Grocery Shopping Once a Month On A Budget

Lots  of people have their theories of if  it is possible to do groceries once a month....some say no while others do it month after month! I am one of those people that do it month after month. There are so many people on pensions and fixed incomes that have no choice but to do so and some just find it simpler.

Now, we are on a budget and we go by it. We also go by the sales, buy generic, and use coupons when we can. I also make my own cleaners so we don't even have to think about those products (other than vinegar and baking soda monthly).

We usually shop or check out the flyers of three stores nearby and sometimes we only go to two of those stores, sometimes all  three it just depends on what we need and what the prices are at the time we go.

On average with coupons, we save about 10$ a month on things we need, which is usually razors, toilet paper, coffee etc. Now, I know 10$ isn't a whole lot of money BUT when you think that it is 120$ over a year, it adds up! Plus when you are on a budget that 10$ is a big deal!

So we head for the stores and get mostly generic brands of everything because even if I have coupons for some things, sometimes the generic is still cheaper than using coupons. You have to research and know your prices. I try to use coupons though by matching them up to sales, for example my husband and I both use Bic Razors, 2 months ago they were on sale for 3.99$ and I had  2 - 3.00$ coupons!!! So that worked out really well, we didn't need them at the time but for 99 cents we have them and don't have to think about them for a couple  more months!

 I am now making my own bread . I bought a 5 lb bag of flour for 1.99$ and wanted to see if it was cheaper to buy a bigger bag but it isn't (at least in the stores near us). It is actually cheaper to buy 8 -5 lb bags than a 40 lb bag!

One store that we go to has a 1$ bin of fruits and vegetables every day so when we go we know to get there about 20 minutes after the store opens when that stuff comes out or we will miss out on it. Nothing is wrong with any of these products just the date is coming close so you will need to use them up fairly soon but we have bought things from that bin many a time that last a long time. I like buying apples from there and cutting them and freezing for later desserts. So we get 99% of our fresh produce there and love it.

Granted by doing groceries once a month, we do run out of fresh produce but we buy frozen to get us through the balance of the month. Once we can do our garden then we won't have to think about this as we will have our own and I will can things to have during the winter months.

I actually find that we save money doing groceries once a month because we are not in the stores every week being tempted to buy something that we don't need.

For some it comes down to personal preference and others survival. I am so used to shopping monthly now and I just love it!

How do you shop?