stick to it. According to Diabetes.Org the sedentary male between the ages of 31 to 35 only needs 2400 calories while the sedentary female between the ages of 31 to 35 only requires 1800 calories. Most American and Britain's eat 2 to 3 times their daily recommended allowance. Suppose you spend $1000 a month on your groceries for your family, now suppose you eat 3 times the RDA of calories, this means that you could save over $600 if you fix your diet. Not only will this make your wallet leaner it will have tremendous positive implications for your health and well being.

When I got wind of this fact I was determined to improve the health and well-being of my family. After doing some back of the envelope calculations I found that we were over eating three times what our recommended daily calorie intake was suppose to be. We were all overweight and lacked energy, fatigue was something we encountered on a daily basis and stopped us living our life to the full.

After holding a family meeting we decided to take the following steps. When it comes to groceries and food you need to make decisions as a family if you want to implement long term change. One persons way of thinking could be another persons nightmare which is why effective communication is essential. This is the immediate steps we took.

1. No more takeaway
2. No more tea or coffee from outdoors
3. No more eating in the car
4. No more soft drinks
5. Less meat
6. More vegetables and fruits

Once we trimmed our diet the next logical step was to save as much money as possible on all the groceries and food that we eat. The most effective way of doing this is making a list of weekly and monthly items. Monthly items are the bulk items which have a longer shelf life and weekly items are those that have a shorter shelf life.

Spend as much time as you need to making these two lists because you'll be referring back to them whenever you shop. Don't try to leave items off the list as in an attempt to lull yourself into a sense of financial success. Be open and list everything you need to.

Once you've made the list you need to look at it carefully and then take a moment to think whether you could make this at home. Personally I make my own bread, laundry detergent and cleaning products which saves me money. If you're up for a challenge then try to find items like the ones mentioned and see if you can make them at home. If you do end up making stuff at home you could save up to 75%!

If you've managed to trim your shopping list further then congratulations! The next step is more involved and requires you to find the cheapest place to buy the item. In the UK there is a wonderful site called MySupermarket.com. This site allows you to compare prices of all the grocery items between the three big supermarkets. You can search for an item and then sort them according to cost per unit or cheapest item. This way you're guarantee to find the cheapest product possible. If you live in the US then you'll have to do some research. Whenever you buy an item on your list challenge yourself to find it cheaper somewhere else.

Your aim should be to constantly lower the cost of your grocery price book which will ultimately lead to more money in your pockets.

I followed all the steps above and was able to take my monthly shop from approximately £600 per month to only £200. This reduction came after we found out we were eating three times the recommended daily allowance on your food. 12 months on we have saved approximately £2400 which is safely tucked away in a high profit investment account. Another miracle is that we look so much leaner and fitter! Everyone seems to have so much more energy and vigor.

There are moments in your life where change now can lead to big successes or failures in the future. If we had continued to overeat then our health and our wealth would be effected negatively. We made a decision and overhauled our entire diet and grocery habits and now 12 months later we are in better health and financial state. Five or ten years from now we should be able to look back and say we made a great decision. This radical overhaul will also help my children to understand the value of health and money and if they are wise enough to practice frugality then their lives will be successful too. Believe it or not this one hour spend tidying your grocery and food bills could have a profound effect on your future.