{"id":22811,"date":"2015-12-08T07:17:04","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T12:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/?p=22811"},"modified":"2025-01-23T08:35:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T08:35:01","slug":"downsized-food-costs-fit-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalskyweb.co\/canadianbudgetbinder.com\/2015\/12\/08\/downsized-food-costs-fit-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Downsized Our Food Costs By 41% To Fit Our Budget: The Grocery Game Challenge #1 Dec 7-13, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

WE HAD NO IDEA WE WERE SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY<\/span><\/h2>\n

Every year since starting The Grocery Game Challenge back in 2012<\/strong> we have evaluated our food costs in accordance to our overall budget.<\/em><\/p>\n

Before then we were just two people in a loving relationship renting and grocery shopping like every other frugal couple, so we thought.<\/p>\n

Although we were just starting to clip coupons but not heavily stockpiling we also followed the sales. We were spending on average around $400 a month<\/strong> which only continued to increase.
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That might not seem like much to you but for us that was a huge amount to be spending on groceries for 2 people. Since we were saving for the down-payment on our first home<\/a> saving money was critical to keep costs low.<\/p>\n

You may think you are doing well with all the grocery savings but all that money adds up every month whether you got a deal or not. When we bought our home in 2009 it was just shortly after the coupon craze hit Canada and everyone was going mad for free or near free deals, including us. Yes, we joined in on the fun because we wanted to save even more money.<\/p>\n

We weren’t actually budgeting at that time so we would clip coupons, match the sales and go shopping. There were times we would come home with 20 packs of free toilet paper only paying the tax or 20 cans of almost free baked beans. Over the course of 2 years we amassed a stockpile that has kept us going up until present and we’re not done yet. I’m not joking when I say we started with about 100 jugs of laundry soap.<\/p>\n

Coupons are not the same these days. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing for us. I’m betting we still have a few years worth of health and beauty items we won’t have to buy which means less money spent in our health and beauty category. This is one reason we decided to pull health and beauty from the grocery category and keep it separate.<\/p>\n

When we created a budget and started to track our grocery expenses it didn’t take long to see that we were still spending upwards of $400 a month sometimes hundreds more. This is why The Grocery Game Challenge was started. We needed to get that $400 we were spending on groceries under control and fast.<\/p>\n

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Related<\/strong>: The Grocery Game Challenge Rules<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’ve heard me say we hardly stockpile food these days the reason is that we were never keeping up with the food we had in our cold room and pantry. We either donated it or it went to waste and the both of us were pretty hard on ourselves about that since we do not like food waste.<\/a><\/p>\n

We were committed and still are to keep our grocery budget steady at $235.00 a month<\/strong> with a $25 stockpile budget. <\/a>Typically that would be cheese or something that we find in bulk for a great price. Some months we might not even use the stockpile budget. It’s not there to be used every month. It’s there if we need it.<\/p>\n

So without any real health and beauty or laundry detergents to buy we set off in 2012 with this challenge and haven’t looked back. Back when we started though we included health and beauty and dog food which we have since removed. We lost our dog in 2013 and although I haven’t come to terms with talking about it yet he was a huge part of our family and is greatly missed.<\/p>\n

Taking away anything that wasn’t food apart from paper towel as that is something we use in the kitchen on odd occasions the grocery budget was set at just under $200 back in 2012. Every year we evaluate what we’ve spent over the course of the year and if our budget permits we either increase the grocery budget if need be or we can lower it if we don’t spend it all. Unfortunately we were spending it and then some. It’s been a long journey the past 4 years trying to balance our monthly budget while eating a balanced diet.<\/p>\n

I read a Financial Facelift Globe and Mail article last week about a Canadian couple who net $12,620 monthly<\/strong> spending $1200 or $14,400 a year for food costs.<\/strong> My mouth dropped but then I just figured that some people who earn lots of money have fancy tastes or they don’t mind splurging to buy the best cuts of meat, fancy cheeses and so on. Who knows, maybe they are building a bomb shelter underground and are stocking the shelves like in the movie, Blast from the Past!<\/p>\n

All laughter aside, spending over $1000 a month is not uncommon and many people who don’t budget might be surprised just how much they are spending. You don’t have to have a fancy job to spend money, people go into debt to eat just as much as they do buying clothes and other wants.<\/p>\n

In all fairness, this couple did budget and they clearly put a heavy weight on making sure they eat VERY well each month. There is nothing wrong with that and clearly they can afford to do so.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Can this couple retire early and maintain their lifestyle- Globe and Mail<\/a><\/p>\n

If you’re already trying to spend $1200 a month in your mind for 2 people, don’t worry I did the same thing. Lots of organic foods, lobster, lamb, fine roasts, steaks and the best of the best wines and I don’t know what else. I really don’t know what we would do with so much food every month but to each their own I suppose. It made our yearly $2820 grocery budget look like a couple of months worth of snacks.<\/p>\n

I didn’t condemn them to the CBB corner (inside joke my Facebook What’s for dinner fans would know) for spending so much money on food each month. It just made me realize that everyone recognizes their grocery budget from a different perspective. Sure, they could save tonnes of money even if they cut their grocery budget by 50% totalling a $7200 savings a year.<\/strong> This is what we did and cut our grocery budget by 58% when we finally said enough was enough.<\/p>\n

We took our $400 monthly food expenses<\/strong> and slashed it by 41%<\/strong> because we knew we could. After so many years of clipping coupons and frugal shopping you know your prices and how to save money when grocery shopping. Gone are the days where we would stock up on just about anything because it was under a dollar.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> How we reduced our grocery budget from $1100 to $600 in 6 months<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you know what we’ve done with the extra money we’ve saved over the years? We paid off our mortgage! That’s right all the extra cash we saved by cutting food costs went towards our mortgage and investments. In 5 short years we were able to burn our mortgage papers for good.<\/p>\n

No, we didn’t eat junk or lots of processed food either. It’s amazing how well you can eat, if you really want to. Gardening in the summer really helps to save money on herbs and vegetables. There are plenty of ways to save.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> How we became mortgage free in 5 years<\/a><\/p>\n

How to calculate food costs<\/span><\/h2>\n

One concern I hear most often is that people don’t know how much money they are spending on food every month. Believe me when I say having a grocery budget isn’t a big deal to some people and they fly by the seat of their pants with a shopping cart in hand.<\/p>\n

If you’ve ever seen someone just tossing items in their shopping cart they likely don’t have a budget or they are spectacular at mathematics in their head. You might tell me that you have an “idea” of how much you are buying and know what you are permitted to spend. Fair enough but you can still do MUCH better and save MORE!<\/p>\n

If you really want to know your food costs you MUST document every grocery shop for at least 3 months. This will give you a wider picture of just how much you are actually spending and what you are spending your money on.<\/p>\n

Once you start a budget or know how much money you can afford to spend on food after all the bills and living expenses are paid it’s time to get to work shopping. Keep in mind that food costs go up and down and things may change for you personally so adjusting your grocery budget accordingly. We typically do this once a year but you may opt to do it twice a year.<\/p>\n

How to control food costs<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are many ways to control food costs all of which I’ve talked about many times on this blog over the years.<\/p>\n