How I saved hundreds on my grocery bill!

Nobody will say I’m a spender. You can ask my family- I’ve had a fear of being homeless since I was a teenager. I have a lot of respect for money. You work hard for what you earn, so be a smart spender, right?

We are a family of two adults and three children on one income. I bring in some money with part time work I do on the side, but I don’t have a corner office with a hefty paycheck. We need DEALS people! For months I tried, unsuccessfully, to lower my grocery bill. I could never do it!

I discovered Dave Ramsey about two years ago and ever since then I have become obsessed with becoming debt free and “weird.” I don’t want to be one of the seven out of ten Americans living in debt and paycheck to paycheck. Living within a budget is all part of our plan to becoming debt free and even wealthy (yes, I said it)- so we can live AND give like one else. We are seeking true financial peace and freedom at the Brown house!

So, one way we are saving money is by keeping to a budget. At the advice of a close friend and financial coach, we tried to cut our grocery bill this month  by hundreds of dollars and we successfully did it! Normally we spend $800 a month on food and household items (paper goods, formula, detergent). This month we were able to do it for just under $600.

The secret was shopping around Publix’s BOGOs. Instead of writing down what I wanted from the top of my head, I checked out the BOGOs on my Publix phone app first (see video). Chicken fillets (carefully read the packaging! It has to say fillet- not breasts! Ps- they look exactly the same), tomato sauce, frozen meatballs, frozen veggies, regular veggies, ham steak, etc. I could make meals around these things. You don’t have to buy everything BOGO, but by doing a lot of this, you are doubling your groceries! The kids can eat the cracker that’s on sale and shopping off of BOGOs can even lead you to explore some new dinner ideas too! I’ve been amazed at what BOGO can do for our grocery bill and I like the challenge of shopping with a $150 budget in mind each week. Try it and let me know how it goes!

Signing out,

Jen