Hit $50 a week on groceries and I finally get it

I always rolled my eyes at people saying they feed a family of four on $50 a week. Thought they were either lying or eating rice and beans every night. Then I actually sat down and tracked my spending for a month. I was throwing away about $30 a week in spoiled veggies and half-used ingredients. Started planning meals around what's on sale at the Safeway on Broadway instead of what I felt like eating. Cut my weekly total to $47 on average and I'm not even hungry. Has anyone else found that planning is way more important than coupon clipping?

2 comments

2 Comments

jasons6310d agoOG Member

Hang on, $30 a week in spoiled veggies? That's a pretty big number. I know I've thrown away a sad head of lettuce or some moldy tomatoes before, but I never added it up like that. You're saying that's nearly $1,200 a year just in waste. That's a real eye opener. Planning ahead really does sound more important than just finding a good coupon.

brookep2710d ago

... and my buddy Mark, he does the same thing @jasons63, I swear he's got a science experiment growing in his fridge every other week. He bought a whole bag of avocados last Tuesday, swears he's gonna make guac every night. By Saturday they're all black and mushy and he's just shaking his head at the sink. He told me he had a bag of spinach that just turned into slime in like three days, all because he forgot he had a half-eaten bag of salad mix already in there. It's wild how fast that stuff adds up when you're not paying attention.