Grocery Budget Make-Over

Does your grocery budget need a make-over? That's the reality show we really need...not "What Not To Wear," but "What Not To Buy." Like fashion, everyone has a different grocery budget "look." In other words, my budget won't be the same as yours...and that's fine. However, most of us could improve our grocery spending. Some of us simply have to do so in these difficult economic times. I'd like to take a look at how you can easily decrease your grocery spending, step by step.

Step 1: How Much Do I Spend?

I know this seems elementary, but I bet there are a lot of people out there who know they spend too much on groceries and toiletries and are struggling to make ends meet, but DON'T know how much they actually spend on groceries and toiletries. Now, IF you save every receipt, simply look back at the last month's receipts to determine your total spending. There are some great computer programs to keep up with spending, but you can simply use pencil and paper. If you don't save every receipt, but use checks or a debit card exclusively for grocery and toiletry items, review you bank statement online and tally up the info there. If historical data is not available, commit to take the next 30 days to save all your receipts and tally up the info. Get a basket, or shoebox or a zippered make-up bag you can keep in your purse to collect all those Publix, Save-a-Lot and Walmart receipts. After the 30 days are up, add up your receipts. You can use an Excel spreadsheet (a standard one is on my list of things to do), or simply that aforementioned pad of paper and a pencil. Having an accurate dollar amount of what you actually spend in a month on groceries and toiletries is VERY POWERFUL (School House Rock was right about that.) Now it's time for STEP 2...

To Be Continued