Category: Frugality

Budgeting is nobody’s idea of a really good time. But, it is the best way to get your family’s finances under control and—dare I say it—it is actually an absolute necessity to do so! Making a budget is making the decisions as to what you can spend in each category of your household expenses. Besides trying to figure out how you’re going to make your income spread out and cover all your bases, you might wonder where you stack up compared to other folks in the U.S. Today, I am going to provide you with the numbers of what Americans spend on their food budget, and then reveal what my wife Suzanne and I have been spending on average every month on food…for the past nine years!

The number one thing that we all have to spend money on is…food. Since I’m a retiree, I am on the proverbial “fixed income” so it’s become even more important to my wife and I than ever. So let’s take a look at that and run some of the numbers.

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The astute super saving shopper is very savvy—or at least that’s what they will tell you if you ask. I have to admit that at one time I thought that I knew it all when it came to bargain hunting my way through the grocery store. After all, I had spent decades working in retail so I did have a leg up on the shopping experience and thought I knew every trick there was to get people to buy, buy, and buy more! But then a new reality set in and I started to have my eyes opened when I began working for supermarket chains as a consultant about 15 years ago. That’s when I learned exactly how supermarkets try to trick you into buying more every week when you make the time to shop!

I wrote last year about the many “tricks” that in general retailers use in your favorite shops, especially around the holidays to get you to dig deep and spend more. (If you’re interested, here’s part 1 and part 2.) But you actually are more influenced each week at the grocery store than anyplace else you shop! Don’t think that’s true? Take a look at this!

They say that a good day starts with a good cup of coffee. Well, at least I’m saying so today because for me it’s part of my morning ritual, every day. I am not alone here. When I used to commute to work for years and years, I’d always have a cup at home before I left for the office and then of course just had to have another one when I arrived and settled into my routine each morning at the office, too.

There are a lot of “golden rules” when it comes to saving money that tipsters often cite in personal finance blogs. I am guilty here too of stressing that skipping your morning coffee and bagel as you drive into work every day will save you some big bucks. It does. Simply said, if you don’t make your coffee at home, you are probably wasting a lot of hard earned money that you can easily save and put toward a far better use. Like maybe buying that small island in the Caribbean you sometimes dream about? OK, it’s good to dream anyway. But free coffee…it tastes so much better, I promise you.